The starting point of the SEEDS project is the idea that the development
of the European dimension and citizenship finds important roots in the school
culture.
The atmosphere, the ethos and the patterns of co-operation and learning
interactions experienced by pupils at school, is meant to contribute relevantly
to the growth of their sense of participation, in a cultural, social and
political perspective. The school can be seen as a model community of the
concept and practice of multidimensional citizenship.
The overall aim of the SEEDS project is to understand how the seeds of an
active and fertile idea of European citizenship and "international mindset"
can be spread and introduced into the school culture, from the point of
view of contents, but also of organisational strategies.
On the basis of this understanding training and dissemination materials
will be set up and professional development activities will be piloted and
implemented.
Therefore the project will follow two main lines of development, pursuing
two categories of objectives. The first is concerned with the understanding
of the school culture which is the field and the background where ideas
root and grow, the second deals with the specific contents and perspectives
which inform training modules aimed at enhancing teachers' and schools'
"international"competences, and with the organizational frameworks in which
they can be productively implemented.
The two areas are strictly linked in the assumption that the understanding
of school culture is both a competence in itself and at the same time something
which provides the basis for the implementation of the competences targeted.
In summary the objectives of the project are:
- the implementation of an empirical study on school culture, to understand how the seeds of an active and fertile idea of European citizenship and "international mindset" can be spread and introduced into the school culture
- the identification and selection of experiences and sources of knowledge and information which can promote the European dimension and the international mindset in the school culture
- the definition of teachers' and schools' international competences based on the analysis of examples of good and interesting practices, and the analysis of perceptions and needs expressed
- the description of competences and related contexts of use at system level, school level, teachers level and subject level.
- the development of case studies concerning meaningful experiences where particular sets of organisational strategies have been adopted.
- the planning and the pilot of training modules in local settings
- the setting up of an international training module "SEEDS: improving school cultures towards a European dimension" with possible achievement of ECTS credit points as part of a module in a post-graduate course.
