TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY MEETING IN MARCONIA, ITALY
Erasmus+ project took place in Marconia, Italy during the first week of October, 2018. The participating countries were Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Hungary.
On the arriving day (October 1) at the primary school Istituto Comprensivo Quinto Orazio Flacco there was a warm welcoming ceremony by the primary school students and teachers, holding flags from all European countries. Also our hostess Mrs. Antonella Russo (Italian coordinator of the project) treated us with a special welcoming cake. Moreover there were welcoming songs and dances by the students of the school.
Furthermore, each participating country presented some traditional dances and exchanged or explained traditional costumes to the plenary.
We later had a meeting of the partners about the project which was held by the coordinator Mrs. Lorita Zaharieva regarding the evaluation, dissemination and coordination and planning activities. Afterwards, the students visited classrooms of the school and talked with the students of the local school. Finally, we visited the picturesque Pisticci, which is the municipality of Marconia. It is a town commune in the province of Matera, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It's the fourth town of the region for citizen and the most populated of the province after Matera. According to the tour guide it is known for being the production site of Amaro Lucano, one of the most famous Italian liqueurs.
On the second day (October 2) the participant students performed based on poems, drama, tales and slogans with background music. Further on, there was a setting of the exhibition “RESPECT”, whereby all participating students decorated a noticeboard with their drawings about human rights and peace.
In the afternoon we visited Matera, the capital of culture 2019, which was a fantastic experience. We also visited a library in Matera “Biblioteca Provinciale T.Stigliani” where students had a tour in the library and had the opportunity to see ancient typewriters and very old newspapers. We also watched the use of an old gramophone where we listened to some classical music.
On the third day (October 3) an Italian student presented a monologue about bullying. Also some sport games and obstacle courses were held in the gym whereby our students were happy to play sport games with students from other countries so as to make friends from other European countries. Meantime the participating partners worked together on the project topic displaying interviews, questionnaires, observations, and collages of the students. Moreover, they worked on video making and preparation of presentations about the project visit. We later had a unique experience while visiting the nearby gymnasium Scuola Media Statale “Q.O.FLACCO”. Also the gymnasium organised some educational games promoting team work and friendship as well as non-violence.
On the fourth day (October 4) there was a UNICEF workshop regarding nonviolence among children. In addition we worked together with other partners on the project topic through interviews, questionnaires, observations, collages, video making and preparation of presentations about the project visit.
On our last day at the primary school (October 5) there was an Amnesty International workshop in the hosting primary school. In this workshop a presentation was presented to us about amnesty and then there were games among students so as to capture the notion of bullying and the feeling of being secluded by their fellow classmates. Finally there was an evaluation and dissemination of the teaching and learning activities. Some of the students watched an Italian language lesson, while Cypriot students painted a lovely mural painting, which is a piece of artwork painted directly on a wall.
