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What is Connecting Classrooms Middle East-UK? What are the benefits? How the funding works Ideas for project activities
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Joint curriculum projects enable schools to work collaboratively on topics of common interest.
When a teacher attends a contact seminar they will be given guidance for how to plan a joint curriculum project with their partner teacher. The plan is to be submitted to the British Council on return from the seminar and once approved the funding will be released to the participating schools to allow them to begin working on the project activity. At the end of the first year each partnership will submit an end of year report to enable them to enter into the second year of the programme.
A project must :
be relevant and appropriate to both sides support and be integrated into the curriculum have the general aim of increasing understanding between young people and promote greater awareness of each other's countries and the wider world. Partner schools should compare and discuss their curricula before deciding on the themes for their project. Different terminologies may be employed, and issues may be covered in different subject areas, in each case. Achieving a common understanding is critical.
Agreement on the key project elements must be secured before work begins. Regular cross-reference should take place to ensure that activities remain relevant. Thought should be given to the socio-cultural context of participating schools, their respective areas of educational expertise or need, and the resources at their disposal.
Possible themes within projects might include the following, but this list is not exclusive. We recommend that each project includes 4-6 thematic strands ;-
History and Geography: exploring local and regional identities; cultural heritage; local history Sport: raising awareness of a sporting culture; learning about new sports; running joint tournaments, showcasing significant events in the respective countries Science: protecting the environment; climate change Citizenship: global citizenship; intercultural understanding; diet, health and wellbeing ICT: can be used as a tool in all project collaboration; specific schemes of work may be attached in order to quantify skills development Literacy / language: story-telling; literary traditions; creation of a story/ publication; creative writing or poetry around a theme. This area might also include reference to content-driven foreign language learning Drama: joint creation of a play, short film or other dramatic event - each school could contribute to the production including set design, publicity material, plot lines and genre Music: traditions and new trends; joint composition, performance or recordings Arts and Crafts: joint activities around a common creative theme, cultural traditions and new media, possibly using the web as an ‘exhibition’ space 