Days in Spain

Click here 🙂

Holocaustul – moment de rememorare a istoriei

Holocaustul-moment de rememorare a istoriei

Lansare Proiect Comenius

LANSARE PROIECT

Workshop “Coloured Swan”

MUNICIPIUL BACĂU

Informaţii generale
– Este reşedinţa judeţului Bacău
– Populaţia: peste 180 000 locuitori
– Suprafaţa: 41 km2
– Infrastructura:- este străbatut de drumurile europene E 85 şi E 57, artere de circulaţie europene şi naţionale ce fac legătura cu Bucureştiul, capitala României, cu nordul ţării, precum şi cu Transilvania
– pe cale feroviară legăturile naţionale şi internaţionale se realizează prin reţeaua CFR
– pe cale aeriană, Bacăul dispune de un aeroport internaţional a cărui aerogară destinată transportului de marfă şi persoane, asigură curse regulate către diferite destinaţii naţionale şi europene.

Aşezare geografică
– În zona de Nord-Est a judeţului Bacău, situat pe coordonatele de 46° şi 35’ latitudine nordică şi 26 ° şi 55’ longitudine estică
– La 302 km distanţă de Bucureşti şi 400 km de portul Constanţa
– Distanţa faţă de principalele ţări vecine: 180 km faţă de Republica Moldova şi 210 km faţă de Ucraina
– La confluenţa râurilor Siret şi Bistriţa

Clima
– Climatul municipiului este unul temperat-continental accentuat , cu ierni reci şi veri secetoase şi călduroase.
– Temperatura medie anuală este de 9 °C, oscilând între -4 °C, în luna ianuarie, şi 20,6 °C, în luna iunie.
– Cantitatea medie de precipitaţii este de 541 mm/m²/an, existând diferenţe între sezonul cald (82,8 mm-luna iunie) şi cel rece (24 mm-luna februarie). Aversele sunt frecvente în lunile iulie-august.

Istoric
– Bacăul, ca aşezare oamenească, este foarte vechi, începuturile lui pierzându-se în preistorie.
– În ceea ce priveşte originea numelui Bacău, istoricii susţin că denumirea ar proveni de la un oarecare Bako, de la zeul Bacchus, sau de la baca, fructul viţei de vie, ce se cultiva mult în aceste părţi. În documentele străine Bacăul apare şi în formele :Bacovia, Bacova, Bacow sau Bachkowka.
– Din 1408 datează prima atestare documentară, şi anume privilegiul comercial pe care Alexandru cel Bun , domnul Moldovei, l-a acordat negustorilor din Liov.
– La sfârşitul secolului al XV-lea, în oraşul Bacău s-a stabilit Alexandru, unul din fiii lui Ştefan cel Mare, care a zidit aici Curtea Domnescă şi Biserica Precista, azi un cunoscut monument istoric.
– Din secolul al XV-lea şi până în secolul al XIX-lea, Bacăul a avut mai mult o importanţă comercială.
– Începând cu secolul al XIX-lea , Bacăul se dezvoltă şi din punct de vedere industrial. În prezent , principalele activităţi industriale cuprind: Industria Nutriţională, Industria de Lemn şi de Hârtie, Industria Textilă, Industria Chimică, Industria Mecanică, Industria Aeronuatică.
– La 7 decembrie 1929, prin ordin regal, oraşul Bacău a fost declarat municipiu.

Peisaj urban
Departe de a fi doar un centru comercial-industrial aflat în plină ascensiune, Bacăul este şi un oraş al tradiţiilor şi al culturii, aici aflându-se :
a) Şcoli:
– 16 colegii şi licee
– Universitatea „Vasile Alecsandri”
– Universitatea „George Bacovia”
b) Muzee:
– Complexul Muzeal de Ştiinţele Naturii „Ion Borcea”
– Complexul Muzeal „Iulian Antonescu”
c) Teatre:
– Teatrul Municipal „George Bacovia”
– Teatrul de Vară
d) Biblioteci:
– Biblioteca Judeţeana „Costache Sturdza” Bacău
e) Catedrale şi biserici:
– Biserica „Precista” şi Curtea Domnească
– Catedrala Catolică (cea mai mare din Estul Europei)
– Catedrala „Înălţarea Domnului” –finalizată parţial
f) Alte clădiri, monumente şi locuri:
– Centrul Internaţional de Cultură şi Artă „George Apostu”
– Casa de Cultură „Vasile Alecsandri”
– Ateneul „Mihail Jora”
– Casa memorială „Nicu Enea”
– Casa memorială „George Bacovia”
– Statuia lui Ştefan cel Mare
– Statuia lui George Bacovia
– Observatorul astronomic „Victor Anestin”
g) Parcuri:
– Parcul dendrologic Hemeiuşi: pe o suprafaţă de 47,5 hectare cresc peste 500 specii de plante lemnoase, dintre care 370 exotice.
– Insula de agrement: este o insulă artificială, creată în mijlocul unui lac format pe râul Bistriţa, amenajată pentru agrement, cu locuri de plajă şi pentru practicarea sporturilor în aer liber. Se pot face plimbări cu barca în jurul insulei.
– Parcul Cancicov
– Parcul Trandafirilor

European Survey Analysis report

European Survey Analysis report Cultural identity in a worldwide classroom

2010-2012

Iulia Dămian

Ana-Maria Rotaru

 

Argument

The multilateral project entitled  Cultural identity in a worldwide classroom was born from the need for promoting the European competences and also for offering teachers a variety of constructivist teaching and learning strategies meant to facilitate the process of educating the future European citizen.

 

Theoretical background

Depending on nationality, language, profession, gender, etc. each can be part of several groups. Identity has many facets polished by the indiviadual’s feelings experienced in relation with the sense of belonging.

Identity is built through confrontation between ‘myself’ and ’the other’ and it is not a given thing, but a process whose duration of becoming is concurrent with that of each individual’s life. Each individual expresses his/her personality in communicting about himself/herself, in telling the story of his/her life, thus determining identity to be conditioned by the dialogue with the others, by others’ acceptance or rejection.

Cultural identity in a worldwide classroom’ uses H. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences as a psychological basis and  R. Dunn and Griggs’ learning styles theory (1995) as a pedagogical model.

Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as ‘the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting’. It is a promise of bio-psychological potential.

This definition is in relation with the following characteristics and criteria:

• The ability to solve problems and create assets (spiritual and material) that are valued in a particular social setting.
• An operational core involved in processing internal and external information in a logical manner.
• Coding systems;
• A tendency to symbolic conceptulization.

Studying and analyzing the way in which people deal with problems, Gardner concluded that there are 6 types of intelligence. When defining them, Gardner relied on 10 criteria among which there are to mention:

• The existence of  a system of symbols for each (words, numbers);
• The sign of this ability occurred since the early existence of humans on Earth
• The part of the brain where this intelligence is locaded should be known.

The multiple intelligences identified by Gardner are: the Linguistic intelligence, the Musical intelligence, the Logical-mathematical intelligence, the Spatial intelligence, the Bodily-Kinaesthetic intelligence, the Interpersonal intelligence, the Interpersonal intelligence.

The linguistic intelligence is characteristic to people who mainly think in words and find it easy to use language to express and understand complex realities. They have a particular sensitivity when it comes to the word meaning and word order, rhythm and sonority of the language. Children with a predominant linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages faster and easier, read with pleasure, use metaphors and later choose their career based on linguistic abilities.

The prevalence of logical-mathematical intelligence determines the analysis of the causes and effects, the understanding of the relationship between actions, objects and ideas. The ability to calculate, quantify, evaluate results and perform complex logic operations are features that stand out in the case of this type of intelligence together with deductive and inductive thinking skills and critical abilities of creative problem-solving. People with logical-mathematical intelligence choose their professions in the ranges of accountant, mathematician, chemist, physicist.

The musical intelligent persons think better when using sounds, rhythms, songs and rhymes. They are sensitive to tone, to the intensity, height and timbre of sound; they recognize, create and reproduce music by using an instrument or their voices. They engage in an active and sensitive listening and establish a strong link between music and emotions.

Spatial intelligence means thinking using images and perceiving accurately the visual world. Three –dimensional thinking, transforming perceptions and recreating aspects of the visual experience by the help of imagination are characteristics of this type of intelligence. Spatial intelligent people have the ability to understand the relations among objects in space and work with them. It is characteristic to painters, architects, photographers.

The dominance of kinaesthetical intelligence is related to using one’s body in highly differentiated and skilled ways. It involves a sense of time and coordination of whole-body movements and handling objects skillfully. This type of intelligence is predominantly characteristic to dancers, sculptors, athletes, actors.

To have interpersonal intelligence is to think about other people and understand them, to be empathetic, to recognize and appreciate the differences between people their ways of thinking, being sensitive to their motives, intentions and emotional states. It involves an effective interaction with one or more persons in the family or society. People with dominant interpersonal intelligence are leaders, salespeople, psychologists who understand how the people ’function’.

Intrapersonal intelligence determines self-understanding, awareness of strengths and weaknesses, effective planning, achieving personal goals, self-monitoring in the relationships with the others. It is about self-knowledge and making decisions based on this.

The functions and structure of multiple intelligences aim at:

• The relative independence of each intelligence;
• A more or less evident connection among different types of intelligence;
• The specific affirmation of general ability (memory, reasoning) within each type of intelligence;
• The development of  a general capacity, critical thinking, in specific forms in relation to the type/types of intelligence involved or required;
• Exploiting the learning and working styles associated with the psychological and pedagogical nature of each type of intelligence.
• Admitting that there could be other types of intelligence.

Howard Gardner asserted that the theory of multiple intelligences reflects true data about human intelligence and, not least, is the basis for a substantive education/school reform.

Its objective would be that of replacing ” uniform school ” by a truly student-centered school.

R. Dunn and Griggs have developed a model of learning styles after having noticed that students are influenced in their learning process by five main factors:

1. The immediate environment (sound, light, temperature, location of furniture and its design)
2. personal emotional reactions and processes (motivation, persistence, responsibility, opportunity to do things of their own desire;

3. social preferences (studying alone or in groups of different sizes);

4. physiological individual characteristics (acuity of visual, auditory, tactile, kinetic components, etc.. and features derived from them);

5. type of thinking at the individual level (synthetic/analytic, impulsive/reflective, right/left cerebral lateralisation).

Research methodology

The European Survey questionnaire used within the project contains 21 items dealing with its major thematic fields (History, Geography, Religion, Arts) and had as a purpose identifying the Sports Program High School students’ level of information and knowledge regarding Europe. The sample group was composed of 50 students selected at random.The testing occured from September 20 to October 1, 2010.

Collecting, analysing and interpreting the data

After giving European Knowledge Survey questionnaire to the 50 subjects in the sample group, the following defining elements emerged. These elements have been grouped by major areas of the project: history, geography, art and religion.

 

Major thematic field: History

1. The foundational document of the international organization called The European Union is:

a) The Charter of the U.N.

b)The Schuman  Declaration

c) The Declaration of the   Human Rights

2. Which of the following is Europe’s Day? :

a) the 9th of May 1877

b) the 9th of May 1945

c) the 9th of May 1950

3. The motto of the European Union is:

a) “Unity in thought”

b)”Unity in diversity”

c)”Unity in action”

4. The establishment of the European Union was achieved by:

a) The Treaty of Rome

b) The Treaty of Nice

c) The Treaty of Maastricht

5. Romania joined the European Union in:

a) 2002

b)2004

c)2007

10. During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) in which Transylvania also took part, Sweden was led by:

a) Gustavus Adolphus

b) Louis XIII

d) Ferdinand  II

12. The constitutional monarchy is specific to :

a) Spain and Sweden

b) Italy and Poland

c) Romania and Italy

14. The ruler of Moldavia, Stephan the Great, followed the traditional line in the state’s Foreign Affairs following:

a) Hungary

b) Poland

c) Russia

15. After the German and Soviet Occupation of Poland during World War II, the Polish government and the civil population took refuge in :

a) Romania

b) Hungary

c) Czechoslavakia

16. During their fight against comunism, the workers at the Naval construction site in Gdansk founded the free trade union movement called ‘The Solidarity’, led by Lech Walesa in:

a) Czechoslavakia

b) Hungary

c) Poland

Conclusions

Based on the objectives of the project, the 10 items were built on the principle of multiperspectivity, aiming to reveal our perceptions about others, but also the relations between “us” and the  “others”. We have pursued three directions: the European Union, Romanian involvement in European events, history states involved in the project. The evaluation results show an average level of knowledge. The feedback provides an opportunity to improve the quality of teaching strategies used in the classroom, and students are given the chance to find out where exactly to put in the effort to prepare to be European citizens.

 

Major thematic field: Geography

 

6. The world’s smallest European state (1 square  km.) – the headquarters of the catholic world and the main residence of the Pope is:

a) Vatican

b) Versailles

c) Mount Athos

7. A boot shape peninsula:

a) Sweden

b) Italy

c) Spain

11. The constitutional monarchy state that remained neutral during the two World Wars, with Stockholm as capital city: dia

a) Netherlands

b) Norway

c) Sweden

18. The kingdom that funded the great geographical expeditions during the XVth-XVIth centuries which led to the discovery of America and to the demonstration of the Earth’s sphericity is:

a) The Netherlands

b) England

c)Spain

19. Neo-Latin people in Western Europe:

a) The  Spanish

b) The Dutch

c) The Belgian

Conclusions

In determining the items we aimed at the cultural, European and integrating dimensions of Geography as a school subject.

The results prove insufficient knowledge, fact that requires finding appropriate Geography teaching strategies to cover an important part of any student’s general culture, student that will become the future European citizen.

 

Major thematic field: Religious Education

17. During his papacy, Pope John Paul II really valued and supported the interreligious dialogue. Which of the following is Pope John Paul II’s birth country?:

a) Italy

b) Poland

c) Spain

Conclusions

The item above is meant to give information about students’ knowledge on religion as general knowledge. The results showed that the students in the sample group have little knowledge on a different religion than theirs (Orthodox).

 

Major thematic field: Arts

 

8. The “Trajan’s Column” that commemorates Emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian wars and represents the birth certificate of the Romanian people is located in:

a) Rome

b) Paris

d) Adamclisi

9.Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael Sanzio, Dante are representative figures of the Renaissance movement from:

a) Danemark

b) Italy

c) France

13. Which of the following figures come from Sweden? :

a) Alfred Nobel, Jakob Berzelius, Anders Celsius

b) Shakespeare, Lady Diana;

c) Jules Verne, Marcel Proust, Napoleon Bonaparte

d) Frederic Chopin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sigmund Freud

20. Don Quijote de la Mancha is a hero belonging to:

a) French literature

b) Portuguese literature

c) Spanish literature

21. Which of the following painters is Spanish?:

a) Salvador Dali

b) Michelangelo Buonarotti

c) Claude Monet

Conclusions

In developing the items dealing with Arts, the aim was to assess students’ level of knowledge about European literary and artistic creations, from a historical perspective. The answers show insufficient knowledge and this fact requires creating and performing various activities in order to help students develop their artistic sense and achieve cultural sensibility, necessary to complete their personalities.

The answers of the sample group revealed the following data:

Final conclusions

Research also shows that ‘when students make connections between their own identity and the school, these connections foster lifelong learning and development of important skills’. (McCombs, 1991; McCombs & Marzano, 1990)

The European Survey questionnaire used within the project reveals that the students in the sample group have average and under average general knowledge.

Corroborating the data analysis obtained from the questionnaire application with other data obtained by other techniques (eg the observation technique) the following defining aspects were revealed:

• The students’ interest in the major thematic fields of the project (history, geography, arts and religion) is quite low mainly because of the demands of the school system imposed in the  Romanian secondary education ;
• The students’ motivation for schoolwork and learning is predominantly external;
• Students are not used to team work, collaborative and experiential learning;
• Students are not used to a harmonious development of relations with other group members. This skill is likelyto be developed due to the awareness and acceptance of cultural differences between individuals;
• Students need a project that promotes civic involvement, communication and tolerance, that emphasizes the importance of developing interpersonal skills and positive interaction among students.

 

Methodological Suggestions:

Due to our Comenius multilateral project, students will have the opportunity  to take responsibilities, to identify their educational goals, to find information and sources in order to build their own system of knowledge based on those previously identified personal goals.

Among the methodological suggestions deriving from the data analysis, we can list:

• Socio-constructivist teachers should help students understand the role of co-participants in the process of building their own knowledge system;
• Students will help each other in implementing a plan to support symbolically the collaborative process of thinking.
• Sociocultural motivation to learn should be achieved through group activities. However, these group activities preserve individual identity;
• School should create a learning environment that stimulates the natural impulse of continuous learning and that perceives things from the students’ perspective.
• The  relationships among the people involved in education should be  based on respect and consideration for other individuals who acknowledge their potential, genuinely appreciate their unique talents and accept them as individuals;
• Developing a teaching style that would place the student in the center of education; this style should be characterized by the existence of three dimensions of learning: individualization, interaction and integration;
• Students should be encouraged to take responsibilities and help each other.

 

Selective Bibliography:

Dunn, R.,  &  Griggs,  S.  A.  (1995).  Learning styles: Quiet revolution in American secondary schools.  Westport, CT:  Praeger

Gardner,  H.  (1993a).  Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences /10^th Anniversary Edition. New York: Basic Books

Gardner,  H.  (1993b).  Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books

McCombs, B. L.  (1991).  Motivation and lifelong learning. Educational Psychologist, 26 (2), 117-127

McCombs, B. L.,  &  Marzano, R. J.  (1990).  Putting the self in self-regulating learning: The self as agent in integrating will and skills.  Educational Psychologist, 25 (1), 51-69

http://www.intime.uni.edu/model/Romanian_Model/center_of_learning_files/principles.html

European Survey

1. The foundational document of the international organization called The European Union is:
a) The Charter of the U.N. b)The Schuman Declaration c) The Declaration of the
Human Rights

2. Which of the following is Europe’s Day? :
a) the 9th of May 1877 b) the 9th of May 1945 c) the 9th of May 1950

3. The motto of the European Union is:
a) “Unity in thought” b)”Unity in diversity” c)”Unity in action”

4. The establishment of the European Union was achieved by:
a) The Treaty of Rome b) The Treaty of Nice c) The Treaty of Maastricht

5. Romania joined European Union in:
a) 2002 b)2004 c)2007

6. The world’s smallest European state (1 square km.) – the headquarters of the catholic world and the main residence of the Pope is:
a) Vatican b) Versailles c) Mount Athos

7. A boot shape peninsula:
a) Sweden b) Italy c) Spain

8. The “Trajan’s Column” that commemorates Emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian wars and represents the birth certificate of the Romanian people is located in:
a) Rome b) Paris d) Adamclisi

9.Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael Sanzio, Dante are representative figures of the Renaissance movement from:
a) Danemark b) Italy c) France

10.During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) in which Transylvania also took part, Sweden was led by:
a) Gustavus Adolphus b) Louis XIII d) Ferdinand II

11. The constitutional monarchy state that remained neutral during the two World Wars, with Stockholm as capital city:
a) Netherlands b) Norway c) Sweden

12. The constitutional monarchy is specific to :
a) Spain and Sweden b) Italy and Poland c) Romania and Italy

13. Which of the following figures come from Sweden? :
a) Alfred Nobel, Jakob Berzelius, Anders Celsius
b) Shakespeare, Lady Diana;
c) Jules Verne, Marcel Proust, Napoleon Bonaparte
d) Frederic Chopin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sigmund Freud

14. Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, approached a traditional line in foreign policy with orientation towards:
a) Hungary b) Poland c) Russia

15. After the German and Soviet Occupation of Poland during World War II, the Polish government and the civil population took refuge in :
a) Romania b) Hungary c) Czechoslavakia

16. During their fight against comunism, the workers at the Naval construction site in Gdansk founded the free trade union movement called ‘The Solidarity’, led by Lech Walesa in:
a) Czechoslavakia b) Hungary c) Poland

17. During his papacy, Pope John Paul II really valued and supported the interreligious dialogue. Which of the following is Pope John Paul II’s birth country?:
a) Italy b) Poland c) Spain

18. The kingdom that funded the great geographical expeditions during the XVth-XVIth centuries which led to the discovery of America and to the demonstration of the Earth’s sphericity is:
a) The Netherlands b) England c)Spain

19. Neo-Latin people in Western Europe:
a) The Spanish b) The Dutch c) The Belgian

20. Don Quijote de la Mancha is a hero belonging to:
a) French literature b) Portuguese literature c) Spanish literature

21. Which of the following painters is Spanish?:
a) Salvador Dali b) Michelangelo Buonarotti c) Claude Monet

Hello world!

The project entitled Cultural Identity in a Worldwide Classroom is addressed to students of different levels-11/15 years old and also 16-19 years old and by it we mean to focus on learning about different European countries, European citizenship and European dimension and intercultural education. We started from the idea that our students do not have much knowledge on cultural identity of their countries and other countries on the continent. As teachers maybe we are the most responsible of all, because we form the future European citizens and we need to shape our children’s and student’s personalities, as to feel and live naturally in a diverse Europe. As the theme of the project deals with Cultural Identity in a Worldwide Classroom,  we mean not only school timetable but: a  need in school and in education in general to promote European rights, fighting against racism, intolerance, discrimination;a need to develop in our children and students motivation for an open and useful learning, as a device of self-esteem and success in life; to unify children all over Europe throughout literature, English, religion, ICT , History and Geography. Our aims are: promoting foreign languages, ICT, access to information about each other and about everything else by organizing workshops, collecting information, exhibitions, contests, designing and working on the European Workbook, Virtual European City.The teachers can motivate, influence and offer great opportunities social, cultural and economical development of European citizenship. Developing of beneficial, positive and fruitful long-term cooperation the final result will be that all the partners involved in the project are the same, no matter religion, race, geographical and historical background, while living in the same Europe.