This report is to present the activities, results and tasks of the project, as well as the opinions of participants accompanied by the evaluation questionnaires analysis. It will sum up the activities and state the general satisfaction level with the project, its effectiveness, range and quality.
The period covered in the report – 01.09.2014 – 31.07.2014
Evaluation tools:
1. On-line questionnaire: „Your stay in Poland”, which was answered by 16 students visiting Poland in March 2015
2. On-line questionnaire: „Erasmus + in Poland”, which was answered by 14 Polish hosting students in March 2015
3. On-line questionnaire: „Meeting in Targu Jiu, Romania”, which was answered by 17 visiting students in Romania in May 2015
4. On-line questionnaire: „Career In Art Teachers Evaluation Form”, which was answered by 16 teachers coordinating and involved in the project in all partnership schools in June 2015
5. Opinions of teachers
Tasks, meetings carried out and evaluation results
1. International project meetings
In the given period 2 meetings were organised: the first in Poland from 10 to 15 November 2014, and the second in Romania from 20th to 24th April.
Timing- both meetings were carried out later than originally planned in the application form. Due to late granting the meetings were postponed.
Meeting in Polandwas attended by 16 teachers.
During the meetings we:
- rearranged some of the activities in the timetable, that were delayed due to contractual issues and implemented the activities plan
- set the rules and discussed project tasks like: LOGOS, ART DICTIONARY, PROJECT WEBSITE, FILM,
- identified the basic principles, methods and strategies for developing the action plan in order to address all workshops and activities in the next 5 months;
- strengthened the commitment of all partner schools;
- shared experiences, challenges and technical knowledge on how to better address the planned activities, considering the need to discuss practical arrangements;
- discussed future agreements regarding short-term students exchanges
- discussed the evaluation and dissemination of key activities, monitoring progress
- discussed the budget issues
- did study visits- sightseeing of Polish heritage, art, architecture, sights
Meeting in Romania was attended by 19 teachers.
During the meeting we:
- monitored progress of project activities
- evaluated the last student exchange to Poland in March 2015
- discussed project tasks like: WORKSHOPS IN EVERY SCHOOL AFTER THE MEETING IN POLAND, ART DICTIONARY, PROJECT WEBSITE, FILM,
- discussed dissemination of the meeting in Poland
- discussed project dissemination
- dropbox
- prepared students exchange to Romania
- had study visits to Romanian heritage, art, architecture
- prepared a to- do -list of our obligations
Results of the questionnaire no 4 – teachers opinion about workshop meetings
The questions referring the working meetings received the average scores more than 4 out of maximum 5 points. This result is satisfying for us, however, we should pay more attention to making the content of subject meetings clearer and solving occurring problems and misunderstandings between partners.
The final average results of the survey:
· The structure, contents and subjects of the working meetings were clear.
4.06
· The working meetings were useful for your work with the students involved in the project.
4.21
· The working meetings were useful for the development of the project.
4.4
· All teachers worked together on the project.
4.26
· The planned project activities have been done.
4.4
· The problems occurred during the project could be totally solved.
4
2. Short-term learning/teaching/training activities for students
In the given period 2 meetings were organized: the first in Poland from 9-13 March 2015, and the second in Romania from 11th to 15th May 2015.
Timing- both meetings were carried out later than originally planned in the application form. Due to late granting the meetings were postponed.
The short term exchange hosted by the Polish school was attended by:
-4 students and 2 teachers from Romania
-4 students and 1 teacher from Slovenia
-4 students and 3 teachers from Turkey
-4 students and 3 teachers from Belgium
-4 students and 2 teachers from Slovakia
During the five days spent in the Polish school, students were involved in a few workshops such as: 3D graphic design, photography, screen printing and art history. They have visited Museums and Art Galleries, from Elblag and even had the opportunity to speak with a blind artist. Students were also involved in visiting Gdansk and Malbork Castle, which allowed them to get a better insight into the cultural heritage of the area and to observe many art objects, from jewellery, to sculpting, architecture etc and various techniques.
The evaluation survey that was answered by some of hosts and guests students and teachers revealed a positive feedback from those involved: the exchange was a good opportunity for them
· to learn new things (related to the topics that this exchange has focused on),
· to make new friends from abroad,
· to share experiences and views,
· to gain a different perspective of education, culture, art and life.
The general satisfaction level was quite high – out of 29 hosts and guest students
· 12 were very satisfied
· 12 satisfied
· 3 neutral
· 2 not very satisfied (they gave 4 or 5 points out of 10)
A few aspects could be improved, according to the respondents we should:
· allocate some free time,
· involve students with better English skills,
· organize less workshops in order to work more on one
· organize the trips better.
The short term exchange hosted by the Romanian school was attended by:
-4 students and 2 teachers from Poland
-4 students and 1 teacher from Slovenia
-4 students and 2 teachers from Turkey
-4 students and 4 teachers from Belgium
-4 students and 2 teachers from Slovakia
During the week spent in the Romanian school, students were involved in two workshops that aimed at sharing traditional crafts specific for Romanian culture. The first workshop was organized in Horezu, a place where ceramics is still being done in the old fashion way. A pottery artisan has showed them how the clay is being modelled into various shapes and a few of them have tried to do the same. Then, his daughter explained the group how the pots are being painted, the symbol of each colour and pattern also. Each student practised a pattern on a small pot, being helped by an artisan. The pots have been burnt in the oven and will be displayed in each school. During the same day, a trip to Woman”s Cave and Polovragi was organized and the hosts got the opportunity to learn about Romanian history and the role these monuments had in protecting the life of children and woman during wars.
The next days were dedicated to creating IA, the Romanian blouse. Each group has received the components of one blouse and they have started to sew a pattern on it. At the end the blouse was taken to each school in order to be finished and displayed.
Another activity performed was Graffiti in the central park, an activity that was initiated by the students involved, but was finished with the help of children from Târgu Jiu. Some Museums and Works of Art were observed also.
The evaluation survey and the interviews that were answered by the majority of guest students revealed again a positive feedback: the exchange has given the students the chance
· to meet new cultures,
· interact with students from other countries,
· make new friendships and experience other languages,
· to learn new things.
The general satisfaction level was high–out of 17 host students that have answered the survey
· 4 said that the total impression of the meeting was excellent
· 8 said that thee total impression of the meeting was very good
· 4 said that the total impression of the meeting was rather good
· 1 said that thee total impression of the meeting was rather bad
A few aspects could be improved, according to the respondents we should:
· organize more activities in the free time
· organize more workshops instead of working so many days on one.
OPINIONS ON STUDENT EXCHANGES
(the names of the authors are not given as the questionnaires were anonymous, there are some language mistakes as the opinions were written by students)
GUEST STUDENTS:
“I did not feel stranger when I am in Poland. Life was too similar with in my country. This project is one of the best experience of my life”
“The experience was very informative and immersive”
“I didn't know almost nothing about Poland before, I learn a lot new things”
“Taking part in the exchange was the best because before that we were just doing some jobs we need to do , but this felt I really am in the project”
„We enjoyed ourselves and had beautiful memories from the exchange program.”
„I learnt other cultures and so many informations”
„I met so nice friends from abroad”
Only one person answered “ no” - saying he or she didn't manage to learn anything about Poland from the visit.
HOST STUDENTS
“I could know more about education and art schools in different countries”
“Student exchange was great and sympathetic. Whole exchange was nice experience. I enjoyed it.”
“I feel I'm a part of the project more”
What did you like most?
“Communication with people from different countries”
“Friends”
3. Communication
Poland coordinated the project and enhanced cooperation among partners, using different accessible methods provided by modern technologies.
We cooperated and communicated on a daily basis via emails, telephone conversations. In this way the contact was kept by organizers as well as by participants.
We also used Dropbox- this application allowed us to work simultaneously on the same document. All the useful documents were kept there, with easy access for every partner.
Project website was created and all documents were stored there as well. Apart from that it became an additional tool to share information among management teams and participants.
Necessary changes were discussed and introduced on Transnational meetings in Poland and Romania. Reports, analysis, evaluation were written and discussed, problems were solved.
Teachers participating in meetings were representatives of different areas that the project focuses on. This means that at every meeting we triedto havea group of specialists for languages, IT, and a wide range of art teachers, depending on the activities discussed.
Each meeting was plannedbefore the Short-term activities for learners. It was a very good solution that during the Transnational Project Meetings people were responsible for management and implementation and theydiscussedtogether the plan of the Short-term activities: they discussed activities, work out the rules of tasks, ways of implementing, write detailed timetable, work out the best teaching methods and discussed the methodology which was applied. They sometimes worked together, or divided into areas of interest like e.g. IT teachers from all countries discussed the issues connected with technology, using the newest or best programmes, new websites. English teachers were responsible for language tasks, etc.
We discussed the best solutions to enhance the knowledge of students in the most effective way.
It is possible that we might involve some students in active participation in management and implementation activites. In that case they were included in the Management teams. This issue was decided on the basis of analysis of project needs, modern technologies.
4. Dissemination
All dissemination activities have been collected in a „Dissemination 2014-2015 file”. Altogether 59 different actions have been carried out.
Project results were disseminated to students, school staff inside our organizations . Outside our organization they shared with local authorities responsible for education, decision makers, local community and organizations giving artistic education all around Europe.
A teacher from all organizations had a certain role in dissemination activities. All partner schools appointed a teacher for dissemination activities. They were responsible for disseminating inside their school and city. The activities were controlled by the Polish coordinator school. All the activities were controlled and discussed in project meetings during mobilites.
For dissemination inside the organizations we:
- created a project corner in our schools to exhibit the students' creations made during the activities and to inform the students about project activities and their results
- used school magazines, formal websites of schools to disseminate the activities, results and experiences
- organized an exhibition that was open to parents, other schools , local authorities and communities
- organized presentation about project results in school methodical meetings
For dissemination at local and international level, we:
- created a project web page
- prepared digital copies of Art Dictionary to distribute as free material
- used press releases and published articles in press
- prepared video clips to broadcast on visual media on the Internet
For dissemination of the project were done these activities:
- Articles on official website of the project
- Articles and propagation in regional web pages
- Photo albums on web pages of the school– 6 websites/5 photo albums
- information about the project on formal school websites - 6 websites
- press releases in local newspapers to introduce the project
- preparing the project corners at schools and articles to introduce the project – 6
- Conference meeting with authorities in Starostwo Powiatowe
- exhibition of works of the students
- sharing the mobility experiences and project results on school websites
- uploading Art Dictionary and the films with interviews with local artists to the websites
- publishing Art Dictionary as a free material – 6
- giving a presentation about project activities and results in school methodological meetings
- Facebook – 2 groups
- Youtube and Vimeo – 6 films
The dissemination used various methods, including written information, electronic communication and face-to-face contact.
All the products and results were presented in the participating organisations:
· in school papers and on websites
· on Facebook
· in display cabinets and "Erasmus Corners" in the school buildings
· at open house presentations
· at parent's evenings
· in teachers' conferences
· in a local gallery
Local communities were informed about the main project outcomes through:
· local/regional/national newspapers
· exhibitions in local buildings and galleries
· meetings with authorities in some countries
· calendar and leaflets
· posters
5. Project results
5.1 Tangible results – numbers, evaluation, opinions, timing
· PROJECT WEBSITE
Created in December 2014
Analysis of the website numbers
The Career in Art website was set up in December 2014.
Link: http://www.ssof.si/erasmusplus/
Slovenia is in charge of the technical part of the website, however, all partners have agreed to contribute to its contents. This means that the IT teacher from Slovenia operates the system, whereas all coordinators contribute texts and photo material to be published.
The basic design of the website was created by the Slovene IT teacher, because to operate a more advanced design for the website would cost a lot of money, which we do not have. The logo-winning student from Belgium has created a proposal for the new corporate identity of the project, website included, but it would have been too expensive to make it. His proposal is posted on the website under Results.
The website is created in such a way to offer its users and visitors a clear and easy overview of the project, i.e. the main objectives, partner schools, all the activities carried out, meetings, reports, dissemination, international tenders, and, most importantly, the results of our project.
Links to the website have been placed with all schools at their respective school websites, so that students from all six countries can easily access it and follow the events.
At the end of our first year of working together, we think that the website serves its purpose, i.e. it informs students, teachers and the general public of the main activities in the project. However, not all partner schools contribute equally to its contents, in that not all of us update the website regularly, which might diminish the reliability and popularity of the website.
Total numbers from 15 December 2014 to 15 May 2015:
1. |
539 |
Dissemination (NICK: dissemination) |
2. |
366 |
Creating logos (NICK: school-activities) |
3. |
338 |
Career in Art (NICK: career-in-art) |
4. |
294 |
1st Transnational Meeting to Gronowo Górne, Poland (NICK: report1) |
5. |
271 |
Project description (NICK: project-description) |
6. |
194 |
Srednja šola za oblikovanje in fotografijo Ljubljana (NICK: ssof) |
7. |
187 |
Interview with an artist (NICK: interview-with-an-artist) |
8. |
176 |
Call for Tender: Development of graphic identity for the Erasmus+ project Career in Art |
9. |
135 |
The Secondary Art School of Ladislav Bielik, Levice, Slovakia (NICK: slovakia) |
10. |
125 |
Fine Arts High School in Gronowo Górne, Poland (NICK: poland) |
11. |
91 |
MAP OF SCHOOLS LOCATIONS (NICK: map) |
12. |
60 |
Short-term exchange of pupils to Poland (NICK: short-term-exchange-of-pupils-to-poland) |
13. |
60 |
Interviews with artists that inspire us (NICK: interviews-with-artists) |
14. |
54 |
Tenders (NICK: tenders) |
15. |
49 |
Colegiul Auto Traian Vuia, Romania (NICK: romania) |
16. |
45 |
Figen Sakallıoğlu Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey (NICK: turkey) |
17. |
40 |
WICO Campus Mater Dei Overpelt, Belgium (NICK: wico) |
18. |
30 |
Photography workshop 2015 (NICK: photography-workshop-2015) |
19. |
26 |
Logos at international stage (NICK: logos-at-international-stage) |
20. |
25 |
Animation workshop (NICK: animation-workshop) |
21. |
21 |
Screen printing on begs (NICK: screen-printing-on-begs) |
22. |
21 |
Interviews with artists (NICK: interviews-with-artists) |
ALL |
3147 |
|
Detailed Google Analysis was set up in May 2015. According to its overview, the numbers are as follows:
Sessions – 738
Users – 696
Page views – 1366
· LOGOS
Poland -19 logos and explanations
Romanian -10 logos
Belgium -10 designs of which two selected for the voting
Turkey - ?
Slovakia -22 logos
Slovenia -20 logos, 3 selected for international voting
Creating the project logo was an activity held from October to 10th December 2014. The winner was Luc Davids from Belgium. The second position was also Luc Davids and third Ziva Oblac from Slovenia.
Unfortunatelly, due to plagiarism 6 logo designs taking part in the competition needed to be disqualified.
Timing – delayed until December 2014
· FILM
Poland -4 films created in Poland – march 2015
Romania - 1 film
Belgium -1 film
Turkey -1 film
Slovakia -1 film
Slovenia -1 film
Timing – due to schedule.
The films presented the life of artists and their content represented the rules of the set up tender. Nonetheless, it was a difficult task for students, which a bit is reflected in either the quality of the video, clarity of the content, or correctness of language.
One film won 1st prize in competition.
A nice DVD cover was created by the Romanian school.
· BAGS DURING THE SCREENPRINTING WORKSHOP IN POLAND
Workshop between 10-11.03.2015
Students of all countries together printed 60 bags.
Timing – delayed due to changes in the schedule
· PHOTOGRAPHS DURING PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
Workshop between 11-13.03.2015
Total number of photos by all students – 600
Timing – delayed due to changes in the schedule
· 3D ANIMATIONS
Workshop between 11-13.03.2015
Total number of all animations b y all students –29
Timing – delayed due to changes in the schedule
· MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY – BASIC ART TERMS
7 languages, 30 pages
Poland -10 dictionary covers, Graphic design, 20 illustrations, 6 students
Romania -3 teachers worked on translation
Belgium -30 illustrations (20 students) Translation ( 17 students)
Turkey - ?
Slovakia -45 pictures, 19 students
Slovenia -9 images, 5 students contributed the terminology, 7 teachers were part of the editorial team
Timing – delayed. The first version was done one month later than originally planned due to schedule changes, however during the Transnational meeting to Romania this first version was evaluated by the teachers and it was not approved. Changes in the graphics were to be made, therefore the final version of the dictionary was created in June 2015. Then it was accepted and distributed as a part of project dissemination activity.
The Polish school was responsible for the enormous task of creating the dictionary out of the resources sent by partners. It was an extremely time-consuming task to transform the words from tables into a „dictionary style” 2 columns of words, adding to this the amount of work with the graphic design. This was the reason for delay.
Opinions on dictionary
“Multilingualism is becoming the norm in today's globalized world, so every step taken towards it is a good idea. The multilingual dictionary created by the students and teachers from Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, Belgium, Romania and Slovenia shows hard work and active cooperation among the countries. It is clear,concise and, due to the pictures and photos, user-friendly. However, for it to serve its purpose, spelling mistakes would have to be corrected, and a brief pronunciation guide could be added.” Andreja Kuščer, English teacher.
“The dictionary seems well- organized, the list of contents clearly presents what topics the dictionary will refer to. I like the graphics, it's coherent and reflects the art. The choice of “basic” art terms is even more than basic. It's absolutely enough for general art knowledge. However, very often the same words are repeated in the same categories, which is not necessary. Besides, some words have not been translated into all languages. I also disprove of the quality of the imagery in some parts. To sum up. The dictionary can be a useful tool for a basic art student.”
Aleksandra Hońko, Painting and Drawing teacher.
· DECORATED PLATES
There were 18 done in total, but 2 did not survive in the oven , so there are 16.
· ROMANIAN BLOUSE
Poland -1 blouse
Romania -1 blouse
Belgium -1 blouse
Turkey -1 blouse
Slovakia -1 blouse
Slovenia -1 blouse
· POSTERS
Romania - 2 posters – one for each students exchange
Slovenia - 2 posters to present the Career in Art experience in a local gallery and in school corners
· POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS
Romania – 1
· BOOKLETS FOR DISSEMINATION
Romania - 1
6.2 Intangible results
· students compare their work and are more confident after the exchanges
· the student who created the winning logo was congratulated by Mr Von Rompuy, which inspired him to do even better
· students from Slovakia, who were involved in the film tender, entered the film they created for Career in Art in a national competition and won first place
· logos were included in the curriculum for 3rd year students of graphic design in Slovenia
· the experience from this Erasmus project helped Slovenia get another project
· students developed better writing and speaking skills in the English language
· students and teachers learned some basic words from other European languages
· students got the chance to meet outstanding artists and learn first-hand from them
· students learned to handle a camera and film a short documentary video
· students got a better insight into the world of artistic creation through visits to local museum, art galleries, art schools and UNESCO sights
· students and teachers alike learned the value of traditional crafts
· students are better motivated
· teachers have the opportunity to get to know each other better and get ideas on how to co-operate in the future
· some students want to continue with the Erasmus experience in the future (when they go to university)
· students have grown on a personal level
· students have a better understanding of the European spirit and community of nations
7. Additional project tasks and obligations
· Activities that every country was responsible for doing were organising workshops after visits to foreign partners and writing reports about them. The reports have been placed in the project Dropbox account. Photos have been placed on the website.
Some partners are delayed with their responsibilities, however a deadline has been set to deal with all responsibilities during the summer holiday or at the latest at the beginning of the new school year.
· Evaluation report
Writing the evaluation report was the last project task, unfortunately it was delayed.
The reasons for that situation are various, among which we can find intensive “end-of-year” period, the start of holiday season. Nonetheless, all the works have been finished at the beginning of the 2015/2016 school year.
8. Cooperation between partners
Cooperation within partnership during the school year was occasionally not perfect but satisfactory. The partners managed to handle difficulties in an effective way, solve little disagreements and make changes in the timetable, which was a demanding task.
Some of the problems we have encountered in this area might be as mentioned above occasional lack of communication between some partners – no reply to emails, getting lost with the extensive amount of e-mail correspondence, intensive work at school, family life, changes in the team – switching responsibility to another person, or just as in case of the evaluation report intensive “end-of-year” period, the start of holiday season.
9.Summary
The final conclusions for the first year of the project.
· Transnational Project Meetings – DONE as planned
· Short-term Student Exchanges – DONE as planned
· Project tasks and results – DONE as planned, however with some delays
· Project documents – DONE as planned
· Cooperation between partners – GOOD, with a need of little improvement.
10. Annexes
This evaluation report is accompanied by additional files and survey results::
Annexe 1- dissemination 2014-2015
Annexe 2 -„Your stay in Poland” results
Annexe 3 - „Erasmus + in Poland” results
Annexe 4 - „Meeting in Targu Jiu, Romania” results
Annexe 5 - „Career In Art Teachers Evaluation Form” results