Knowledge Unites: the International School Council Summit
Bozena Stepien from Poland reports on an event organised by a Comenius project team involving schools from her country, England, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
I am a teacher of English in a primary school in the town of Mszana Dolna, south of Poland. I would like to share with you some information concerning a highly successful Socrates - Comenius project in which our school has been engaged for three years together with England, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. We started in 2002 and 2005 is the final year.
Our project is titled "Knowledge Unites" because we believe that by sharing activities and information in a meaningful and child directed manner we shall promote tolerance and a value of other cultures together with a pride and knowledge of home traditions. During the last three years together with our students we have carried a number of activities including travel buddies, launching balloons with special messages for their finders, international Olympic games, compiling a book of poems written by children in five languages to mention just a few. Each school has elected a pupil council to plan, monitor and evaluate the progress of the project.
On 18 - 22 May 2005 our school hosted The International School Council Summit. Four pupil representatives from each country's school council took part in the event at the same time as the project leaders' meeting. The children brought a presentation about their school and about the work of their school councils. They shared this with all the delegates and an audience of teachers, parents, children and the Mayor of Mszana Dolna. Some of the councils explained the structure of their meetings whilst others gave us an insight into some of the projects they work on in school and issues they discuss.
Other activities included presentation of the "culture box" by each country. The students chose ten items representative of each country, then attached a short explanation note and put them into four boxes, one for each partner school.
During the meeting we also had an opportunity to teach each other our folk dances. This activity was found particularly enjoyable by students as well as teachers. Apart from participating in school discussions and meetings our guests enjoyed visiting local museums, Krakow, Zakopane and a salt mine museum.
The school council summit was another occasion for the teachers and students to meet, share opinions, discuss issues but also play and enjoy multicultural company. Although the project had been planned for three years, the project leaders decided we should maintain school links as well as personal contacts in future, as they are truly valuable for us, enhance our personal and professional lives and broaden our students' horizons.
Here are some comments from the teachers involved in the project:
Personally it has been a pleasure and a privilege to be admitted to the project and have the opportunity to meet such nice people. My students have now realised that they have many different things in common with yours and they must now focus on those. (Spain)
Like the poems (our collaborative poetry books on the theme of hope) we began with hope. I hope we finish with hope. Experience is the mother or life and for children the project was something that was unforgettable - and that's the most important thing for a child - a memory. (Portugal)
The project has been like a stone dropping into a pond. Something special has touched many children, teachers and staff in the schools and has rippled out to reach more and more people as the project has developed. At the centre of those ripples are the friendships that began in Sweden and have developed and strengthened ever since - we are all 'A Drop in the Ocean'. (England)
I have been thinking about the project since talking the choir to Bristol. I think the best way children can learn a language is to visit so they become more than tourists. I would like to say that the song we sang in Bristol 'Love is all around' is the true meaning of the project. (Sweden)
When we think about England, Spain, Portugal, Sweden we think about you, about people who we met in your country, your children and your school. This is very important. The project has given countries real faces. (Poland)
The project is about being proud, celebrating the ways in which we are different and similar. All of us, as educators have the same philosophy about children; we believe in opening children's eyes and being a part of Europe. This is crucial and why the project has been so successful. The project has been a tremendous privilege - we have touched children's lives. This was exemplified when the Swedish choir came to Bristol. We had to chose children to host the Swedish choir and two of our school were unable to have visitors and agreed they would stay in each other's houses and pretend to be Swedish! Let's keep going! (England)
Our project is titled "Knowledge Unites" because we believe that by sharing activities and information in a meaningful and child directed manner we shall promote tolerance and a value of other cultures together with a pride and knowledge of home traditions. During the last three years together with our students we have carried a number of activities including travel buddies, launching balloons with special messages for their finders, international Olympic games, compiling a book of poems written by children in five languages to mention just a few. Each school has elected a pupil council to plan, monitor and evaluate the progress of the project. 
Other activities included presentation of the "culture box" by each country. The students chose ten items representative of each country, then attached a short explanation note and put them into four boxes, one for each partner school. 
