mural project competition

One of the events organized on Tolerance Day by TIME team in our school was the competition for a new mural design. A lot of students took part in it and here we present the winning works.

album with students' works

here is the link to the album compiled by our Bulgarian partner to show the works produced by students during the Art for Tolerance that took place during the first working visit in our project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_f26yJbKYs&feature=email

comenius conference in Szczecin

On 11th October we attended a Comenius conference in Szczecin organized by Szczecin Board of Education. We had a great opportunity to show off the products of TIME project as well as exchange experiences with other schools running Comenius projects.
http://www.kuratorium.szczecin.pl/index.php/fundusze-strukturalne/comenius-partnerskie-projekty-szko/3594-konferencja-informacyjno-promocyjna-programu-uczenie-si-przez-cae-ycie-comenius

VISIT IN HUNGARY

Our team took part in the working visit in Szent Istvan Gymnasium et Iskola in Mako, Hungary. We spent there seven days (22-29 September 2011). The programme was really interesting, full of work and fun.  At the opening ceremony each team presented a dance and we learnt a beautiful Hungarian song. Later we worked on the  „Tolerance Glossary” attending ICT workshops. We also presented our countries at  „Family and Health Day”. During the event we also worked in international teams to do project tasks such as creating a wall of tolerance, solving quizzes about partner countries, taking part in „trust game”, playing sports with disabled people and  attending joint drama workshops.

During our trip to the beautiful Hungarian capital we visited „Invisible Exhibition” which is organized in the way that the visitors can experience the world of blind people. It was one of the most valuable moments of the whole project which allowed us to become more aware of the needs and feelings of disabled people. While visiting Szeged we could see a synagogue what gave us an opportunity to broaden our knowledge of a different religion.

A very exciting part of the visit was the sports afternoon when we learnt a very popular Hungarian game „meta” and also played volleyball and football.

The visit was also an excellent occasion to strengthen the intercultural bonds and develop interpersonal skills. We brought home great memories and we have a strong feeling that we are becoming more and more conscious citizens of Europe and tolerant people.

evaluation report 3

EVALUATION REPORT – WIDER PUBLIC

We asked 20 people – teachers, parents and local people 5 questions about our project. The questions were as follows:

1.      What are the partner countries in the project?

2.      What country is the team going to visit next?

3.      What are the main aims of the project?

4.      Do you know any events organized by T.I.M.E. team?

5.      Did you take part in any of them? If so, did you like it?

Most of the questioned people knew that we have a partner in Bulgaria whereas only a few of them were aware of our Hungarian partner. That is probably due to the fact that we have already visited Bulgaria and disseminated the results of the visit widely. A lot of the polled thought that the next meeting is in Poland so now we know that we haven’t informed the public well enough of our forthcoming visit to Hungary.

Almost everyone was aware of our aims – spreading tolerance among people and getting to know  foreign cultures and languages. Most of the people that were questioned knew of our actions such as Day of Tolerance or Joint Photo of the Inhabitants of Lipiany. A lot of them were only spectators but they liked the events.

evaluation - report on the survey conducted after the Bulgarian visit

1.       All participants of the trip said that this journey lived up to their expectations. Most people said that thanks to the trip they met new friends and visited many interesting places. Students got to know different culture and Bulgarian customs. One person mentioned that the visit was really well organized.

2.       Everyone respond affirmatively, all of their expectations came true. They acquired a lot of new skills. Almost everybody said that now their knowledge of English is much better. They also learnt to work in a group and opened to the people. Three persons mentioned  skills of making graffiti and one said that she/he improved her/his knowledge of tolerance. Somebody also mentioned  increased knowledge about Bulgaria.

3.       When it comes to interpersonal contacts, most people agreed with each other. Students met new friends and got to know their characters. Another person mentioned that conversation is the most important thing, no matter what languages people can speak. Now most students keep in touch with each other. They finally overcame the language barrier.

4.       More than half of respondents said that there are significant differences in customs of countries. They got to know traditional Bulgarian dance, which is different from Polish. Others said that bread and salt greeting was similar to Polish one. Bulgarian seeing off the graduates also  was a little different. Despite this, students were fascinated by the differences between countries and by the discovery of similarities.

5.       Students found out that everyone is different, but all people are equal. We should tolerate differences in our behavior, religions, customs. Tolerance is a hard concept which must be spread and respected, regardless of the origin, appearance and skin color. We can’t judge people by their ‘cover’.

6.       All of the respondents said that they developed their language skills. They gained enthusiasm for communication in foreign languages and refreshed their abilities. One person even stated it was real English lesson in practice. Most people obtained richer vocabulary and they could check their knowledge.

7.       The most impressing was the welcoming greeting. We were really surprised. It turned out we can’t judge a book by its cover. Most of us were astonished with the folk dance and clothes. One person was impressed with the openness of Bulgarian people. Some people liked  creating graffiti.

8.        At this point everybody answered unequivocally. We enjoyed painting puzzle in joint teams and creating graffiti. Some people also enjoyed  planting a tree.

9.        Most of us changed our views. Someone mentioned that he matured and became more open in the way of foreign languages. Other people considered they became more tolerant and changed their relation to other countries. It got better.

10.    More than half of the group stated that in the future they will travel a lot and as a result they will be more open to new people. Almost all of us certified they will learn foreign languages. People from the project gained huge experience, which will be very useful in the future. One person mentioned that she will avoid airplane flights.

11.    All the people answered affirmatively to this question. One person hinted that tolerance is an attempt to create one big family. Another person said that tolerance is getting rid of barriers and mutual respect. Other participants mentioned that we can’t judge the book by its cover.  One person stated that we can’t be guided by the stereotypes. Trips like this unite people in some way. They open our eyes  despite different  language, culture, appearance all the people are the same- we are equal. ‘It is worth to arouse sense of tolerance in other people from young age’- it’s opinion of  one of the polled people. Before we judge something let’s try to look closely at it.

video clip on the Bulgarian Culture exhibition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rHj3f9I5Y8&feature=feedwll