2015-1-ES01-KA201-015747

ERASMUS+  SMILE PROJECT

Coming to School with a Smile: Reducing dropout in School

Aims

The overall aim of the SMILE project is to reduce early school leaving by identifying the most effective prevention strategies, with special focus on alternative and motivating paths for “in-risk” students to engage with school, continue their education and empower them for life and work.

 

To achieve this, partners have exchanged and collected best practices on early school leaving prevention strategies and they have designed and implemented experimental activities tested with students from participating schools in Italy and Spain.

 

The specific objectives of SMILE project was:

 

- To compile a Handbook containing the most effective strategies to reduce early school leaving and containing prevention & early intervention measures that can be used in schools.

- To design, test and implement an “alternative educational path”, involving 20 students in exchange learning activities between the participating schools – e.g. set of activities that will develop students competences and motivate “in risks” to engage with school and actively involve the school, families and community in their learning process

- Increase the attractiveness of education and training by using newest ICT in learning, motivating learners, empowering them with competences and thus, ease their transition from school to work

- To promote European networking between schools with holistic collaborative approaches to teaching, develop methods and create conditions for personalized teaching and learning for pupils, thus increase their individual opportunities for the future.

Partners

IES ALBAYZÍN, GRANADA, SPAIN.

PROJECT COORDINATOR

Public high school in the historic and popular neighborhood of Albayzín. It have different degrees, from compulsory secondary education, pre-university education (bachiller) and professional training in audiovisual specialities. Like the neighborhood itself, it has a very heterogeneous population of students with very different problems. Therefore its interest in the project has to do with dropout prevention through the inclusion of diversity.


LICEO SCIENTIFICO

A. ROMITA, CAMPOBASSO, ITALY.

Biggest school in Molise Region. They are interested in balance curricular and extracurricular activities to prevent drop-out. Students come from different area of the region and belong to different social classes. The phenomenon of dropout is not serious, while some students generally move to other schools when they find out it’s not the right one for them. The schools has different experiences of looking for solutions and integration of students with special needs with the help of an equipe of psychologists. We have a plan for BES (students with special needs).


TEdu HELSINKI UNIVERSITY, KELSINKI, FINLAND.

The Technology in Education Research Group (TEdu) investigates the usage of the newest Web-based technologies in educational practices. The group is multidisciplinary by nature with researchers representing expertise in psychology, education and cognitive science. Regarding the SMILE project, TEdu can support the partnership in the analysis of technology-enhanced pedagogical and knowledge practices in educational settings to fight against drop-out.

 

GRAAFSCHAP COLLEGE, DOETINCHEM, THE NEDERLANDS.

Provides (vocational) education for an average of 9400 young people and adults (8500 students in vocational courses and over 900 students in general education) in 3 locations: Doetinchen, Groenlo and Winterswijk. The experience they incorporate to SMILE project is the Student Service Centre, with different lines from extra-educational actions to prevent dropout, a fulltimer school for 900 students to help them to return to education and achieve the compusory education degree and post-educational support to integrate in laboour market.

 


KARSIYAKA ILCE MILLI EGITIM MUDURLUGU, IZMIR, TURKEY.

Public body under the Turkish Ministry of Education, responsible for coordinating all educational centers Karsikaya, a district of Izmir Province with a population of more than 300,000 inhabitants. There are 13 district in Izmir, the 3rd bigger province in Turkey. Karsiyaka IMEM cooordinate more than 75 public schools, 135 private educational centres, 40,000 students in school age and 15,000 teachers. The fight against school dropout is one of its priorities.


ZAHAREÑA, GRANADA, SPAIN.

Private company expert in knowledge management in organisation. They are interesting in the integration of different culture and knowledges in an organisation in order to create a common organisational culture. It is similar in an enterprises or in an educational centre.



STEPS, BOLOGNA, ITALY

Design and manages projects answering the needs of growth from people, organisations and territory. They can help the partnership in design of common practice due the experience in innovative projects to empowerment of skills, professional qualification of teachers, analysis of new learning methodologies and integration of the weak target groups.