These days, the vital teachers’ goal is to teach their students to be successful in the adult life beyond the school. For this reason, we are aimed to help students master and develop the key competencies and the 21st-century skills. 

The key competencies are defined as the competencies each European citizen needs for personal fulfillment and development, employment, social inclusion, and active citizenship in “Council Recommendation of European Commission on key competencies for Life- Long Learning” (17 January 2018). Considering this, we paid special attention to developing in the students these competencies and skills while working in the project.

 

Communication in the mother tongue: 

It covers using the language appropriately, effectively, and respectfully. 

This project is in English, but it also includes tasks in the mother language, such as discussing the project’s activities within the national teams in the native language, presenting the project to the people around them: their classmates, parents, friends, etc. So, they regularly use and develop their mother language skills throughout the project.  

 

Communication in foreign Languages: 

This competency is also about using the language appropriately and effectively. If the language is foreign, it becomes much more important to use it correctly to avoid misunderstandings. 

As mentioned before, the project language is English. We are partners from 6 different countries, and all the partners learn English as a foreign language. Therefore, it can be said that this project is an excellent opportunity for the students and the teachers since it creates real situations in which English language can be used for communication. The students can learn new words, expressions, idioms and comprehend the structures or speech acts. They work in international groups and regularly exchange ideas with their peers. 

 

Mathematical competency and basic competencies in science and technology: 

Mathematical competency includes logical and spatial thinking in solving and presenting everyday problems. Competence in science includes understanding the natural world and the cause-effect relation. Competence in technology covers using the technology interactively and mastering ICT literacy. 

We aim to improve the students in these fields in the project. For example, they design logos, create slogans, make videos, presentations, and e-books, do surveys and online quizzes. In all these activities, they use their competence in mathematics and technology. They think, analyze, and make guesses. 

 

Digital competency: 

It is connected with media literacy and using technology effectively. 

The project creates opportunities for the students to use technology interactively. The students will learn various Web 2.0 tools and can use them when needed. They create avatars, logos, videos, games, etc. They learn about media literacy and disinformation, e-safety, and netiquette rules.

 

Social competencies:

These competencies include collaborating, managing, and resolving conflicts, interacting respectfully, and understanding global issues, human rights, etc. 

This project unites 12 schools and over 80 students from different cities and countries. It is a small society, a sample of the world population having different backgrounds, cultures, and expectations. The students will work in their school groups or transnational teams. They will need to cooperate and work collaboratively to complete the tasks. While trying to do the activities, they may face problems. They are expected to overcome these conflicts democratically. In the project, the students will learn to cope with the problems, express their ideas respectfully, and defend themselves while being fair. Thus, they will develop and improve their social competences.

 

Empathy and expression:

Raising empathy and developing the emotional intelligence is one of the main aims of this project. During the project, the students will carry out many tasks together and try to be polite, attentive, tolerant and sympathetic to each other all the time. 

 

Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship: 

It can be defined as “leadership” and “creativity.” It requires making personal plans, projects, and attempts.

This project will present many activities to develop students’ creativity, such as logo-designing, making short videos, preparing presentations, etc. Moreover, the team and group work activities lead to improved leadership skills. The students will need to express themselves well and make the others accept their offers or ideas. In this project, the students will be encouraged to take control of the activities. 

 

Learning to learn: 

It consists of autonomous learning skills as well as analytical and critical thinking skills. 

The students will learn to use knowledge and information appropriately and interactively in the project. They are responsible for their learning in the project. They are given task and tool instructions, and they decide how to put things together to create the product, and they successfully solve the problems they come across. They will be guided by the teachers. Therefore, this project will show them there are always new things to learn and discover, and they have the power to determine their own way of learning.