The Contribution of Comenius School Partnership Projects to Achievement of Comenius Objectives
Abstract
Education, regarded as the most important issue for centuries, sustains its significance today. Enhancing the quality of education, constructing intercultural awareness and encouraging language learning have become more prominent and new activities have become to be employed in order to achieve them in the 21st century during which a rapid development and globalization are experienced. In this paper Comenius School Partnership Projects, which is one of the sub-branch of Socrates Education Programs in which educational activities are carried out by the European Union, have been clarified. The problem statement of the research is whether Comenius Projects have contributed to achieve Comenius objectives or not. The aim of the research is to reveal whether studies with in the context of projects improve the education in the schools, contribute to the individual developments of students, and promote language learning or not. The study group of the research consists of primary and secondary school students benefiting from Comenius school partnership projects. A scale has been developed so as to collect data for the research. As a result of the implementation of the scale, which is proved to be valid and reliable, it is seen that the students participating in Comenius school partnership project have developed positive believes about school their attendance rate and expectations have increased, they have become more volunteer to take part in social activities and to take responsibility, they have began to enjoy cooperation, they have been more creative in solving problems, their enthusiasm for learning a foreign language has increased and their prejudice against various cultures has decreased. Summary Comenius, which is a sub-activity of Socrates Action Programme and targeting the whole spectrum of education from pre-primary school - the first phase of education - to primary and secondary education involves all members (students, teachers, other staff, local authorities, parent associations, educational institutions) of educational sector. Comenius supports school partnership, training of school staff and school education network projects (europa.eu.int, 2006). Comenius supports activities in accordance with three basic objectives. These basic objectives of Comenius are to enhance the quality and to reinforce the European dimension of school education, to encourage language learning and to promote intercultural awareness (Atabay, 2003). Comenius school partnerships involve projects jointly prepared and run by schools from 31 countries participating in Socrates. In condition that at least one of the countries is a member of European Union, unlimited partner schools can prepare projects on any subject they wish and ask for financial support through applying to national agencies or commission. As well as it contributes achieve the overall objectives of Socrates by supporting school partnership between countries, Comenius aims at both teachers and students' gaining new skills related not only to personal but also to occupational life such as communicational and presentational skills, making decisions, problem solving, creativity, team work, and cooperation. Comenius achieves these objectives via school, language and school development projects (Comenius 1 Okullar İçin El Kitabı , 2006). The contribution of Comenius school partnership projects in achieving overall Comenius objectives is the problem of this research. Purpose of the Research Whether activities carried out regarding the projects have positive affect on education at school, whether they contribute to personal development of students and whether they promote learning of languages are the sub-problems of this research. Method and Development of Assesment Tool The research is a study of progress method. The universe of the research includes the students in the primary and secondary education who participate in Comenius projects. The example group of the research consists of the students (65) from schools which benefit from the stated Comenius School Partnership Projects in Kayseri and the students (20) from Verona Einaudi School in Italy which benefit from the same projects. The survey technique has been used to collect data for this research. Five-option likert type survey has been developed by considering the objectives of Socrates and Comenius programmes. For contract validity of sub-scales of the tool, factor analysis; for reliability, Cronbach Alfa reliability coefficient; for distinguishing of items, calculation of total item correlation coefficients are implemented. Findings and Discussion When the aspect the attitudes towards the school and the teachers carried out in the research is considered with regard to level, gender and nationality, the students think that they have gained positive ideas about their schools and their expectations have arisen and that an understanding of team work have emerged at school. In addition, they state that their attitudes towards the teachers have changed, they have behaved more respectfully and that they expect more from the teachers. However, it is observed that it slightly affected students' internalizing the school and their attendance to school. When we examine the attitudes towards courses with regard to level, gender and nationality, we see that students think they listen to courses more voluntarily and they participate more in courses, they do their homework on time and they participate in social activities voluntarily and without hesitation to take a responsibility. It is also observed that Turkish students have been influenced more from nearly all elements of this aspect when compared to Italian students. The third aspect of the research, communication and creativity, shows that students think their relations with their friends are better; they cooperate more and enjoy unity and cooperation; moreover, students think they can communicate more easily with the other people. From the point of creativity, students think that they behave more logically when solving their problems, they can create original ideas, and they make their decisions more logically and that they participate in activities improving creativity. It is observed that Comenius school partnership projects are effective in students' enjoyment being with their friends and also in improvement of their communication skills. When language learning aspect is examined with regard to level, gender and nationality, students have stated that Comenius School Partnership Projects have aroused their interest in learning European languages, and they have made them think that learning languages is beneficial, they believe that second foreign language classes are essential at school and both their interest and participation in foreign language courses have increased. The fact that students indicate ideas about all five elements of this aspect at high levels shows Comenius projects are very successful in encouraging language learning. It is probable that this situation will lead to positive results in language learning. When the last aspect of the research, cultural behavior, is examined with regard to level, gender and nationality, students think they participate in activities introducing both their own culture and other cultures, their prejudices have decreased and it is essential that culturally informative subjects should be included in school curriculum. As a result of the research, the students have stated that they have gained positive ideas about their schools and their expectations have risen, an understanding of team work has emerged at school. In addition, they state that their attitudes towards the teachers have changed, they behave more respectfully and they expect more from the teachers. However, they have indicated that it has slightly affected students' internalizing the school and their attendance to school . Students have also stated that they listen to courses more voluntarily and their participation in courses has increased, they do their homework on time and that they participate in social activities voluntarily without hesitating to take a responsibility. Turkish students have agreed more with almost all items of this aspect when compared to Italian students. Additionally, students have stated that Comenius School Partnership Projects have aroused their interest in learning European languages, made them think that learning languages is beneficial, they believe that second foreign language is essential at school curriculum and that their interest in foreign language courses and their participation in these courses have increased. Besides these, students think they participate in activities that introduces both their own culture and other cultures, their prejudices have lessened and it is essential that culturally informative subjects should be included in school curriculum. Conclusion Comenius 1 School Partnership Projects, that are sub-phase of Socrates, one of European Union's educational programmes, cover from pre-primary to primary and secondary education and focus on objectives such as promoting educational quality, encouragement of language learning, and recognition and presentation of cultural values. These projects include several ranges of activities which are prepared and carried out jointly by the schools in Europe and Turkey, in which students participate actively during this process, and which are directly interconnected with and integrated into school curriculum. The result of the research shows that these projects have contributed to education from various aspects and most of the goals of Comenius have been achieved to a great extand. Depending on the findings of the research it is possible to say that it has had significant effects especially in encouraging language learning. Moreover the interviews with the coordinator teacher of schools that are involved in Comenius school partnership projects have indicated that the atmosphere of the school has changed and students have developped more positive attitudes especially towards language courses and students' participation in courses has increased at a significant level. This evidently shows that Comenius School Partnership Projects will greatly contribute to motivation of students in learning of languages, and success in language learning, which is one of the most prominent educational problem in Turkey. The cultural aspect of the projects hugely contributes to the construction of intercultural dialogue and tolerance, which has gained more importance recently. Students get rid of their prejudices via gathering true information about different cultures thanks to the activities carried out within the project, which makes the cultural differentiation accepted as a value and respect. Students have actively participated in all activities within the project and have had opportunities to learn through practising and experiencing. For instance, within a project about protection of the natural beauties in the school district, students take a closer look at this district and thus get information. They gain great experience by attaining all information (historical, geographical, cultural) through this way. As well as arousing the motivation of the students, Comenius Projects provides them with learning environments which they can actively participate in. As all kinds of projects prepared require the use of instructional materials and ICT in both preparation and implementation phases, it is an important repulsive force in spreading the use of such kind of materials and technologies which are not common in schools of our country. Thanks to the financial support provided to fulfill the project, all kinds of materials and technologies can be supplied. Especially considering the importance of visual materials and tools in learning, it is easier to understand the significance of Comenius projects in enhancing the quality of education. Besides, Comenius projects create valuable opportunities to develop communication skills, creativity, and cooperative studying ability of the students. Relations between students from schools of different project partner countries and mobility visits provide students with important opportunities. As all activity within the project require team work and cooperation, it is possible for students to acquire an understanding of team work and work cooperatively.
Keywords
Comenius Okul Ortaklıkları Projelerinin, Comenius Amaçlarının Gerçekleşmesine Katkısı
Öz
Bu çalışmada Avrupa Birliği'nin eğitim alanında yürüttüğü faaliyetlerden Socrates eğitim programının alt dallarından biri olan Comenius Okul Ortaklıkları Projeleri açıklanmıştır. Araştırmanın problemi, Comenius projelerinin, Comenius amaçlarının gerçekleşmesine katkı sağlayıp sağlayamadığıdır. Araştırmanın amacı, Projelerle ilgili yapılan çalışmaların, okulların eğitimine olumlu etkilerinin olup olmadığı, öğrencilerin bireysel gelişimine katkı sağlayıp sağlamadığı, dil öğrenimi açısından olumlu gelişmelere yol açıp açmadığıdır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu, Comenius okul ortaklıkları projelerinden yararlanan ilk ve ortaöğretim öğrencileridir. Araştırmada veri toplamak için ölçek geliştirilmiştir. Geçerliği ve güvenirliği yapılan ölçeğin, uygulanması sonucunda; Comenius okul ortaklıkları projesinden yararlanan öğrencilerin, okulla ilgili olumlu düşünceler geliştirdikleri, beklentilerin arttığı; derslere katılımlarında artış olduğu, sorumluluk almaktan kaçınmayarak sosyal faaliyetlere daha çok katılmak istedikleri; işbirliği kurmaktan zevk aldıkları, problemlerin çözümünde daha yaratıcı oldukları; yabancı dil öğrenme isteklerinin arttığı ve farklı kültürlere ait önyargılarının azaldığı görülmüştür.
Anahtar Kelimeler
