The Project > OBJECTIVES

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.

In fact learning the "interplanetary" or "multidimensional" citizenship (Morin 2000, 2004, Bocchi Ceruti, 2004) in which the European identity is situated is not only a matter of being confronted with renewed curricula.

Rather it is the combination of both formal and informal learning experiences to have an enormous impact on this kind of achievements (Parker, 2000).

Whereas formal learning concerns the process activated by the academic activities proposed by school programmes implemented in accordance with the framework of a certain educational system, Informal learning is usually defined as a lifelong process whereby the individual acquires attitudes, values skills and knowledge from daily experience and the educative influences and resources of his or her environment.

The role of the school is increasingly seen as crucial also as far as the informal dimension is concerned, that is the learning that can be expected to take place by functioning at school, by interacting with teachers and peers, by being confronted with behavioral rules and norms and the cultural frames of references from the school as an organization and from the different participants in this organization. In this perspective the school with its culture can be seen as a model community of the concept and practice of multidimensional citizenship.

These considerations highlight the fact that new teachers' competences are becoming more and more essential, among which:

• the competence to understand the roots of organizational problems, the cultural features of the school itself, the way it contains more stable elements which have to be interpreted, as well as more "manipulable" ones, which can be oriented and provide the background for more indirect but important learning processes (Solvason, 2005)

• the competence to frame the teaching / learning process in an international and European perspective, enhancing the development of an international mindset, more ethno-relative rather than ethnocentric, more capable of producing acceptance and integration of cultural differences into thinking and acting.

• the competence to orchestrate the learning process framing subject contents in a broader perspective where values, attitudes and behaviors find a field of expression and confrontation.

A variety of dimensions have to be taken into consideration when thinking of the aims the educational process must pursue, among them:

• a personal dimension which implies learning how to take on board personal commitment to nurture a citizen identity among one's other identities and to acquire socially responsible habits of mind and action;

• a social dimension which involves the ability and willingness to work with other citizens in a variety of public settings and creating a common ground;

• a spatial dimension referring to the modern requirement that citizens should see themselves as members of multiple, overlapping communities: local, regional, national, global;

• a temporal dimension where heritage and tradition play a role in coping with the challenges of the future and the past must be integrated into the future with awareness

In this perspective, the project aims at developing a deep reflection on the issue of school culture in different contexts, to derive from it a framework on which to base a syllabus and a new set of training activities to be implemented with teachers.

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 in the school culture.
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 international competences targeted:

1. the development of a reflection on the idea of "school culture", as a crucial conceptual tool to facilitate the introduction and the implementation of the values of citizenship, European dimension and international mindset.
   In this respect the following issues will be tackled:

2. • definition of school culture: what are its components?

   • how can the culture of a school be understood? Identification of a framework to interpret school culture

   • are there relevant differences from a school to another? Analysis of different schools in different national contexts

   • how can the seeds of European and citizenship values be introduced into the school culture?

2. the characteristics of the teachers' and schools' competences: the way to develop them with effective and involving training activities and the organizational frameworks in which they can be implemented.
   This area is based on concept of "international mindset". According to the UNESCO declaration of 1996, this is defined as the capacity to develop a sense of universal values to value freedom, intercultural understanding and non-violent conflict resolution.
   While this definition offers an important basis to understand how internationalization must be an overarching objective of education, it is important to break it down into a concrete operationalization, in order to define its implications for the curriculum and in schools' everyday life, and to clarify the European dimensions that it embraces.
   In particular the leading questions in this area will be:

• What are the components of the "international/European competence"? Is there a common perception and understanding of this competence across various national contexts?

• To what extent can teachers and schools develop their competence in order to become "international/European"?

• Which initiatives, activities, materials, tools can support this development process?

• What strategies can be implemented to develop this process?

In this perspective the work undertaken will allow for sketching a first basis of a European portfolio of experiences to document the European and international dimension of teachers' activities and competences as well as a framework for schools international European relationships policy to be included in their school plan.
From a strategic view point the focus of the project is on teachers, individual schools and school networks.
On the other hand the view point of the contents tackled and the activities implemented by schools and school network, four levels are considered.
These four levels will allow to contextualize the action of teachers and to identify their specific needs with respect to the development of the European and international mindset.

1. System level. Interacting with other colleagues and systems implies being familiar with the range of European school systems and being able to access the information about school systems in other countries. This means to be able to share views of concepts such as education, knowledge, competence, evaluation, criteria of assessment in an ethno-relative perspective.

2. School level. The involvement of the school in projects with other schools is not just a matter of organization but a question of promoting training and exchange opportunities at different levels.

3. Student level. In order to involve the students in the planning and organisation of exchanges at level of ideas, materials and projects, teachers should learn how to promote the idea of Europe with students and families.

4. Subject level. The curriculum should incorporate knowledge from diverse settings, cultures and languages and integrate knowledge produced within as well as outside of any given national boundary.

The range of competences that SEEDS is expected to identify, describe and operationalize is quite broad and complex. The inventory of competences that will derive is not intended to be exhaustive and definitive nor it is expected to depict a detailed profile of the "international school". Rather it is aimed at making available a framework which can support the development of the international mindset among the various actors involved in the education arena and motivate participation in the process.
In summary the objectives of the project are:

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. the description of competences and related contexts of use at system level, school level, teachers level and subject level.

5. the development of case studies concerning meaningful experiences where particular sets of organisational strategies have been adopted.

6. the planning and the pilot of training modules in local settings

7. the setting up 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.