Innovative Teaching Against Bullying involves six secondary schools that educate and instruct pupils of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural origins. Most of these learners come from disadvantaged families with low opportunities for learning, traveling or self-educating. They usually have very poor general knowledge, very low skills in foreign languages and ICT, and above all, have no motivation for learning in general and easily give up when they face difficulties in their learning. They have problems to find their place in the world, they don’t exactly know how to go through a maturing process and they very often have no idea for their future, have problems with defining their values, understanding themselves. They feel lost and adults around them do not always set up a good example for them. Different local official statistics show that the majority of these learners are often victims of violence and are mistreated in their own families. Sometimes their mothers are also beaten by their husbands. As a result, these learners lost their self-esteem and have become bullies themselves and mistreat their schoolmates in various ways, including cyberbullying, left alone the conflicts and quarrels with teachers. The repetition of such violent behavior affects the atmosphere at school and makes the other learners feel insecure. Therefore, it appears judicious for us to shape these misbehaving learners’ positive attitudes by engaging them in a challenging ICT-based European partnership. Their active participation in this collaborative challenge will, on the one hand, enable them to acquire new skills in ICT and become creative. On the other hand, they will regain their self-esteem and self-confidence and become more respectful towards their schoolmates and teachers. Besides, the project will offer them an opportunity to meet other European learners of their age, to develop their oral communication competencies in foreign languages, to acquire intercultural skills, and thus, to build their European citizenship.To implement our partnership and hit our objectives we have shared tasks amongst us according to each other’s experience and expertise. A five-day ICT workshop will be organized for teachers in December 2020. Participants will learn how to use a variety of ICT tools, and how to share all created materials on a dynamic project website. Three Transnational Project Meetings will also take place. They will offer teachers the possibility to practice foreign languages, to get familiar with other European know-how by observing classes in the hosting countries, and to exchange good practice by giving ICT-based lessons themselves to local pupils. Regarding the learners, we will first make preliminary assessments and rate pupils’ ability level on a number of skills. Based on the results we will purposefully create small groups that blend abilities and backgrounds and incorporate team-building activities carefully adapted to their abilities and possibilities. Besides, we will have them complete tasks that involve using ICT and oral communication skills that they will likely need in their future professional life. Finally, they will participate in two ten-day citizenship language camps which will be held in two different partner countries. These camps will put these learners in authentic communication situations and give them good opportunities to cooperate with other European learners of their age and high up their self-confidence, make new friends, foster tolerance and enlarge their cultural horizons.To ensure the efficiency of our strategy, various evaluation tools will be developed and used. Communication between partners through video conferencing will occur every month to ensure the best follow up of the partnership activities, and a WhatsApp group will be used for day-to-day exchanges. To disseminate our results as widely as possible we will create a dynamic website, a Facebook page, a YouTube channel and a Twitter account. To sustain our partnership and its results we have agreed to continue our cooperation beyond the two years of the project through the Twinspace Portal. As a result, this partnership will not only help to fight against bullying and make the schools’ environment more positive and safer for learning for the other pupils, but will grant bullies a chance to change their image and behavior, and to high up their self-esteem. Moreover, it will allow them to acquire new skills which will undoubtedly raise their future social inclusion opportunities as well. The partnership will also allow constructive exchanges of good practice between European teachers, and promote the incorporation of innovative digital teaching method and project-based pedagogy in the teachers' daily pedagogical practice, which will make their classes more engaging and more challenging for these main target groups as well as for the other learners in the partner schools.

"The project EUROPE’S FRIENDS aimed at attaining the strategic goals common to the 5 partner schools from Romania, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Turkey, namely: -An educational system compatible with the EU norms by a reconsideration of the approach to the teaching act from the part of the teaching staff -Reducing school dropout rates -Ensuring equal opportunities to education for students The horizontal priorities underlying this project, according to the Erasmus program, were: -Improvement of students’ basic and transversal competences -Development of students’ social, civic, cultural skills -Formal and non-formal education as a basis for long-life learning -Combating discrimination and segregation -Social inclusion The project’s major objective was represented by the development of students’ competence through a combination of formal and non-formal education. Specific objectives proposed were attained: 70 students developed their English language, sign language and IT communication skills 70 students developed their social, civic, intercultural skills necessary for an openness to life-long learning, in order to build up a personality capable to adapt itself to the requirements of the labor market 55 teachers developed their IT and English language skills needed in their teaching activity 55 teachers combined formal and non-formal education in their teaching activity 55 teachers learned/developed sign language The target group was made up of: -28 hearing-impaired students from schools in Romania and Poland, middle school, aged 12 to 16 -42 students without special educational needs from schools in Portugal, Turkey and Greece, middle school, aged 12 to 16 -55 teachers from the 5 partner schools During the project there took place: -two transnational meetings in Portugal–January, 2018 and Romania–June, 2019 -an IT course for teachers, held in Turkey, March 2018 – where they learned interactive teaching-learning-evaluation methods, got acquainted with IT software necessary in the teaching activity -""Traditional Handicrafts and the Art of Photography Camp“-Poland, in the mountainous region of Bieszczady, in May 2018 -” UNESCO Patrimony Camp"" -Greece, Athens, May 2019 In each camp have participated 7 students, accompanied by 2 teachers from each school Following their engagement in this project: Students: -participated in weekly English language activities where they learned about the history, geography, culture of EU countries, which have enhanced their competitive spirit and motivation for the acquiring the English language; students with the best results in the evaluations of these activities went to the camps -developed their English language communication skills following participation in English language activities conducted in each school throughout the project and the two camps organized in Poland and Greece - developed their IT skills -acquired knowledge about the history, geography, culture and traditions of EU countries -got acquainted with the UNESCO sights and objectives specific to partner countries -developed their social, civic, intercultural skills necessary for an openness to life-long learning, resulting in an increase of self-esteem Teachers: -developed their IT and English language skills necessary in their teaching activity, following participation in the IT course (12 teachers from each country) and the camp activities (50 teachers-10 from each country, including host country) -combined formal and non-formal education in their teaching activity -learned/developed sign language In the course of the project the following products have been achieved: -the project’s site -10 interactive lessons on the history, geography, culture and traditions of European countries -5 guidebooks about the history, geography, culture and traditions of European countries, written in the native language of the partner schools, in English and translated into sign language -2photo albums -1photo exhibition -2 films presenting the camps in which the students have participated and the activities conducted together with their teachers Access to the project’s site is free of charge, limitless After the project: -The prestige of each school has increased, at local, national and international level -The European dimension of each school engaged in the project has been heightened -Each teacher has become a trainer, capable to transfer European models of good practice to the field of formal, non-formal and informal education, thus contributing to a more dynamic teaching practice in the 5 partner schools. The project was concluded with the International Conference EUROPE’S FRIENDS taking place in Romania, in June 2019, attended by 200 persons. The results of the project will be disseminated, exploited and valorized through workshops organized in all partner schools in the next years"

"The project ""Bullying and cyberbullying in the world of silence and not only"" aims to achieve the strategic objectives common to the six partner schools in Romania, Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.Following the SWOT analysis, it was found that all partner schools set strategic goals such as reducing school dropout and preventing aggression.The major objective of the project is to develop the emotional intelligence so that they can learn their awareness and self-control skills and learn empathy towards others.The effects of aggression can be devastating, letting victims feel unhelpful, humiliated, angry, depressed, even with suicidal thoughts, so affected students will have a low motivation to learn. In recent years there has been a tendency to familiarize children with information technology, through which they learn things, habits, abilities. So, with technology, bullying is no longer limited, so cyberbullying can occur anywhere, via smartphones, emails, texts, and social networks. Children with disabilities are two to three times more susceptible to being assaulted than children without disabilities.The specific objectives proposed are:O1- A total of 84 students will develop their communication skills in English and international sign language.O2- 84 students will develop their emotional intelligence so that they can learn their awareness and self-control skills and have empathy towards others.O3- A total of 78 teachers will develop their ability to support drama activities through which students can develop self-awareness and self-control skills and learn how to have empathy towards others.They will also develop English skills needed in their teaching.O4- 78 teachers will combine training with non-formal education in their teaching.O5- 78 teachers will be initiated and will acquire basic competences in the language of international signs.Most pupils with special educational needs and those in ordinary schools to whom this project is addressed live with low incomes and can not afford to travel abroad; that's why the project ""Bullying and cyberbullying in the world of silence and not only"" is an opportunity for them to see Europe.Target group:- 14 pupils with disabilities from schools in Romania and Macedonia, gymnasium niv (12-16 years old)- 70 students from Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, gymnasium niv (12-16 years old)- 78 teachers from the six schoolsMain activities:- 2 transnational meetings in Portugal and Romania where 3 teachers from each partner school will attend- 240 pupils (40 from each country) will be involved in English activities, drama training, international sign language and specific culture of European countries, project logo implementation, good practice guide in prevention of bullying and cyberbullying, posters, leaflets-84 pupils will participate in the camps in Slovakia and Turkey ""Say No! To bullying and cyberbullying"", completed with a flashmob and a photovoice exhibition. There will be 7 pupils from each country. Students will be accompanied by 2 teachers. Each stream will be structured over a 10- day period, with 2 days for travel.- The course ""How to stop bullying and cyberbullying and promote social emotional learning"", organized in Macedonia (course support will be done by the Macedonian and Czech team) - March 2021. The training course will include information, theoretical informations, methods of prevention of bullying and the promotion of social emotional learning, cyberbullying, examples of good practices and testimonials.In campus activities, with the programs established by responsible teams, students will develop their English language skills, sign language, social skills, civic, intercultural skills necessary for their social inclusion, role play, dramatization and socialization therapy. During the project, electronic materials will be created, bullying and prevention. The innovative character of the project consists in translating the information in the sign language, posted on the project site.Teachers participating in mobility within the project will acquire the ability to support drama activities through which students develop self-awareness and self-control skills and learn how to have empathy towards others. Participants in the target group will develop their knowledge of English and the skills needed to combine formal and non-formal education in their teaching to make education more attractive.Knowing common aspects of bullying and cyberbullying will give teachers the opportunity to shape personalities that are capable of defending and preventing bullying and cyberbullying from schools."

The project, Q-Ed! Equalizing the chances of success in life of pre-university students through a quality digital education, responds to the priorities of the Erasmus+ program:Innovative practices in a digital era/Social inclusion/Reinforcing the development of key competencesJust 50% of Romanian pupils are able to use their knowledge learned in school in their daily lives.This is demonstrated by the results obtained by Romania in the 2018 PISA tests, weaker compared to the 2015 and 2012 tests, in Maths-430 points and also in Science-426 points and in Reading-428 points, according to the report published by the OECD. Instead of helping to reduce inequalities, the school keeps them! We have a school that remains not passing the one of its fundamental social missions: that of helping to equalize the chances of success in lifeThe aim of the project is to equalize the chances of the students in the primary and secondary education for success in life by developing and reinforcing the key competences and to apply, analyze and interpret the knowledge acquired in the schoolThe target group of the project are teachers and students from preuniversity mass and special education from Romania, Czech and Finland-teachers/inspectors from primary and secondary mass and special education: Romanian Language, national partner and sign languages, Maths, Science/Biology/ Physics/Chemistry, English -students at 2nd, 4th&6th grades, from mass and special educationObjectives-Developing the skills for applying and interpreting the knowledge acquired by students from mass and special education in school, by creating an elearning platform with assessment and self-assessment sheets, developed according to the PISA tests for the 2nd, 4th&6th grades-Forming of literacy skills, for students in 2nd,4th &6th grades from mass and special education, by developing of multi-/inter- and transdisciplinary reception tools of literary and non-literary text-an open resource for teachers from different disciplines and students-Improvement of the professional competences of 24 teachers to evaluate the aptitudes of application, analysis and interpretation of the students' knowledge, by developing a Guide of assessment methods and strategiesProject implementation will lead to results with a short, medium and long term impactImmediate results-24 teachers/school inspectors from Romania and the Czech will improve their assessment and self-assessment skills of students' knowledge and their ability to apply knowledge in different contexts by participating in the Training Course, in Finland.They will: develop their professional, cultural and linguistic skills/understand the causes of poor results in PISA tests/learn about the dynamics and characteristics of active learning, the most effective learning and assessment strategies/knew the key elements and trends related to ICT and online learning, how to train and motivate students through interactive and participative pedagogical methods, to combat functional illiteracy and learning based on knowledge transfer/become able to transfer European models of good practice in the field of student skills assessment-the Guide of Methods, strategies and techniques for evaluating and self-evaluating the knowledge acquired by students in school for their participation in PISA tests-an e-learning platform with 240 of assessment and self-assessment/training tests, according to the PISA tests for the 2nd,4th&6th grades in mass & special education:40 Reading/Writing skills assessment tests and 40 Maths skills assessment tests for 2nd grade, 40 Communication competences and 40 Maths for 4th grade,40 tests of Communication(Romanian, English) and 40 Maths and Science/Physics/Biology for 6th grade, translated in national & sign language, English for the hearing impaired persons-a guide for the use of the e-learning platform-a progress questionnaire addressed to the direct beneficiaries of the e-learning platform and of the tools for text reception, to assess the impact and to remedy any deficiencies-10 tools for the multi-/inter- and transdisciplinary literary and non-literary texts reception-open resource for teachers and students from mass&special education.The novelty elements are:the diversity of texts&organization of the resource text/the teaching of scientific vocabulary/reading strategies/the formative evaluation for the literacy skills in the discipline of study and learning auxiliary texts, that will be used in teaching-200 teachers/school inspectors initiated in the use of e-learning platform and the tools for text reception, participating at the multiplier eventIn the long term, the results of the project implementation are-Improving the results from the PISA tests and the National Evaluations-Reducing the educational gaps between large urban & rural, between mass & special education-Developing the ability of students to extrapolate what they have learned and apply knowledge in different contexts