Dates: 13th to 19th October 2019
Full programme: click here to see the full programme
What we did: First and foremost, the international student group physically got together for the first time after the blended activities. The students, with their teachers, experienced the Irish culture and how education is handled in Irish schools. The activities of the intervention stage were discussed and polished. We talked about the good practices, how each school implements them and how they can be improved. We also discussed about the possibility of transferring the good practices to our schools. The students prepared games and showed the international group how games can make school more interesting and attractive to boost their motivation and attendance. The students also created a mind map of their “dream school” where they presented what a perfect school could be like from their point of view using Design Thinking as methodology.
What we learnt: Most important learning from this activity was the fact that, despite their differences in culture, age, background and experience; students’ expectations from a “dream school” do not dramatically change. They want more activities to make school a centre of attraction; they want to be respected and motivated regardless of where they come from. As the teacher group, we strengthened our learning from the previous activities that, when we work together, we can have profound effects on the wellbeing of our students and institutions. We also understood that, the intervention stage of our project needs to be developed and parents should be further included in our activities. Students learned from the older students of St. John’s college who were school drop outs, they received first hand information about the drawbacks of not finishing their school on time.
Meeting gallery
