Eiropas kultūras projekts (in English )

Projet Culturel Européen – European Cultural Project

Nr.2021-1-FR01-KA220-SCH-000032613
 MAIN IMPLEMENTATOR OF THE PROJECT

AEDE FRANCE - ASSOCIATION

EUROPÉENNE DE L'ÉDUCATION
L'association Européenne De L'Éducation-
France (AEDE-France) is a national
section of European Association of
Teachers (AEDE), founded in July 8, 1956,
in Paris.
 PROJECT PARTNERS

Italy - DiCultHer – digital culture heritage school -

International Association for the promotion of Digital Culture.

AEDE-Netherland - brings together educators who care

about cooperation among the people of Europe.
AEDE Austria –European Political Education
Association–(“Europtimus”)

The University of Bremen in Germany founded in 1971, is

a medium-sized German University with around 20,000
students.
Charles University in Czeck was founded in 1348 making it
one of the oldest universities in the world and the largest
university in the Czech Republic.

The University of Córdoba (UCO) in Spain is a public

High Education and Research Institution in Andalusia, in the
South of Spain.
AEDE BULGARIA – The fields of competences and
activities cover all the levels of education - primary,
secondary, tertiary.

ALFA Steiner Secondary School in IRELAND was

founded in 2001 as The ALFA Project - Active Learning For
Adolescents. It provides a full-time, progressive education
for 12 to 17-year-olds in East Clare.
Zemite primary school
 The goal, task and achievable result of the project

The main goal of the project:

By consolidating European culture and using the mutual
exchange of knowledge between partners, emphasize the
common heritage of European culture. The knowledge gained in
the learning experiments will strengthen the students' sense of
belonging to the European Union and promote the importance of
European citizenship among young Europeans. Recognizing,
accentuating the unifying cultural elements and teaching them to
students will serve as a strong and essential driving force for
creating a common European understanding, because a real and
functioning union in real life is not possible if citizens do not share
common, ethical and aesthetic values. Thanks to the common
cultural understanding of young people, the European Union will
become more inclusive, resilient, sustainable and sovereign.
Tasks:
 explore European culture and its values ​as seen by a
group of 10 countries;
 conduct teaching experiments in the participating schools
during one academic year, including European cultural
values ​in the curriculum;
 develop guidelines and methods for teaching it in every
European country, because European citizenship cannot
be developed by focusing only on the institutional,
economic and social aspects and not taking into account
culture, which is a much stronger tool for promoting
European citizenship.
The result:
In the cooperation of partners of 10 European countries, the
current dominant understanding of European culture in the
partner countries will be highlighted, and based on the main
core values, unified guidelines will be created for teaching
European culture to the new generation, integrating it into
the educational process in every European school, which will
use the prepared guidelines, resources and experience of
the project implementers. . As a result of the project, a
website with a library on European cultural values ​and their
teaching methods, validated during the project, is created.
Eiropas kultūra: kategorijas
 What we have already done:

 In cooperation with project partners, we have developed our study plan by

months, which we offer to cooperating schools.
 The main partners of the project in France have developed materials with
guidelines for teachers, a questionnaire for students for pre-knowledge testing
and evaluation questionnaires for teachers after the experiment.

By combining the results of the

questionnaires of all countries, an
informational base was created on the
common perception of the European
culture of the citizens of the partner
countries, which serves as a platform
for the further implementation of the
project.
 At the beginning of the project, pupils, students,
teachers and cultural specialists were surveyed about their
understanding of what is important, valuable and
recognizable in culture in Europe.
The content of the questionnaire was identical in all
countries and the goal was for each partner to discover the
essence and content of European culture as the people of
their country perceive it from its "window".
European culture as seen from Latvian «window»
 Type of survey and respondents:

 The survey was conducted in an electronic survey created on the

internet platform visidati.lv.
 Two versions of the questionnaire were prepared - for curators (adults
according to the defined target audience) and students to make it
easier to distinguish the status of the respondent.
 Curators were addressed in person - by calling and sending e-mail
invitations to fill in surveys.
 We addressed the students both in person and asked the curators to
address their students.
 As a result, we received 14 responses from curators and 19 responses
from students.
 Representation of respondents:

Culture professionals:
 3 artists – choreographer; writer; cultural specialist / director
 6 curators - Head of the Latvian National Cultural Center; Latvian
National Library, librarian; Museum teacher; Lecturer at the Department
of Pedagogy of Liepaja Pedagogical Academy; Head of the Kandava
Education Department; Politician, municipal management
 5 colleague - teachers, non-formal education representative, cultural
workers, parents
Students, pupils:
 Kandava Karl Milenbach Secondary School; College of Business
Administration;Jurmala State Gymnasium;Latvian college of
culture;Riga Secondary School of Design and Art;College of Fire and
Civil;University of Liepaja;Latvian Academy of Arts;Kandava Technical
School;North American Montessori Centre;Riga Stradins University
The most important European values, beliefs, ideologies and
symbols in the answers of Latvian respondents:

1st place - Cultural Heritage - Includes European culture, heritage, artwork,

architecture and popular historical sites.
These values ​are very important for European culture, as they link eras and
man-made values, which shows a common understanding of the importance
and long-term value of cultural achievements between different nations.
2nd place - Accept people of all nationalities- keywords - tolerance,
democracy, humanitarian values.
Positive respondents' understanding of the sustainability of Europe's shared
living environment and the opportunities for development through these
values. Only by perceiving diversity positively can we find a common language
and create a common living environment in which everyone feels a sense of
belonging.
3rd place – Traditions - in the context of values ​related to national
traditions and folklore. It drew parallels that many of our traditions have
common roots and manifestations with the traditions of other European
nations.
The most important thing in European cultural heritage and history,
traditions and customs in the answers of Latvian respondents:

1st place – Traditions - emphasis on common traditions and their

manifestations for the peoples of Europe rooted in folklore and religious
festivals. Recognizing similarities in tradition is the best-known expression of
community. Things that are rooted in pleasant emotions and are equally
understandable are the best way to accept difference.
2nd place – Architecture - emphasis on sacred architecture, old towns and
popular buildings. The interviewees focus on buildings in various European
countries that promote the country and have survived through the centuries.
Examples of architecture from different eras are common to many European
countries, based on the works of famous architects and their visual
similarities.
3rd place – History - the accent on historical events and wars
experienced. Many European countries are interconnected by
historical events. This experience is unpleasant but unifying.
The most important moral principles, philosophy, education,
standards, doctrines in the answers of Latvian respondents:
1st place – Constructive attitude focused on positive
communication - promoting solidarity and mutual respect between
people, to fight for human rights - to defend them promoting social
justice and protection - EU motto «United in diversity»! The greater
the societal experience in education, the more open it is to mutual
tolerance and acceptance.
2nd place – Education – educational values ​help to overcome
intercultural barriers and to be included in the intercultural canon,
lifelong learning opportunities, education has become accessible to
almost everyone. In addition, the emphasis is placed on the fact that
raising the level of education contributes to obtaining a better-paid job
and an open cross-border labor market.
3rd place - Common values -humanism, or understanding and
attitude towards life as the greatest value (man, nature, universe),
intercultural cooperation, when people cooperate, there is an
opportunity for better living conditions and a better living environment,
both in the humanitarian and ecological fields.
Nation states, political systems and institutions in the
answers of Latvian respondents:
1st place – The European Parliament
2nd place – The European Commission
3rd place -The European Court of Justice
In this section of the survey, we noticed differences between
curators and students. Everyone clearly put the European Parliament first.
The curators, on the other hand, had listed that the European Commission,
the European Central Bank and the European Court of Justice were next in
order of importance.
However, the students believed that the European Court of Justice,
the European Commission and the European Central Bank were next in
order of importance. Therefore we conclude that curators focus on political
and financial power, while students focus on judicial and political power,
placing the influence of the financial system in last position.
The most important languages ​for communication in
Europe in the answers of Latvian respondents:

1st place – English

2nd place – German
3rd place – French

These languages ​are understandable from the usability of

everyday communication in foreign languages.
English is the most common language of communication and learning in
Europe.
Interestingly, some young people have also mentioned Russian and
Chinese.
The most important in inventions, artefacts, arts and
crafts, way of life, sports in the answers of Latvian
respondents:
1st place – Culture and art - Works of art - national galleries of EU
countries, French Impressionists, Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona
Lisa«, Opera; Literary translations and other works of art. Although many of
the respondents have not seen them personally, they still believe that it is
the greatest common value of Europe.
2nd place – Sports - European championships in various sports, Tour de
France, Football (Series A, Bundesliga, La Liga, etc.), European Cups and
various sports.
Analyzing the responses, the working group concluded that sport and its
various forms have a very multicultural impact on the entire population.
National and state interests are lost here, but the best achievements
remain. Of course, the citizens of each country are fans of their athletes, but
in general they are united by the pride of European athletes for their
achievements against other countries outside of Europe.
3rd place - Scientists' inventions - liquid crystal technologies, Nobel
Peace Prize, electricity, book printing, telephone, digital benefits etc.
This was the answer of 20 out of 33 respondents.

Respondents found that everyone is ready to use scientific advances that

make their everyday life easier. These achievements, in cooperation with
European countries, are accessible to their citizens and help to integrate
into each other's common economy and opportunities.
 The most important historical events, famous places,
celebrities, icons in the answers of Latvian respondents:
1st place – Historical sites - Notre Dame Cathedral, Acropolis of Athens,
Prague, Paris, Budapest, The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Berlin Wall, places that
have survived through the centuries in Europe and in the Latvia.

These historical places are connected with a common historical memory of

great events and great achievements both in Europe and in Latvia. Various
historical events and historical persons are also associated with these
places. It forms a unified historical environment and is rooted in the
memories of generations. It is also important that many historical places are
widely covered in both films and literary works, which when read or viewed
give a sense of their importance in the overall context.
2nd place – Wars and changes of power - the First world war, Second World
War, demolition of the Berlin Wall, Reform of Martin Luther, 20th century
dictatorships and English brexit,too.
Various wars were most often mentioned in the answers. They have
affected all countries and caused changes in political and economic power
over time. The answers are dominated by memories of negative
experiences. Although the experience revealed in the questionnaires is
related to the fall of unpleasant power and positive changes in the recovery
of statehood.
3rd place - Famous people who have promoted their country, the city-
Angela Merkele, Jacques Chirac, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of the
European Commission,Famous people.
These popular politicians and cultural workers are associated with the
icons of the era, which help to make their country known and recognized in
other European countries. Their work has influenced politics and art not
only in Europe, but also beyond.
 Summary of Latvian respondents' answers:
 The most unified "window" of Latvia in the context of European culture is the
common cultural heritage, which includes works of art, historical places,
architectural monuments and traditions. The answers of our respondents confirm
this in different blocks of questions. These things, places and manifestations are the
best known and most easily identified.
 What follows is the common history and events that have historically influenced the
political and economic life of Europeans. Over the centuries, Europe has been
intertwined in various historical events affecting its people. This experience is also
familiar and unifying.
 The aspect of shared values ​related to living environment, ecology and shared
ethical values ​related to mutual acceptance, understanding diversity and
maintaining a better shared living environment is also essential.
 Mutual values ​also mention unifying factors, which include sports, well-known
people who promote their countries, scientific achievements that make everyday life
easier and promote communication between different people and countries. In this
field, the knowledge that can be acquired through educational processes and
communication skills in languages ​understandable to interlocutors are important.
 Summary of the common values ​in the answers of the
respondents of the project member states:
The top of the most Values
frequently mentioned
values ​among 221
respondents
(8th place the most
often)

8 Democracy
7 Freedom
5 Tolerance / Equality
4 Justice
3 Humanism / Human rights / Christianity / Rule of law / Solidarity
Capitalism / Sustainable development (Bulgaria/Latvia) / Peace /
2 Respect for cultural differences and minorities / Environment/ecology /
Honor
National sovereignty / Rights / Prosperity (through education) /
1 Security / National traditions / Equality / Fraternity / Acceptance of
people of all nationalities / Respect / Friendship / Honesty
Pacifism / Responsibility / Love / The right to protest / Conspiracy
theory
 The survey also investigated the attitudes of respondents with the
following criteria: Weak, Medium Strong, None, I don't know - towards the
concepts:
Collective attempt to damage the reputation of those public figures and/or
Cancel culture companies that have disrespected a particular ideology (e.g., acting in a
racist, sexist way).

A person's sense of their own gender, regardless of their biological traits and
Gender identity
the sex assigned at birth.

Sees men and women as inherently dissimilar and acting according to

Neo-feminism different moral rules. As a result, they intend to get rid of the current
principles of rights that are too representative of male class society.

Refutes the thesis that colonialism was an extension of civilization by

Post-colonialism Western countries and challenges the resulting institutions, power
structures, and social hierarchies.

Belief in the possibility of improving the human condition by developing and

Trans-humanism making widely available technologies to significantly improve human
intellectual, physical and psychological capacities.

Awareness of the relations of domination and social injustices - induced by

Wokism
the social and political system in place - and fight against them.

The position that personal opinion, ideology, emotion and belief matter more
Post-truth
than the reality of the facts.
Cancel culture - A collective attempt to harm the reputation of other people
for not respecting a particular ideology (e.g. equality of races)

1 = Low 6
2 = Medium: 14
3 = Strong 3
4 = None 1
5 = Don't know 9
 Gender identity - A person’s sense of his or her own gender
regardless of biology

1 = Low 5
2 = Medium: 7
3 = Strong 12
4 = None 3
5 = Don't know 6
Neo-feminism - Neo-feminists, unlike feminists, consider that men and
women are consubstantially different and do not act according to the same
moral rules. As a result, they intend to get rid of the current rights principles
that are too representative of the men class society, and for example they
think that in case of rape, a media trial is more appropriate than a judicial
one.
1 = Low 7
2 = Medium: 5
3 = Strong 8
4 = None 5
5 = Don't know 8
 Post-colonialism - Refutes the thesis that colonialism was an
extension of civilization by western countries and challenges the
institutions, power structures and social hierarchies that resulted
from colonization.

1 = Low 6
2 = Medium: 11
3 = Strong 3
4 = None 1
5 = Don't know 12
Trans-humanism -The belief in the possibility of improving the
human condition by developing and making widely available
technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and
psychological capacities.

1 = Low 2
2 = Medium: 12
3 = Strong 18
4 = None 0
5 = Don't know 1
 Wokism - Awareness of the relations of domination and of the
social injustices -induced by the social and political system in
place-and fight against them.

1 = Low 3
2 = Medium: 9
3 = Strong 13
4 = None 3
5 = Don't know 5
Post-truth - The position that personal opinion, ideology, emotion and belief matter
more than the reality of the facts.

1 = Low 6
2 = Medium: 12
3 = Strong 7
4 = None 2
5 = Don't know 6
 Zemītes sākumskola Cēres pamatskola

Summary of learning experiment process of European

cultural teaching experiments in Latvia
 Month Topic The result
September We are the
European
Union

Qwiz
October Our country «KNOW OR
in the GUESS!»
European
Union
 Month Topic The result
November EU countries, Knowledge is
their increased
through games Good material for learning the basics, which is
characteristic and interactive publicly available:
identifiers tasks https://learning-corner.learning.europa.eu/play-games
_en
December Traditions - The Christmas
traditions of
Christmas the selected
countries were
studied and a
video (LV) was
created in
which they are
presented.
 Month Topic The result
January EU countries Let's get
acquainted
and the with the euro
EU
money
monetary system coins and
banknotes of We used this
EU countries different game for tourism:
https://learning-co
and tourist countries that
rner.learning.euro
are used in the
attractions EU and how
pa.eu/play-games/
guess-gifts-grand
you can ma_en
determine
which country
they belong to
with the
pictures on
them.

February Natural
landscapes,
Natural
natural resources are
resources, studied, their
use in both
wealth of EU economic
countries, their activity and
protection (We culture
changed it to the
March theme)
Our colleagues at the Cere school also use the plan we developed, but
also worked on their in-depth direction - European literary fairy tales and
music, as a result of which they staged the play "Cinderella" based on the
Grimm brothers' (German) fairy tale, using the music composed by Karel
Svoboda (Czech)
 Mēnesis Tēma Rezultāts
Natural The resources of
the EU countries,
landscapes, which are used
natural resources, in the economic
growth of the
wealth of EU countries, have
March countries, their been identified,
and an
protection identification has
been made of
which of these
resources end
up in Latvia

April Traditions - Easter Various Easter

traditions of EU
countries have
been studied,
common
denominators
with Latvian
traditions have
been found
 Mēnesis Tēma Rezultāts
May EU citizen - Participation in
the European
responsible exam in
citizen towards different age
future groups on May
7, 8, 9
generations

June Virtual tour of the A short film

EU (films, music, was created
about the
virtual museums) opinion of the
Creation of a teachers and
short film of students
students' and involved in the
learning
teachers' experiment
reflections on the about EU and
project. the project
 Conclusion of the learning experiment

Zemite primary school

Cere elementary school

The teaching methods used in our experiment and the
evaluation of the results:

At the beginning and end of the learning experiment, the students completed a
questionnaire that was identically prepared for all countries. The evaluation was the
change of knowledge in the answers comparing before and after.

• Starting a new topic - Brainstorming (what do you know, associations with the
topic);
• Visualization/demonstration;
• Individual/pair or group/frontal work/test work/independent;
• Working with text;
• Listening, watching educational videos;
• Role-plays, online games, learning games (board/movement) and songs;
• Interviews;
• Project work and its presentation;
• Study of documents;
• Exhibitions;
• Visiting museums;
• Watching plays and films;
• Reading books.
Information gathering sources and media formats used in
teaching work:

•Text books;
•Computers;
•Laptops;
•Maps;
•Digital board;
•Classroom materials;
•Internet materials;
•Twinspace platform;
•Much information and materials for teaching was
found in the website: https://esmaja.lv/;
•Google document of the project, in which
colleagues have posted their learning materials and
ideas.
Zemite primary school
Teaching subjects in which the project
was integrated:

Music
English
Art
Social studies and History
Design and Technology
Science
Maths
Literature and drama

Level of class: 1st - 6th grade (age from 7

to 13 years)

Number of students who participated in the

experiment: 26

Number of participating teachers: 8

 Cere elementary school

Teaching subjects in which the project was integrated:

History;
Social studies;
Art;
Geography;
Latvian language;
English language.

Level of class: 4th - 9th grade (age from 10 to 16 years)

Number of students who participated in the experiment: 38

Number of participating teachers: 3

 Our benefits during learning experiments:

1.The joy of learning and discovering new things

about the EU and EU culture;
2.Knowledge that added to the perspective of both
students and teachers on the discussed topics;
3.New experiences and challenges;
4.The students enjoyed participating, especially in the
creation of holiday-themed events;
5.Parental support in task preparation processes, in
which children searched for and prepared information
individually;
6.New contacts and cooperation with other countries
and schools participating in the project are being
established.
Teaching methods used by colleagues from other member states of the
project and achievements they are proud of

The students from Czech learn

about Saint Valentine and the
tradition that is celebrated in
different parts of Europe
 Czech students make connections between similar themes in Czech
literature and in other parts of Europe in the first half of the 19th century
The Dutch experience

Charlotte Welleng presents

the project at a congress
attended by 500 people.
Participants attended a
workshop on ECP results.
The audience was so
interested that after the
presentation an invitation was
received to share the results
of the project in other
educational institutions as
well.
In Netherland primary school students work on project work. They learn to
understand Europe by collecting information about countries and making
collages
The Dutch project team put
a lot of emphasis on the
use of virtual reality
glasses in learning
processes and creating
short films about culture in
Europe that can be used in
learning. At Tarcisius
Elementary School,
students are working on a
project about French
literature. One of the tasks
is to find a short film about
this country to watch using
VR glasses.
A virtual game about European flags and their connection with European
countries has been developed in Bulgaria
 Austrian Minister of European Affairs Karoline Edstadler meets with
students at the Bernoulli Gymnasium in Austria and gets acquainted with
the results of the project
The Bernoulli
gymnasium will now
turn into a "European
school house". Our
new staircase informs
students about
European history and
values
 In France, the Saint-
Cœur school
celebrates Europe Day
and makes various
board games about
Europe. Each class
decorated the door with
the symbols of one of
the European
countries.
The musical "Orchestra of Europe" by the students of the Neretto School
in Italy
In Ireland the experience through research methods of Eco School work
in a European context
The University of Bremen emphasizes work with foreign students
Project partners from 10 countries at the project meeting held in Prague
 Thank You for attention!

Publicity about the progress of project implementation can be seen

in the website of Zemite primary school: https://zemitesskola.lv/erasmus