MULTILATERALCOMENIUS PROJECT

2010 - 2012SCHOOL PARLIAMENTBOOKLET OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Project institutions:

• Mus, Turkey – Mus Fen Lisesi – Coordinator• Zarzecze, Poland – Publiczne Gimnazjum im, Jana Pawlallw Zarzeczn• Zeist, Netherlands – KSG De Breul Dutch• Vratsa, Bulgaria – Profesionalna gimnazia po targovia I restoranyiorstvo

This product has been funded with support from the European commission. This

publication reflects only the views of the authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SUMMARY

The main point of the project was to compose and attain a more dem-

ocratic way of directing the school by involving students in the administra-

tion process. To achieve this, a school parliament was composed in all partner

schools. The students experienced the election process similar to that in the

real life. Upon the start of the project, the pupils in all partner schools were

informed on the project. They were required to get ready for the election cam-

paigns. The candidates for the parliament were chosen from all of the classes.

Among these candidates, a pupil representative was elected from each class.

Class representatives organized the school parliament. After all these activities,

the chairman of the parliament was elected by the parliament members. The

chairman of the parliament was at the same school pupils’ chairman. For the

School parliament represent the students, it shared all kinds of problems and

needs relevant to students with school administration. At the same time, this

parliament took place in school administration. The pupils were participating

in school administration actively and a democratic school administration and

education environment was provided. All the activities were done and shared

and each partner shared the problems evolving or good examples. Therefore,

the applications of such democratic environments in our schools were exam-

ined in terms of European dimension comparatively. Every partner started a

school paper or leaflet to write articles about School Parliament achievements,

development and ideas, as well as political systems in every country. The part-

nership was among Turkey (coordinator), Poland, Netherlands and Bulgaria be-

tween 1 September 2010 and 30 July 2012.

OBJECTIVES1- The concrete objectives of the partnership are:

• To found a students’ parliament therefore providing pupils participating in the school administration and to create more democratic medium in the school.

• To form democracy awareness in the participating organizations. • To make students express themselves in front of public by founding democracy

parliaments in the schools, and the pupils’ having roles in the election campaigns ac-tively

• To contribute the students have some skills in terms of active citizenship. • To give students the culture of democracy and to develop pluralism consciousness.• To prepare the students to real life situations.• To provide students a broad vision in the context of European dimensions. • To supply the skills of participatory persons, communicating, adapting the demo-

cratic leadership and composing public opinion.• To make students know their own culture, and the other cultures and converge the

other with tolerance.• To give importance to the principle of “equality” and to behave in accordance.• To develop good examples in administration• To improve communication in the foreign language• To evolve the desire to learn the other cultures and languages.

2- The subjects or problems that is intended to be addressed:

The most important subject is oriented to “Citizenship” and “Democracy”. The prob-lem is that sometimes the pupils are not taken into consideration and they are ignored in the administration. Therefore, the students can not express and tell their own problems and needs efficiently enough. Nevertheless, the pupils in a school should have contribu-tions in the school administration. The project will give them the opportunity talk for themselves.

3- Observing the practices in European countries, it is intended to improve various and different points of view integrated from different countries and cultures. We will deal with the subjects with problem- solution approach. Exchanging ideas with our project partners, we will enrich and modify the practices. At the same the election method will be same as the real life. The procedure of the election and the mechanism of the parlia-ment will take the model of the Republic model, the one in Turkey. The approach to be used in innovating the administration of the school will be based upon “Total Quality Management” concept. Brainstorming, surveys to be done in different periods, election campaigns, and democracy applications will be used.

THE RESULTS OF ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE PROJECT

The process of monitoring and evaluation was directed by the components of the project: the objectives, the activities, results and realized product. The following evaluation instruments used were: direct observations and feedback on the activities and surveys and questionnaires applied in different moments filled in by students, teachers and parents.

The realization of the elections in each school was a success. A number of steps preceded each stage:

Surveys “Needs of both administrators and staff and the pupils”

1. Criteria of choosing the target groups and candidates for the election2. Identifying the candidates in each partner country3. Preparing the posters, handouts, leaflets by the student candidates4. Election of candidates from each classroom5. Organizing the general election school-wide 6. Announcing the result of the election7. Preparation of the principal candidates for the election of school parliament

These were successfully carried out resulting in a school delegation which now in 2012 not only has a voice within the school but takes part in external discussion bodies such as local parlia-ment; inter schools and the European Youth Parliament. At each meeting the schools presented the progress of their respective student councils, placed in a social and cultural context so that each school could see that the democratic process is dependent on social and cultural situations of the countries involved. Dissemina-tion has taken place in the participating countries in the form of articles published in school maga-zines. The various school parliaments have also disseminated to the school management with as result that they are considered serious partners in the school parliaments. Their voice now plays an ever-increasing role in decision making in their respective schools and changes are noticeable.

Before and during the project questionnaires and surveys were filled in by teachers, parents and pupils to assess the needs of the parties involved. These needs were addressed in the parlia-ments and the results were disseminated retrospectively. Parents, teachers, school management and pupils alike now reap the benefit of the new or improved democratic school climate.

Reports and photographs of the meetings have also been posted onto a website on which the progress is visualized. The local media was also involved in reporting various visits. Alterations in the course of the project were discussed by email and self- evaluation which was involved in evaluating the progress of the project. All partners elicited to what extent each school involved benefitted from the project at pupil, staff and school management level. Evaluation of-fered the opportunity to establish if the assumed roles were realized by each partner, to check if the achieved activities are same with those proposed in the application, comparing the obtained activities with the expected ones and identifying the educational potential of the project and their impact.

So doing, we were able to accomplish the aim of the evaluation: to establish if the activities of the project were achieved in accordance with the project that was initially proposed, with the expected results and impact; if the activities and the products/ results of our project were effec-tively realized, and, following such conclusions, if we could improve the quality of the project by improving the interventions in the project.

THE MOBILITY ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECTBULGARIA

NETHERLANDS

POLAND

TURKEY

THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN BULGARIA

THE RESULTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN BULGARIA

The task of Profesionalna gimnazia po targovia I restorantiorstvo ( Vocational school of trade and catering) Vratsa, Bulgaria was to compose and attain a more democratic way of directing the school by involving students in the administration process. To achieve this, a school parliament was composed in our school.

The concrete objectives of the partnership were: -To found a students’ parliament therefore providing pupils participating in the school administra-

tion and to create more democratic medium in the school. • To form democracy awareness in the participating organizations. • To make students express themselves in front of public by founding democracy parliaments in

the schools, and the pupils’ having roles in the election campaigns actively • To contribute the students have some skills in terms of active citizenship. • To give students the culture of democracy and to develop pluralism consciousness.• To prepare the students to real life situations.• To provide students a broad vision in the context of European dimensions. • To supply the skills of participatory persons, communicating, adapting the democratic leadership

and composing public opinion.• To make students know their own culture, and the other cultures and converge the other with

tolerance.• To give importance to the principle of “equality” and to behave in accordance.• To develop good examples in administration• To improve communication in the foreign language• To evolve the desire to learn the other cultures and languages.To achieved these aims our school participated in the following activities and meetings:• Criteria of choosing the target groups and candidates for the election• Identify the candidates in each partner country• Uploading the information on the webpage of the project (www.schoolparliament.org)• Surveys “Needs of both administrators and staff and the pupils”• Preparing the posters, handouts, leaflets by the student candidates• Election of candidates from each classroom• Preparation of the principal candidates for the election of school parliament• Writing articles for the school paper by the pupils• Questionnaires were applied to parents and students on the management of the school• Organizing the general election school-wide • Involving all the pupils in the election process • Announcing the result of the election• Presentations, videos, and photographs of the countries• Slideshows, photograph exhibitions of the activities• Meetings in all partner countries and exchange of experience• Preparation of a photograph album, leaflet and booklet of the project• Panel ‘Democracy and School ManagementI would like to say thank you to our partners from Turkey, Poland and the Netherland for great part-

THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN THE NETHERLANDS

THE RESULTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN THE NETHERLANDSKSG De Breul is a school situated in a relatively affluent area in the Netherlands: our parents are

generally well-off; our students are on the whole well-travelled and self-confident; our school has a rich tradition of democracy with a students’ council dating back to the 1970s. Our pupils have a sitting and equal vote in the school parliament on issues which pertain to their well-being. Democracy in our school has even led through the years to a student body which is involved in the hiring and firing of staff members (both teaching and ancillary).

With this in mind one could ask what effect a such-like project could have on our school. The fol-lowing project results show that our school has greatly benefitted from placing our Dutch ‘democracy’ in a European framework and has revealed to us that evaluation and adjustment of the democratic process is unavoidable and necessary to ensure continued future success.

Students at the Breul are traditionally not elected to take part in the Students’ Council. At our school they apply for a position and are screened by a board of sitting members and teaching staff. This is done to ensure that the council is not run by the popular students, but by those most suited to the task. In the past few years the popularity of the council has diminished. For school year 2012-13 the number of applicants has leapt up to 35. Obviously the project has contributed to this success. In school year 2011-12 the first election campaign took place to choose a delegation to sit in the school parliament and the delegation and chairman were duly elected.

The dissemination of the results of the visits to the project partners in school publications has shed light on the importance of participation in the democratic process to all involved in the formation of school policy – school management, teacher, student and parent councils alike. The prospect of visiting foreign countries might also form an aspect of this success.

The project has taken our students and staff members to Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey. Three times a small delegation of staff and pupils set off to a member state to visit a school. Our student and staff members made acquaintance with their European peers and their respective school and government systems. We discussed schools and school policy, often in the framework of the socio-political situa-tion in varying European settings and returned home with renewed appreciation of the freedom and autonomy we enjoy in the Netherlands. But not without lessons learnt! The Netherlands is an affluent country and often self-complacent (sometimes bordering on a false sense of over-confidence). In the countries we visited, the staff and pupils often have to strive to achieve due to the hurdles experienced in the lands. This often seemed to result in an ambition and drive on the part of students and staff which the Dutch can definitely learn from. The countries we visited are definitely in the lift.

In preparation for the visits the students prepared English-language Powerpoint or Prezi presenta-tions to reveal facts about Dutch culture, our school and the participating student bodies within the school. We also were presented by similar presentations from the other project members. This led to comparing and contrasting the organisations and also, just as important, placing the organisations in a broader socio-political context of the region. This emphasized the difference between the participat-ing schools. This was one of the main eye-openers to all involved and probably reaches the sore of the project aims – increasing European understanding between the member states.

A couple of our sitting members of the students’ council have taken their responsibilities outside the school perimeters and now partake in the national students’ council (LAKS) where they use the skills developed at school – and indirectly their experiences drawn from this project to propagate student participation at a national level. In school year 2011-12 our school also took part in the European Youth Parliament and we now have students participating in fora and other International EYP sessions. These will be continued.

All in all this project has contributed in developing key competences and skills and acquiring priceless knowledge to improve our school democratic system and also to examine this in a European framework. It was an invaluable experience for which we thank our partners from Turkey, Bulgaria and Poland for the opportunity to learn from each other.

THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN POLAND

THE RESULTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN POLAND

The task of Publiczne Gimnazjum im. Jana Pawła II in Zarzecze, Poland is to make stu-dents aware of the democratic applications and their rights. All the participants are to be aware of different culture and look for ways of possible future cooperation.

A lot of efforts were put into the development of democratic environment. First, stu-dents prepared their election campaign and the election at school. Then, put some ideas to effort, for example organizing Valentine’s day disco or the charity “you can also be a Santa Claus”. The meetings of the parliament with teachers taught them how to express their opinions, discuss the solutions, problems and ideas. They perceive school as a friendly place where there is a kind atmosphere.

The most important was students’ participation in the mobility as they could observe the structure of partners’ school parliament, administration, educational system and they could improve their English language communication. “Language can be the last bastion of freedom” ( Henrich Boll) When you see any injustice, speak about it. When you speak many languages, you can see more.

The greatest impact on pupils was the acquaintance with new cultures. Not only stu-dents but also the whole families were involved, when warmly welcomed the foreign visi-tors in their houses. Thank you all for hospitality and unforgettable moments.

During the project time, Polish students:• Set up School Parliament, learnt to express themselves, giving speeches, writing ar-

ticles for a school paper and local media, put some of their ideas into action.• Visited partners’ countries, schools, families, learnt to tolerate and respect different

traditions and customs, improved communication in English, evolved desire to learn the other cultures and languages.

• Kept a chronicle with photos and information about partners’ countries, improved their English skills by writing in it.

• Attended a conference with a layer about democracy in the aspect of human, civil and students’ rights.

The main assumptions of the project have been implemented. We have managed to :• establish a students’ council – School Parliament and encourage students express

themselves in front of public. • form democratic awareness at school • improve communication in the foreign languages• present students the culture of democracy and develop pluralistic consciousness• prepare the students for real life situations• make students know their own culture and the other cultures and converge the other

with tolerance give the importance to the principle of equality and to behave accordinglyThank you very much for help, kindness, and marvelous atmosphere of our meetings

and for being together in the project.

THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN TURKEY

THE RESULTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN TURKEY

Turkey, Muş Science High School; as the project coordinator, our task is to form and supply a more democratic way of directing at the school by involving the students in the school administration process.

With the project a school parliament was formed in our school and in partner schools. The students were informed about the project and they experienced the election process similar to the real life to choose the school presidency in all partner schools.

As the other partners Turkey actively took part in every stage of the project. • Involving the students to the project activities to design and evaluate• Directing and helping to fulfil the tasks• Providing communication and coordination among the partner organizations• Constructing a web page for the project and giving links to the partner schools • Gathering the documents and broadcasting them on the website ‘www.schoolparlia-

ment.org’• Writing the interim reports every two months to evaluate the previous studies and

the results of the actions done and to plan the next activities will be hold.• Preparing the some certain surveys for students, teachers and administration on

determining the satisfaction of all• Leading the students to prepare a school paper or a magazine to disseminate the

project activities• Involving parents to host the pupil visitors from partner countries• Making organization of Turkey meeting• Doing the necessary reservations(such as hotel, transportation, restaurant) for the

participants• Meeting of the school parliament members at schools in each partner countries and

share experience• Presentations, videos, and photographs of the countries• Slideshows, photograph exhibitions of the activities• Preparation of a photograph album, leaflet and booklet of the project• Panel ‘ Democracy and School Management• Updating the website• Working on final reportWith the project we had a new dimension of European Citizenship and had a chance

to meet and visit our partner countries. We had great friends that will last forever and practice the language in a real life context. We learnt from each other a lot and to be aware of civil rights both at schools and the society.

Thank you so much for joining us and for your kind efforts to carry out the project activities and to supply unforgettable atmosphere of our meetings.

THE RESULTS OF WORKSHOPS SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT Strengths:

1. Exchanging of experiences2. Corporation and friendship3. Involving the pupils and parents to administration process4. Attraction of pupils and parents to the partner countries5. Desire of participants to take part in the project6. Possibility to transmit the project activities to the partner countries7. Get a chance to use English8. Meeting peers and their countries and culture9. Getting friends from partner countries10. Support by EU Funding

Weaknesses:1. Lack of English skills of Participants2. Lack of communication with partners on time3. Lack of information about the cultural diversities4. Difficulties to find a suitable time for meetings 5. Difficulties to get a Visa on time6. Lack of financial support

Opportunities:1. To find more partners2. To involve more students and parents and teachers to the project team3. To expand the project activities4. To learn about different cultures and tradition5. To have friends from partner countries and stay at friends home6. To learn partner countries mother tongue7. To get new ideas for new projects8. To get ideas about the partners education system

Threats:1. Decrease of the number of partner countries and participants2. Differences in law and management3. Differences in education curriculum4. Differences in culture and tradition5. Short time for project implementation6. Different profiles of participants 7. Different interests of participants8. Different eating habits9. Different climate

CONTACTS OF THE PROJECT PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

Muş Fen Lisesi49100 Muş, Turkey

Bitlis Yolu TEKEL Yaprak Tütün İşletmeleri Yanıhttp://www.musfenlisesi.k12.tr

Project coordinator:Mr. Musa Toplu

e-mail: musa_toplu@hotmail.com

Publiczne Gimnazjum im. Jana Pawła II w Zarzeczu37-250 Zarzecze, Poland

PL32 – PodkarpackieZarzecze 9 A

www.pgzarzecze.plProject coordinator:

Mrs. Anna Wygnaniece-mail: anna.wygnaniec@wp.pl

KSG De Breul Dutch3708 AG Zeist, Netherlands

Arnhemsebovenweg 98www.de-breul.nl

Project coordinator:Gillean Mathews

g.mathews@de-breul.nl

Profesionalna gimnazia po targovia i restorantiorstvoVratsa, Bulgaria

3000 Vratsa, Bulgaria3 ‘Hr. Smirnenski’ str.

http://pgtr-vratza.com/Project coordinator:

Irma Emiliyanovair_emiliyanova@yahoo.com