aces Kick-Off Meeting Laško, 24 28 September 2012 REPORT Report by Rebecca Zeilinger and Carmen Teubl Interkulturelles Zentrum
Contents 1. Programme aces Kick-Off Meeting... 3 2. Aims of the Kick-Off Meeting and Participants... 4 3. Impressions and Outcomes of the Meeting... 6 Monday, 24 September 2012 Welcome!... 7 Tuesday, 25 September 2012 I have a dream... 8 Wednesday, 26 September 2012 Learning Web 2.0... 11 Thursday, 27 September 2012 Dreams Work... 15 Friday, 28 September 2012 Walk your Dream... 20 2
1. Programme aces Kick-Off Meeting Monday, 24.09.2012 Tuesday, 25.09.2012 Wednesday, 26.09.2012 Thursday, 27.09.2012 Friday, 28.09.2012 9:00 Official Opening Entering the world of aces 10:30 Coffee Break 9:00 Energizer and Intro 9:15-11:00 Web of Learning Self-directed learning space stations and interactive input on media literacy 9:00 Get Started - Topic Presentation - Introduction of Workshop Facilitators 09:30 Going to Workshop Rooms 9:00 Get Started 9:30 10:30 Evaluation and Closure Arrival of Participants 11:00 15:30 Laško Game: Getting to know teams and venue in project groups (Coffee Break included) 11:00 12:45 Project Teams I 09:45 12:45 Workshops Morning Sessions Coffee Break included Departure of Participants Afternoon: - Registration of Participants - Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers (lunch boxes) 16:00 aces Group Picture 16:15 Story telling: sharing impressions 12:45 Lunch Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers 14:30 16:00 Project Teams II including Next Steps for Teachers 12:45 Lunch Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers 14:15 17:15 Workshops - Afternoon Sessions (2 nd round) Coffee Break included 17:15 Break / Return to Plenary 16:00 Coffee Break 18:00 First Contact 17:00 Coffee Break 17:30 Project Teams III 16:30 Excursions and Free Evening 17: 30 Country Group Meetings (lunch boxes) 19:30 Dinner 18:30 Dinner 18:30 Dinner - Partners Lost and Found Corner - Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers - Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers - Swimming pool area open until 22:30 (dinner boxes) Pleasure & Leisure Team Offers 20:30 PARTY Including Possibility to Meet the Team 3
2. Aims of the Kick-Off Meeting and Participants The aims of the aces Kick-Off-Meeting are: Bringing together students and teachers from all aces projects 2012/2013 in order to get to know each other and the partner schools Finding out more about the goals and principles of aces Working on the topic of the year, namely media literacy Taking part in methodical workshops related to media and media literacy, project management as well as various other topics Reflecting on the aims of the joint partnership project Planning further steps for the common implementation of the project in order to feel well prepared for the joint partnership project Working methods and language When preparing the aces Kick-Off Meeting the facilitators and the organisers thought of several keywords, standing for the related aims we had in mind. We hoped that for the participants the event would be bridging: in the sense of connecting and with the aim that by the end of the week the participants would feel closer and know more about their project partners and about aces; appreciative: by recognizing the efforts of the committed teachers and their students who are involved in the aces project and by enabling the participants to recognise and appreciate who they and the others are and what they all can offer and contribute; resourceful: by providing a variety of different methods, new approaches, activities and recommendations that can also be helpful or used in the school context, e.g. when realising the international school partnership project or when planning whatsoever other project or event (this keyword also refers to the resources we all have inside and can bring in); spacious: by hosting the event in Laško with all its rooms and outdoor-possibilities but also by creating a special atmosphere, the latter by providing enough space for the diversity of personalities and backgrounds of the aces participants (space to be who we are) and by acknowledging this diversity and enabling space for true encounters (including the notion of respect and safety)...and, finally, engaging: thanks to the new activities, approaches, methods, inspiring encounters, positive role-models, talks with the project partners, The programme was designed and sessions were offered according to these goals: We used a variety of working methods, such as plenary sessions, group work, the Laško Game, an interactive exhibition called Web of Learning and workshops. The composition of groups changed depending on the different working sessions. We had mixed groups of students and teachers, country teams, groups according to personal interests, groups involving the project partners only or work sessions separated into teachers -groups and students - groups. The settings aimed at a creative and dialogue-oriented interaction and a fruitful exchange between the participants. Furthermore, they encouraged a self-directed learning process. The common working language was English with one exception: the meeting of country groups (f)aces in the countries, offering space for students and teachers to get to know other participants from their own country and to exchange contact details in order to approach each other when realising the school projects (e.g. in order to get useful first-hand information from a more experienced aces-teacher or to invite each other to project related activities and events). 4
aces Tutors: The intention to involve young aces members as assistants of the facilitators had already proved to be a success at the previous events. Following the overall idea of lived participation, three students from former aces projects volunteered to take over this responsible task: Elina from Bulgaria, Eszter from Hungary and Cristina from Moldova. Apart from assisting the facilitators on and behind the stage and building bridges between the organisers of the Kick-Off Meeting and the participants, they also supported the orga-team behind the scenes and helped the Pleasure and Leisure Team to organise the party. Pleasure & Leisure Team: Tomáš and his team created an entire dream land, a space for the participants to retire from a fairly intense programme. The Gala Hall was decorated with stars and the participants were invited to have a crazy dream picture taken: on a comfortable bed and with a cuddly toy of their choice. Whoever wanted could decorate postcards, photo frames and pillows. Others played various games, Wii or table tennis. Tomáš, Svetlana and Lula from the Slovak Republic did their best to make it even easier for the students to get to know their peers, to interact and to feel at home and it wasn t only the students who enjoyed interacting, being creative and recharging their batteries in dream land. aces tutors: Cristina, Elina and Pleasure & Leisure team: Tomáš, Facilitators: Gülesin, Darko and Katrin Eszter Svetlana and Lula Conference participants Altogether approximately 270 participants attended the Kick-Off Meeting (see attached List of Participants for details)! Delegations from 107 schools involved in the 44 aces projects: 214 teachers and students from 15 countries Special guests from Austria and Slovenia: - Mr. Jurij Šink, Director-General of the Directorate of Secondary, Higher Vocational and Adult Education, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (SI) - Bronka Straus, Undersecretary, International Co-operation and European Affairs Service, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (SI) - Kristina Kham, The National Education Institute (SI) - Doraja Eberle and Knut Neumayer, ERSTE Foundation (AT) - Mari Steindl, Interkulturelles Zentrum (AT) Facilitator team (Katrin Lüth from AT, Darko Marković from RS and Gülesin Nemutlu Unal), the tutors and their teachers, members of the pleasure and leisure team, members of the orga-team, members of the finance team, Council Members, additional workshop trainers, Living Books Team of the aces coordination, including representatives from ERSTE Foundation (AT), Interkulturelles Zentrum (AT) and VČELÍ DOM (SK) Several journalists from Austria, Kosovo and the Slovak Republic Conference Venue: Hotel Wellness Park Laško, Zdraviliška cesta 6, 3270 Laško, Slovenia 5
A big Thank You In order to organise a huge event such as the aces Kick-Off Meeting it needs a lot of enthusiastic people and numerous helping hands. Every single one has contributed to the success of the event. But this would be nothing without the commitment of the aces teachers and students who are ready to realize their aces project despite the work load they have at school. It would be too much to mention all, but this is the space to name at least some of them: Mateja Todorovski, Anja Lončarek (SI) and their school for offering and thoroughly planning an excursion to her school and for their understanding when this excursion had to be cancelled because of too few registrations; Lorita Zaharieva (BG), András Molnár (HU) and Mihaela Hahuleac (MD) for accompanying the aces tutors despite the fact that they currently haven t got an aces project themselves; The Human Books Heinz Wagner (AT), Christiane Binder (AT), Dea Balaj (KS), Tadeja Vaupotič (SI), Georgi (BG) and Diomidis Meletiou (GR) for sharing their experiences and thought related to media and media literacy. And last but not least Katrin Lüth, Ruby Worth and Tom Bancroft (Tom Banana) for their support related to the aces dance. A very special thank you to Tom Banana (www.interrupto.com; twitter @tominterrupto) for composing the piece Look at all the people and for offering it to aces for free! aces teams 3. Impressions and Outcomes of the Meeting Dreaming at and about the aces Kick-Off Meeting When planning a meeting like this we always think of a metaphor, a certain image that can be related to the meeting. As Laško lies on the banks of Savinja river, the river seemed like an obvious metaphor for the aces Kick-Off Meeting 2012, but in the end we decided that this was maybe too obvious and that it would be clearly more interesting to go for a more abstract idea, namely I have a dream. Why? Firstly, because aces like other initiatives started as a dream and it became reality because several people had a similar dream and did their best to make it happen. Secondly, because we felt that every single school project that this year s aces schools will be realizing started as a joint dream of their project groups. So that would be what we called the TEAM DREAM. Our vision was that by the end of the Kick-Off Meeting the participants would also consider their own project groups as DREAM TEAMS after having had the chance to get to know each other better and after having overcome first obstacles together. Ultimately it was our hope that they would feel well prepared for 6
their next and even bigger adventure: the implementation of their international school projects. Each day of the Kick-Off Meeting had a different focus a specific motto pointing out the different goals of the meeting and this report aims at quickly guiding you through the most important parts. The annex which we compiled for your includes the main documents and might help you to remember the various activities. Monday, 24 September 2012 Welcome! Welcome and First Contact When we arrive at a new place it is crucial that we connect to it and start to own it in order to feel more at ease. This is why we had prepared several activities that enabled the participants to embrace the space and the participants : Already before the meeting the participants had been sent the instructions on how to tweet. On the spot several computers were available for them and the tweets were projected on the huge twitter wall. A line with dream comics had been put up in the aces foyer copied pictures of famous people or cartoons with empty dream bubbles to be completed by the arriving participants. A big letter puzzle invited the participants to find the most important words of the aces Kick-Off 2012. At the huge map of aces land, consisting of the 15 aces partner countries and without internal borders, the participants were asked to create a collective map and draw and stick pictures of what they dream for the aces land. All activities were facilitated by the aces Tutors and/or the aces Council members and all activities were related to either the metaphor of the Kick-Off Meeting, the aces principles and aims or the topic of this year s call for proposals. After a warm welcome by the facilitators and a few words by dream manager Rebecca on the metaphor of the meeting as well as on media literary, Gülesin accompanied the participants to and through Medi@Town. In this very special town they not only learnt more about various old and new media (tools), but they were also asked to write a postcard to a new friend, read the newspaper, watch a movie together (see The aces experience on http://vimeo.com/36493901), try out to pass a message through the broken telephone and to get into the net by connecting to as many people as possible with the coloured paper clips. The web that was created was very impressive! Dream manager Rebecca Medi@ Town : Participants read newspapers At the end so called dream diaries were handed over to the participants. These personalised notebooks allowed them to capture unforgettable moments, note open questions, useful information or other impressions. When leaving the main hall each of the participants was given one of the already written postcards that had been collected in the mailboxes beforehand. The aim was for them to find the writer of the postcard and to introduce themselves during the evening or the next day. Quite a few of the participants speak several languages and were ready to be language assistants, supporting those who had difficulties following the programme in English. After dinner, the 7
participants were able to have a rest after their long journey, benefit from the various offers by the pleasure and leisure team, meet with their project partners and other participants or decorate their dream diaries. Get into the net : connecting people with paper clips Participants create their personal dream diary Tuesday, 25 September 2012 I have a dream Official Welcomes and Presentations Who doesn t know Imagine by John Lennon? The song about a vision of a better world was the ideal opening for the motto of the day I have a dream. On the screens the picture of an endless horizon and in the background an audio-clip with the voice of Martin Luther King and several other definitely less famous people sharing their dreams, their personal and sometimes more global wishes for the future. The message was as Darko put it in aces we are not afraid of dreaming. After the introduction to the three aces tutors Mrs Doraja Eberle, Board Member of ERSTE Foundation, was invited on stage. Thanks to her NGO Farmers Help Farmers has felt strongly connected to the countries of the former Yugoslavia since the early 90ies. Doraja Eberle shared her hope that through projects such as aces we not only learn more about our neighbouring countries but also engage with people of different cultural backgrounds even if we might have been separated in the past through walls, wars and prejudices. These true encounters allow us to see the world and the other with different eyes, make us more open-minded and less ignorant. As the Kick-Off took place in Sarajevo, we were honoured to welcome Mr Jurij Šink, Director-General of the Directorate of Secondary, Higher Vocational and Adult Education in the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. The tutors asked him about his personal dream and his biggest dream regarding education. Amongst other things Jurij Šink uncovered his very own aces-secret: Being a former teacher himself he used to work in one of the very first aces schools. Mrs Doraja Eberle (ERSTE Foundation) Mr Jurij Šink, Ministry of Danica Lacová (VČELÍ DOM) & Mari Steindl (IZ) Education, Slovenia Finally, Danica Lacová, executive director of VČELÍ DOM (SK), and Mari Steindl, director of Interkulturelles Zentrum (AT), told the aces story : They mentioned how everything started and 8
summarised the most decisive milestones of the United States of aces. Furthermore, they stressed that in order to get closer to your dreams it needs reliable partners which is the case with the aces partnership of ERSTE Foundation, Interkulturelles Zentrum and VČELÍ DOM as well as other people, the aces teachers and students, who are ready to dream along even if this surely means a lot of additional work. aces promotes the idea of lived participation also by offering opportunities to shape the future development of the initiative. Therefore, one of the most important milestones was the establishment of the aces Council, an advisory group consisting of 4 teachers and 4 students from aces schools in different countries. Meanwhile the mandate of 4 of the Council members has expired and we are currently in the process of selecting the new members. The 4 remaining Council members Tadeja, Danijela, Ovidiu and Julia gave the participants an idea of their tasks and shared when, where and with which concerns they could be approached at the aces Kick-Off Meeting. aces Council: Ovidiu, Tadeja, Danijela, and Julia Like all communities aces has developed its culture over the years and like in all cultures there are some written and unwritten rules that are important when interacting with other people. Katrin presented the so called Code of Contact with its six rules: 1. Be open to meet other people. 2. Live diversity. 3. Participate actively: talk and listen. 4. Respect the material. 5. Appreciate what others give. 6. Appreciate what you give. After every rule the participants reflected on the meaning in their language, shared it with their neighbours and learnt a special movement connected to the respective rule. If we dream alone, dreams remain dreams, but if we dream together, they become reality. For this reason Darko encouraged the participants to share their dreams. Everyone had to pick a question (see the annex) from the Jar of Dreams, walk around and upon signal find as many people as possible who shared similar dreams. Even if some questions were totally different, there seemed to be quite a consensus regarding some of the answers. 9
Laško Game After being introduced to the programme of the week, the participants got together in their school project teams and left for their first adventure together, the Laško Game (see the annex for details). The main aims of this activity were bonding with the members of the own project groups, getting to know Laško and enjoying the beautiful landscape together. The game was structured like a computer game with two levels and 25 stations. 5 of these stations were main stations (= level 2 stations), the other 20 stations were level 1 stations. All main stations referred to skills, competences or alike needed in a team: such as e.g. problem solving skills (station 1: Moving over dangerous ground) or communication skills (station 11: Bat s cave). But before being admitted to a main station, the teams had to solve at least one task of the level 1 stations leading to the respective main station. As every team needs a name and a certain cooperate identity, the first task was to come up with a team name and decorate their team streamer. And of course a photo of the project team had to be taken as well (all photos can be seen on facebook). Some project groups only chose a few activities and took their time to go deeper, others checked out as many stations as possible. All approaches were allowed as long as the team members made sure to get to know each other better and take notes in their dream diaries. Whenever they felt ready for lunch, the teams could sit on their blanket and picnic together most of them made sure to enjoy the lovely view from the castle. In order to close the activity and see the larger picture, all groups came together in a circle at the lawn opposite of the venue and created their very own slide show: Each team had to think about a special, strange or funny moment that had occurred during the game. These moments had to be symbolised by creating a living statue. Group by group, the participants stood up, showed their living statue and sat down again. At the very end of the activity, they all proved how much energy they still had by shouting a loud KA-ZINGA! Laško Game Project Team Photo After gathering for the aces Group picture, everybody went back to the main hall for the Dream sharing around the fire. For this activity the participants had to split into groups of six students with other students and teachers with teachers. As one aim was getting to know again more people, the participants had to make sure that they knew no one else or at least as few as possible in this new group. After exchanging their names and some details about their hometowns and schools everyone had to share a story with the others: something inspiring, sad, funny or surprising that happened during the Laško Game. Together the group then had to come up with a word or story that summed up the experiences of all which was written on a stripe of paper (see annex for details). Country Group Meeting (F)aces in your countries The evening activity offered the chance of meeting people from one s own country in order to not only get to know each other but also to chat in the respective mother tongue. The task for students and teachers in the country group was to: 10
- benefit from each other s experience and do an energizer or name game - introduce themselves to each other and briefly present the projects - have a picture of the group taken including a poster with the name of the country (below the group from Hungary) Last but not least the participants were encouraged to exchange their contact details in order to be able to approach each other after the Kick-Off: e.g. in order to get useful first-hand information from a more experienced aces-teacher or to invite each other to project related activities and events. Wednesday, 26 September 2012 Learning Web 2.0 Despite the free afternoon Wednesday was a highly intense day, with several totally different but also exciting activities. The Web of Learning September 26 was the European Day of Languages which is why the energizer was a canon allowing us to learn the phrase Good Morning in 4 different languages: German ( Guten Morgen ), English, Spanish ( Buenos días ) and Italian ( Buongiorno ). After rehearsing and singing it, the participants were invited to browse the Web of Learning, both a living exhibition and a selfdirected learning space with 21 Learning Sites all dealing with different aspects of media and media literacy. The large group was divided into approximately 46 groups of 5 people each. Every group received a map of the web on which a specific starting point was highlighted in yellow (see annex for details). All other sites could be visited according to the interest and the pace of the group. The sites provided a combination of serious inputs and fun activities related to the topic, but in any case all participants had to engage actively and take notes in their dream diaries. The activities were highly diverse. A few examples: The site www.galleryofancestors.aces displayed pictures and short descriptions of role models or personalities or alike related to media, including Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the movable-type printing press or Ada Lovelace, who is often considered to be the world s first computer programmer. At www.opticalillusion- FocusChoiceInMedia.aces the participants were invited to see some optical illusions and then reflect on how the media can manipulate us by their choice of focus: What is shown, what not and why? At www.mymediahero/ine.aces they had to share who their media heroes and heroines are and why they admired them. At www.elevatorspeech.aces the group practiced how to promote their project as clearly and concisely as possible. The site www.musicasacodeforunderstanding allowed its visitors to think about how music can actually create emotional reactions of the viewers whilst www.mobilephonesandsnappycameras.aces was the ideal place for those who wanted to share the results of other Learning Sites (images and statements) with the wider community by uploading them on youtube, tumblr or alike. One of the 11
highlights definitely was the opportunity to either in person or via skype talk to the Human Books, all of which have a media background or are experienced in the field of media literacy. See http://acesweboflearning2012.wikispaces.com/ for the complete documentation of the Web of Learning. Project Teams I Dream Management for the realisation of the school projects The aces school partnership projects formed the heart piece of the overall programme. All project teams had been chosen by an international jury to be part of this year s aces cycle. Most of the project teams (two to three schools from different countries) hadn t had the chance to discuss their project in detail before the Kick-Off Meeting. Therefore, the first project team meeting in the late morning was the official start of the actual cooperation and an opportunity to discuss open issues and come up with new ideas in order to even improve the project. The first thing one needs to follow a dream is a map and the mind map is a very special map that is created by those who actually use it. It is a method to brainstorm words, ideas and other items that are linked to the respective keyword or central idea in our case the implementation of the project and four different aspects to it. In a first step, the representatives of the project schools had to create such a map by writing down possible open issues or whatever was important to them and linked to the following four aspects: Teachers, Students, Programme (content/activities) and Organisation. In a second step, the delegations were invited to share the outcome with their project partners and to come up with more specific topics they wanted to discuss after lunch. The document Challenges and possible sources of conflicts during an international school partnership project, offering recommendations for a successful project implementation, was handed out to all and had to be discussed before they closed the activity and jointly left for lunch. Project Teams II World Café for teachers and Project Carousel for students After lunch, the students and teachers were divided into two separate groups and introduced to their specific setting and activity. 12
The Teachers: Tine Gamper, one of the project managers of aces, informed the teachers of the most important Next Steps, including details regarding the implementation of their international school partnership projects: the transfer of school grants, the final project reports, the documentation of the project work with the interactive website tools, project visits of the aces team, the upcoming events and the available support of Interkulturelles Zentrum and VČELÍ DOM. (Please see the annex or http://www.aces.or.at/start.asp?id=225284&b=1385 for details). The presentation was followed by a so-called World Café, a method that encourages active participation of all. Depending on his/her specific interests everyone had to find a table labelled with five fields connected to the mind map of the morning: Teachers ; Students ; Organisation ; Programme and Open issues. The aim was an open discussion around the questions they had brought in from the morning and they considered crucial for the success of their projects. The World Café was designed in two rounds every phase of active discussion at the respective table was followed by some minutes of personal reflection and notes in the dream diary. Tine and Danica, on behalf of the aces project management team, as well as the tutor Eszter and the Council members Ovidiu and Danijela were present to give advice regarding practical issues or to share stories about their own project experiences. The activity ended with selected interviews in the large group, in order to get some impressions, and the invitation to share the outcomes with the students in the afternoon. The Students: After a warm-up game and an energizer helping to divide the students into smaller groups, Katrin introduced the students to the Students Carousel, consisting of 8 stations for two small groups each. Every group had to move in a circle and spend a certain time at every station. At some stations the two groups worked parallel, at others they worked together: 1. Pot of Gold: Question and Answer Game 2. Association Spiral: Writing exercise and story telling, starting with the word aces project 3. aces Flag: If aces had a flag, what should it look like? Draw it together. 4. Meet the aces Council: Time to talk with the Council members Tadeja and Julia 5. Students and Teachers: What does the ideal student-teacher-team look like? Use the lego figures to symbolise it and add 3-5 descriptive words on cards. Have a picture taken. 6. Who are you? Take a stand: At this station both groups worked together. They were asked to think about themselves along the line of fun opposites like liker-sharer, facebook-twitter, uploaderdownloader, dancing-chilling and to discuss the outcomes with Gülesin 7. What we can do: Think about the things students can do for the project and what they can maybe do better than the teacher? Think about yourself and your school team, write on cards, share and then write a list with the main and common issues. 8. Our wishes: What do teachers need to do/know to have your support and motivation? Write on cards, share and then write a list with the main and common issues. At the end of the activity the students shared their experiences and some of their main outcomes. The results (photos, lists, flags ) were hung on the pin boards for the teachers to see them on the next morning. Furthermore, the students were also encouraged to share the outcomes with their teachers. 13
The Students Carousel Some outcomes Excursions and free afternoon On Wednesday afternoon the majority of the participants joined one of the optional excursions. Most participants visited the medieval castle of Celje, others had a guided tour through the city and also visited the archaeological exhibition of Roman Celeia. Quite a few walked around in Celje on their own or enjoyed the spa in Laško. 14
Thursday, 27 September 2012 Dreams Work After watching Gülesin s animoto-movie presenting the workshops, the workshop facilitators shared their personal dreams. Workshops all around Media Literacy and Project Management The workshops were hosted by trainers from very diverse backgrounds. In most cases the same workshops were offered twice (morning and afternoon). In two cases, the workshops lasted the entire day. Short descriptions can be found on the following pages. Detailed information (downloads) on each workshop and method will be available end of October on www.aces.or.at/materials&tools Methods Workshop 1: Pretty Pink vs Brave Blue: Gender-related clichés in advertising Trainer: Gülesin Nemutlu Unal, tekne designs for learning, Turkey The common purpose of advertising is to pass on a message to the public that the product is good and it is worth having. The product can be a house, a car, a toy, a health insurance, a washing powder or an organic orange. Looking at the advertisement, we see the product in a scene. Certain things happen around the product within this scene, for us to imagine the product s value. Our interest is to explore the scenes around the products in advertisements. How do these scenes help us in being convinced about the value of the product? What are the potential influences of these simulated scenes on us? Are there certain gender-roles we are exposed to? What happens if we not only want to own the product but we want to be the person in the scene? Welcome to explore the world of advertising through gender-sensitive lenses. Workshop 2: What do you think about... Violence at school? Trainers: Neva Zajc, RTV SLO Radio Koper, assistant Ana Skrt, Slovenia Every forth student has been daily experiencing some kind of violence at school. Most often verbal violence is concerned even if physical aggression is not excluded. Has it ever happened to you? How did you react? What would you do if your best friend would be involved in a violent situation? These are the main questions with which we are going to do a brief investigation among the participants of the workshop. Let s try out to be radio journalists and editors by using a microphone and a computer! We will gather the opinions in a two-minutes radio clip ready to be put on air. Be with us! Workshop 3: Where are your critical glasses? Trainer: Milorad Kapetanović, free lance trainer To wear rose-coloured glasses is the expression we use when somebody sees a world as a perfect, ideal place. We also use it to say that something is just not real. But if we think twice, we need to ask ourselves what glasses we wear when we look at the world as a normal place. This Critical Media Literacy and Guerrilla Art workshop will first explore how to be critical trying to see through different glasses on our noses in different situations. And once we put our critical glasses on we will explore how to use them to read and write in the space of the new internet media (social networks). Practically, we will work in big and small groups exploring the internet to learn about different forms of guerrilla art art interventions in public space, whether this space is real or virtual. We will do this to see how young people, but also teachers can use messages, pictures and videos to make their voice 15
being heard in society. Specifically, we will focus on the use of our glasses to recognise discrimination around us and fight against it with guerrilla art/activism in social media. Workshop 4: Online Civic Participation PoliPedia Trainer: Georg Heller, Democracy Centre Vienna, Austria PoliPedia is a Social Web based tool for young people to engage in civic political participation. It is a youth democracy project that aims at the collaborative production of a knowledge base for politics and democracy that enables young people to acquire the knowledge and competences necessary for active participation in democratic life. This workshop will provide you with an introduction into the multimedia online platform www.polipedia.eu. Together we will discuss how the wiki-platform can strengthen key competencies of young people and/or self-organised learning. Furthermore, there will be an introduction to the basic functions of PoliPedia for students and teachers. You will learn how to participate on www.polipedia.eu and how to use it as a learning/teaching tool in the classroom. Also we will debate the reliability of what we read (especially on the internet): How do we use new media? Who informs us? With what purpose? Could we trust any media? What sources are reliable? Let s try to answer these questions together! Workshop 5: Be an actor against violence! Trainer: Laura de Witte, Cooperative Mandacaru, Portugal To be human is to be an artist The basic aim of the Theatre of the Oppressed is to humanize Humanity. In this workshop, we will try out some exercises and games and will learn about concrete good practices using Theatre of the Oppressed methodologies. Being actors in the theater play allows us to explore different images of violence used in and by media every day, opens up the possibility to discuss them and to change them providing other solutions and potential alternatives. Being actors is a great opportunity to train to become actors in real life. No special skills or talents needed. Just bring your body, motivation and energy! Workshop 6: Travelguide Project Cycle Trainer: Katrin Lüth, free lance facilitator of learning, Austria A project is like a trip. Like a traveller, when you embark on a project there are aspects to consider: you might want to talk to experienced travellers, read a travelguide to be prepared, plan with other travellers. This workshop is a meeting place for project travellers who want to exchange and gather information and tools for their journey ahead. Some of the sections in the guide to the project cycle are: * Orientation Preparation, partners, aims * Getting there and away the important phases of beginning and end * Sights main project parts to consider * Dangers & Annoyances conflict & demotivation * Eating & Drinking keeping the team motivated Workshop 7: Intercultural schools lighthouses of the future? Trainers: Mateja Todorovski (teacher) & Anja Lončarek (student), Primary school Vransko-Tabor, Slovenia You had a dream which now came true. Your school is running an international project! What's next? Gather your colleagues, students and parents, get the support of the municipality and the journey can start. Open your eyes and your mind, risk some energy, add a lot of innovative ideas and moreover, 16
don t forget that you are not alone, therefore inspire others to work hand in hand. Together you can build a wonderful international school project and have the time of your life. At this workshop we will present, share and search for different strategies how to involve and connect all the participants, speak about their expectations trying to find the best solution for all. You will have the opportunity to experience some precious moments from intercultural exchanges viewed from the point of students, parents and teachers. If you feel the experience of others would be valuable and inspirational to you join us in an amazing intercultural journey. Together we will reveal what it takes to do a successful project. Workshop 8: How to cook a tasty workshop? Trainer: Darko Marković, Inn.Side people and training, Serbia This workshop is about workshops! If you are about to create a workshop for your peers, students or teachers and wondering how to do it, join us in this educational cooking master class! During the workshop we will explore the following questions: Is there a recipe for a good workshop programme? What ingredients are a must in this process? How to ensure that learning will really happen? How to spice up your programme to make it even more fun for your participants? How to be creative and innovative, while keeping the educational value in mind? How to get feedback from your customers, so you can improve your cooking next time? Workshop 9a: Games for Beginning & Ending Group Sessions Trainer: Ruby Worth, Findhorn College, Scotland This session will be experiential, playful and fun, an opportunity to participate in a range of innovative games that can be used to begin and end group sessions. Introducing games to begin a session serve a number of functions: as ice-breakers they help people to relax and relate; as energizers they wake people up to themselves and each other; as playful openers they expand people s thinking into imaginative, spontaneous and creative modalities. Equally ending a session with games can playfully facilitate: closure and release; advocate and appreciate group synergy and be an opportunity to playfully express gratitude for the time and work spent together. Please wear comfortable and loose fitting clothes, flat shoes/trainers and bring a notebook or notepad for your own notes. This workshop was offered only in the morning. Workshop 9b: aces The Dance Trainer: Ruby Worth, Findhorn College, Scotland To mark and creatively celebrate the gathering of aces this year a specially commissioned workshop has been created. aces - The Dance will see participants devising a dance together facilitated by choreographer Ruby Worth from Scotland. Taking core principles of aces, themes of connection, communication, innovative learning and participation will be explored throughout the devising process. A choreography will be created that will further be taught by the participants to the whole group the following morning. It is envisioned that aces - The Dance will continue to be developed throughout the coming year, within different groups and settings. Come and experience how fun dance making can be, and add your particular flavour to aces - The Dance. Please wear comfortable and loose fitting clothing, flat shoes/trainers. This workshop was offered only in the afternoon. 17
Workshop 10: Use me, but don t abuse me. Can we address school problems like discrimination using mobile phones? What are the challenges? Trainer: Marko Pejović, Group Let s, Serbia There are different ways how we can use mobile phones for making short videos. For example: - Two boys are fighting in the school yard, and some spectators are recording it by mobile phone. - Having in mind the level of discrimination in society, a girl, by using her phone s snappy camera, made a short video about its destructive effect on our lives. - Being aware of problems like discrimination in school, a student makes some short video with his phone about what is happening, shows it in school and invites the school community to react on it. In three acts the workshop will start a discussion on the topic and have some small group tasks about when and how we can use mobile phones for making short videos. Those acts are: Act 1 participants addressing the level and types of discrimination in their Schools; Act 2 participants create scenes that present samples of discrimination in their schools; Act 3 outcomes and material of the previous parts are used for making short videos with mobile phones. Bring your mobile phones and USB cable (or other devices needed for transferring video/data from mobile phone to PC) with you and make sure you wear some comfortable clothing. This workshop lasted the entire day. Workshop 11: Media Literacy, Civic Journalism and VisuALL Culture Film Workshop Trainers: Gregory Kennedy-Salemi, 5Colours1World, Austria (USA) & Stuart Jolley, 5Colours1World, Austria (UK) This workshop for students and teachers covers the digital filmmaking process, working in small filmteams on two interactive and globally relevant themes, using the latest in Hi-Definition film look cameras, lenses, Apple Macs and Hollywood editing software. Participants will gain insights into Generation M ( Media ) and be empowered to create short films that raise awareness of issues that challenge us all. Participants will also learn how film and other media can be integrated into the classroom, allowing and encouraging teachers and students to actively engage and share during the learning and creative process, while having a lot of fun doing it. Themes: 'Banana Logic' - The journey of a Banana from farmer to the supermarket. 'Global Connections' - we all wear T-shirts and other clothing made from cotton, but where and how does the process start? Raising awareness about the journey of a T-shirt. This workshop lasted the entire day. 18
Project Teams III Next steps to make your dreams come true In this final round of project team meetings, the project teams had time to reflect on their workshops and to come up with one personal learning moment as well as one aspect the group should consider when implementing the own partnership project. Then, the participants were asked to think about their project work in more details the next steps, possible meetings, etc. and to come up with a work plan including responsibilities and deadlines for the various tasks (please see the annex for details). As this was the last official time together in this team, the participants were also invited to say goodbye. Project Teams (all other photos can be seen on Facebook) The Party In the evening everyone dressed up to get ready for the party. The already shinny Gala Hall had been turned into a disco and decorated according to both the event as well as the metaphor: The pleasure and leisure team had hung pillows from the ceiling some of which had been adorned by participants beforehand. A tombola and some games had been prepared and a DJ made sure that everyone could hear some of his or her favourite songs. Quite a few hit the dance floor at one moment or another, others preferred having a drink and a chat at one of the tables in the aces foyer. And when the pleasure and leisure team finally called it a day some participants could even cut down the pillows from the ceiling and take them to their rooms. 19
Friday, 28 September 2012 Walk your Dream Still being a bit tired from the party the participants seemed to be happy to review the Kick-Off Meeting and reminisce about their memories by seeing some of the photos that had been taken throughout the week. The Evaluation Post Nowadays a lot of people read the news online. But luckily we still have printed newspapers as well and the Evaluation Post seemed liked the ideal medium to measure the satisfaction of the participants: Every participant received a copy the Evaluation Post and had to answer the following questions: 1. What was the most inspiring moment for you during the Kick-Off Meeting? 2. How far has the Kick-Off Meeting supported you in getting to know your partners better? 3. What was the most valuable learning outcome for you? 4. What is your understanding of media literacy after the Kick-Off Meeting? 5. How motivated are you to implement your project after the Kick-Off Meeting? 6. Please share with us your suggestions to improve the Kick-Off Meetings? Things to keep? Things to change? Short Summary of the outcome: Unfortunately quite a few participants had to leave earlier. The vast majority, however, seemed to be really pleased with the aces Kick-Off Meeting 2012. For reasons of space the following quotes are only a selection. For the majority of the remaining participants workshops were the most inspiring moment (41), others mentioned meeting each other and/or open-hearted people (29), the Laško Game (17), getting to know the partners (14), the party (12), the aces dance (8), practicing to work in teams (7), sharing experiences (7), active learning (6) etc. We were particularly happy to read The whole Kick-Off was perfect! People who have never met before were laughing and having a great time together in harmony or Follow your dreams and never give up, even if someone tells you the opposite (3). It also seems that the Kick-Off supported the participants a lot in getting to know the project partners. The vast majority (89) indicated that the meeting fully supported them. 34 stated that it helped very much, others (4) indicated mostly, only one mentioned partly and nobody stated not much. The majority of participants (81) are fully motivated to implement the project after the Kick-Off Meeting. 35 stated very much, 9 mostly, 3 partly and no one not at all. As to the most valuable learning outcome the following were mentioned amongst others: To be active/creative/motivated (18), new friends from other countries (18), make plans for future activities (18), unity (18), I learned to see people as equals (17), related to workshops (18), how to work in a dream (11), I learned that dreams can come true (11), teaching methods (10), to be yourself/ self confident / not to be afraid of trying new things (9), sharing ideas (8), how to become more organised (6), students can be fully involved in project planning and are responsible project team members (3). With regard to the understanding of media literacy after the Kick-Off Meeting, the following was mentioned: The majority (31) indicated that it is much better and clearer/very useful for the project / offered different perspectives, quite a few (25) mentioned something in the line of Media has two faces / sometimes the things we see on TV etc. aren t true / to be aware of the advantages and dangers. Others (18) stated that media are the most important and popular sources for information, or that we need media because it informs us but sometimes it doesn t show the full/right picture of the situation (14). Other indicated that now they are more familiar with old and new media / all the types of media and how they work (14) or that media offer different kinds of information, news, 20
methods and other things (11). 5 participants pointed out that with the help of media we are able to communicate with people from all over the world, whilst somebody stressed that media can make our dreams come true or someone else mentioned that face to face communication is better than facebook. As to the things to keep, the vast majority wanted to keep everything (61). Quite a few really liked the workshops (17) or the games/motivation (14) as well as the very good organisation (12) or the spirit/ the enthusiasm/ atmosphere (12). Other mentioned the team (7) and the venue (7), the party (6) or the different groups/ group works (5). One person particularly enjoyed the morning massage, others the smiles (3) or the creativity in everything (3). The majority (44) wants nothing to be changed. Quite a few, however, would prefer more free time to rest and for unofficial meetings (17). 7 mentioned that the excursions shouldn t be in the evening as the shops were closed and it was dark. For some some workshops should be more practically oriented or need improvement (5). Somebody mentioned that additional information on the Kick-Off Meeting in order to understand more about aces would be helpful, 2 would prefer more workshops. Somebody mentioned that some people don t speak English, whilst somebody else would like to see more inputs from participants. 6 people, finally, indicated that the Kick-Off should be a few days longer. All in all it seems that we managed to achieve our goal and that the Kick-Off Meeting really was bridging, appreciative, resourceful, spacious and engaging at least for most of the participants. The aces Dance When the Kick-Off Meeting was nearly over, Rebecca thanked the facilitators for safely navigating the big group through the various activities and introduced the aces team members from VČELÍ DOM and Interkulturelles Zentrum who will be glad to support the teachers and students also after the event. Finally, Ruby Worth was called on stage. Together with her workshop group she had developed the so called aces dance on Thursday and together they showed us how to dance it. The piece of music Look at all the people had been composed by Tom Bancroft (Tom Banana) who offered it to aces for free. After rehearsing the various steps, we all danced the aces dance a last time as a way to say farewell. The film with the step-by-step instructions of the aces basic dance and the more elaborated version will soon be uploaded on the net. That way not only the participants of the Kick-Off Meeting but also their fellow students and colleagues back home and even students and teachers from previous aces cycles will be able to rehearse the dance and come up with their individualised versions. Our last dream related to the Kick-Off Meeting would be that as many versions as possible will be shared with us. More details will follow, but we can tell you already now that the dance also will also be a bridge to the aces Academy in April. We are looking forward to seeing you again! 21