The Environmental Education Center of Vamos has designed and implemented an Erasmus + KA1 program approved by the State Scholarship Foundation (programme code: 2019-1-EL01-KA104-062085) on "Nature and Culture as Tools for Intercultural Education", which is being implemented this school year.The member of the EECV pedagogical team, Basiou Adriana, attended the seminar '' Time to Act: Non-formal education through indoor and outdoor teaching methods to empower students' active participation '' organized by the organisation ''New Horizons Malta'',on 10-17 February, in Santa Cruz, Tenerife.
The seminar was attended by teachers from different European countries (Romania, Germany, Serbia, Italy). The aim of the seminar is to promote outdoor education in the local environment as part of the daily school curriculum in order to motivate students towards experiential knowledge and to gain more motivation for learning. The seminar presents targeted , purpose-driven activities both inside and outside the classroom that can be integrated into all courses ..
The methodology followed in the training program was, through collaborative work, various indoor and outdoor activities,and through the creation of intercultural-inclusion activities. Short lectures on key terms ('' Outdoor Education and Sustainability '', '' Distinguishing between Formal,Informal and Non-formal Education '', '' Tools for Motivating and Encouraging Students '') were given, and a training visit to an intercultural schools was made. All participants discussed and presented activities in English and developed lesson plans that train students and their colleagues in social and intercultural skills, and raise awareness of the above issues.
The main objectives of the seminar were as follows:
-to provide theoretical and empirical experiences pertaining to school education in non-formal settings, and their contribution towards developing knowledge and skills for active citizenship and quality of life.
-to learn how to motivate, guide and assess learners to reduce low achievement in key competences, develop relevant, high-level and innovative skills, enhance good quality of mainstream education through outdoor education.
-to understand non-formal education principles, within the context of cooperative learning, blended learning and flipped classroom-to try experiential learning, experience methods of reflection and develop your ability to give feedback
-to understand the consequences of applying the non-formal methods regarding students' motivation
-to learn new non formal activities, tools, methods and to share best practices regarding outdoor education in Europe
- to exchange and develop skills of leading groups outdoors together with colleagues from Europe
-to increase participants’ confidence in working with non-formal methods in outdoor spaces,
- learn the positive power of team building activities and feel more confident and ready to re-use and adjust the practiced exercises at your own school
-to reinforce continual professional development, re-ignite lifelong learning strategies, build confidence in promoting game based strategies in education, promote pedagogies responsive to real world context
New Horizons Malta is an organization made up of a team of professionals, educators and an international pool of trainers with the aim of developing the capacity of educators to contribute to a more sustainable society, where full potential of individuals can be achieved through quality education and projects .
Through its actions, the organization strives to contribute to the personal and professional growth of individuals of diverse backgrounds, building strong and cohesive educational communities.
