The title of the project "Journey to the sources of motivation” includes a metaphorical reference to a journey which can be considered as a route that will allow us to reach the source – the richness and diversity of motivational methods for activating students. The journey symbolises all the actions connected with searching for new solutions in education. This symbolic route is meant to enable us to gain new experience, and to encourage mobility, engagement, and development. The student – teacher relationship is the pillar of education. Teachers’ attitudes and their openness to innovation, as well as constant professional development, are key aspects of educational success.
Our objective in establishing this project is to ascertain the reasons behind students’ lack of motivation for learning. By recognizing the causes of the dearth of motivation we will be better able to find means and methods for supporting our students in the educational process through appropriate motivation. A school itself is a crucial part of the educational system. Its managerial staff is supposed to adjust school work to changing conditions, without sacrificing a high educational standard. There is a perpetual need for the managing staff to perfect their leadership skills, along with the need to be ready to cooperate with other school leaders, and a willingness to search for new solutions that might contribute to better school functioning. To be able to benefit from the project, teachers should be offered the opportunity to develop their language competencies. Participation in intensive two-week English language courses as well as other mobilities planned in the project will significantly improve teachers’ knowledge of English, which will better enable them to share their knowledge and experience with teachers from other countries. Furthermore, better knowledge of English will boost their confidence as teachers and intensify their work motivation. The goal of all the activities planned in the project is to accomplish the above mentioned purposes. Participation in the project will:
As stated in the goals of the project, the major project activities are staff participation in job shadowing, and teaching assignment along with language courses. Teachers who teach: humanities, mathematics and science, foreign languages, or physical education will be involved in job shadowing activities, along with the school director and members of the coordinating team. Teachers who use innovative teaching methods that are effective according to the areas covered in the application are entitled to take part in teaching assignment activities. The school employees who need to start learning English or perfect their language skills will participate in English language courses. The coordinating team and the school director are automatically entitled to take part in the project. Other participants will be chosen in a recruitment process. Appropriate project management will be provided by using Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodology as well as by the experience gained while managing previous projects. As regards the teachers, the project will give them work skills enhancement, and the development of new language competencies and international mobility competencies. Results for the students would include increased learning motivation, improvement of the quality of teaching students with special educational needs. The results concerning the school itself are: the development of leadership competencies of the managerial staff, enhancement of teaching quality, and school appeal. The publicising of the results of the project will be taken up in the last stage of the project. Training sessions; workshops, videos, and the publishing of the materials referring to the results of the project etc. will be provided at this stage. As a result, we would like the students to understand that the purpose of learning is to improve ourselves and our lives; as the Latin phrase says: ‘’Non scholae sed vitae discimus’’. This journey to the beginnings, to the sources, is a journey that is supposed to let us understand the matter thoroughly. The title of the project is a paraphrase of the Polish title of a novel by Alejo Carpentier ’’Los pasos perdidos”. Why did we apply for this project?
Participation in previous European projects reinforced our conviction that teachers’ mobilities as well as European cooperation have a considerable influence on gaining new experience. The latter – if used properly – improves performance of educational institutions. A teacher who seeks inspiration, who builds up their self-esteem by developing in a variety of fields, profoundly affects their students and the students’ motivation. This can be achieved due to participation in international mobilities.
International mobilities that our co-workers participated in were to face up to the vital needs of our school as far as enhancing students’ motivation is concerned. Students with special educational needs were in the center of our attention. We also focused on improving the effectiveness of teaching methods as well as on the development of managerial competence of school administration staff. Largely due to our prior experience in European projects, we were consciously aware of the fact that knowledge of foreign languages is a key factor in international cooperation. Teachers’ command of foreign languages develops owing to the necessity of communicating in a foreign language or due to organized language courses. What did we want to achieve by implementing the project?
What project activities have we implemented?
What are the results of our project?
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