The CEPA “Fernando Marrero Pulido- Arucas y Firgas” is an Adult Center located in the north of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, Spain, where 6 teachers work. The center has a strong international vocation and has maintained cooperation projects with centers in other countries continuously since 2004, through the Grundtvig and Erasmus+ programs, and also through virtual platforms. At present, in addition to having an Erasmus + KA1 project in development, all students and teachers of the center participate in two projects to increase English language skills, among other objectives. These are the projects
These two collaborations have been extended for five courses and have been very effective in increasing the motivation of the entire school community towards the improvement of English language skills. That is why we have a deep interest in consolidating and expanding them. This is the driving force of our Erasmus + KA1 project “The international outlook”. The activities that we will develop within the framework of our project have been carefully chosen for this purpose in mind:
We believe that the fact that the faculty staff of a center is strongly committed to improving their communication skills in foreign languages and striving to be involved in international collaborations is the best way to convey to students a sense of full understanding. of our globalized world. This is particularly important in the case of the education of adult students, who in many cases come from disadvantaged backgrounds and need more support. Paradoxically, at least in our country, they are often deprived of benefiting from the most ambitious educational programs, such as “CLIL”, so that our work aims to compensate them to the extent possible. Our project “ La mirada internacional/ The International Outlook” was designed to provide a response to the strong commintment that exists in our school to providing opportunities so that our students get to know other cultures, countries and languages. We have the conviction that in most cases the teachers are the only ones who can provide the vision of a globalised world to students who face serious social, family ,economic and academic challenges. Our final goal is to consolidate the international projects that have been running in our school since 2011( Collaboration with Dr Valerie Oliver through British organization “ The Ark” and exchange of emails, videso and images with Wellsville High School, USA). At the same time , we wanted to explore new paths and the design of a KA2 quality project that can be approved, so taht our students can be further involved. We have a particular interest in the use of art to achieve social, personal and interpersonal competences, together with English language skills. We do not forget that 21st century citizens need an adequate use of ICT, apart from the capacity to interact effectively with other human beings in family, work and academic environments. With alñl this in view opportunities for training for all members of staff were organised. The 5 mobilities contemplated in our original project were ccarried out andf a sixth mobility was organised at no extra cost: 1.- Jobshadowing period at “The Ark”, Bracknell, UK. The teacher followed Dr Valerie Oliver activity for two weeks, in different institutions and organizations ogf the Bracknell area. Apart from “ The Ark” , a kindergarten, the centre for attention of teenagers in risk of exclusion “ Include/Catch 22” and the family attention centre in Oxfordshire.There was also a meeting with the town mayor and other authorities in the gardens where the English stdudents had planted benches of flowers with the Spanish and Canarian flags. There was also a meeting with staff of the Buckinghamshire New University, to discuss the basis fpr the creation of a KA2 project. Also,Ms Annie Bicknell, international eduaction projects curator at Tate Modern Museum, London, welcomed our representative and Dr Oliver at the Museum and had a working lunch to celebrate collaboration of our two schools through the BP Art Exchange on line platform.2.- Two week course on ICT foosed for schools and visits to different educational institutions in Cardiff, UK. New ICT tools have already been used for the development of the different subjects in all levels,after attendance to this course, to make lessons more attractive and motivating and allow students to be up to date in this field. 3.- Course on effective communication in Porto, Portugal. Different strategies to improve the human relationships in the school , conflict resolutions and self motivation increase were examined. To cover our objectives , the lenghth of the course was increased one day at no extra cost.4.- Two English language courses to improve competences in this field. This allowed the members of the staff with a lower level to participate fully in the projects aimed at the school internationalization, while boosting their motivation and providing a strong stimuli to go on working hard in this area.5.- After a detailed analysis of the planned mobilities, we saw that it would be possible to organise a new one , at no extra cost ,that would contribute to improve and expand the objectives initially determined, a course on the pedagogical use of museums, to complement the visit to the London Tate Modern Museum and also the meeting in the Buckinghamshire New University to explore new ways to use art for the acquisition of certain competences through a KA2 project.
El CEPA “Fernando Marrero Pulido- Arucas y Firgas”en un Centro de Adultos situado en el norte de Gran Canaria, en las Islas Canarias, España, en el que trabajan 6 profesores. El centro tiene una fuerte vocación internacional y ha mantenido proyectos de cooperación con centros de otros países ininterrumpidamente desde 2004, a través de los programas Grundtvig y Erasmus+, y también a través de plataformas virtuales. En el presente, además de tener en desarrollo un proyecto Erasmus+ KA1, todos los alumnos y profesores del centro participan en dos proyectos para incrementar las competencias lingüísticas en lengua inglesa, entre otros objetivos. Estos son los proyectos
Creemos que el hecho
de que el claustro de profesores de un centro se encuentre
fuertemente comprometido con la mejora de sus habilidades de
comunicación en lenguas extranjeras y esforzándose para estar
involucrados en colaboraciones internacionales es la mejor manera de
transmitir a los alumnos un sentido de comprensión plena de nuestro
mundo globalizado. Esto es particularmente importante en el caso de
la educación de los estudiantes adultos, que provienen en muchos
casos de entornos desfavorecidos y necesitan más apoyo.
Paradójicamente, al menos en nuestro país, a menudo se les priva de
beneficiarse de los programas educativos más ambiciosos, tales como
el “ CLIL”, por lo que nuestro trabajo pretende compensarles en la
medida en que nos es posible. |