About project

The project "TOLERANCE IS THE START!" involves 5 schools from 5 European countries:

LT, PT, GR, RO, TR. According to the SWOT analysis done by each partner in their institution, the partners identified a series of common needs that lead to the decision to implement a project about tolerance. Violence, aggression, intolerance, racism, ethnic discrimination are tendencies that can be observed in the behavior of the students from all the partner countries.

In The World Values Survey shows that Portugal, Turkey and Romania are the least racially tolerant countries, while Greece and Lithuania seem to be the most tolerant countries. This result along with the diverse educational and cultural background of the partners will facilitate the implementation of a successful project.

The project objectives are:

  • to develop civic competences and increase self-esteem of 110 students from 5 EU countries
  • to facilitate understanding the concepts "tolerance" and "mutual understanding" at a personal level and in the European context
  • to equip participants with practical examples for acting as civic-minded citizens
  • to raise awareness about diversity and cultural identities promoting social cohesion
  • to boost the feeling of belonging to the EU community

In accordance with the Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union, we envisage that this

international cooperation will prepare our students for living in a multicultural society being aware of the EU values, appreciating diversity. Students will interiorize tolerance and mutual understanding as active civic attitudes. For reaching the overall aim of broadening the civic mindedness emphasizing the importance of tolerance and mutual understanding impact in daily life, we decided to use an innovative approach.

To reach the project objectives an innovative approach will be used. Combining the advantages of using ICT in education with the Five Factor Model theory will tackle the 5 personality dimensions:

  • openness to experience: students will be encouraged to express their emotions and ideas using Art. They will create together the movie "Tolerance through my eyes", scenarios for the Forum theater, digital photos, will prepare artistic moments for the Festival of tolerance and mutual understanding.
  • extraversion: team building activities, sports competitions and board games are going to stimulate students' assertiveness, sociability and personality.
  • agreeableness: working in international teams and creating products together will develop students' cooperation skills. The tangible products they will create together are flashcards about the topic, the dictionary of the project, handmade bookmarks and thematic puzzles.
  • neuroticism: students will experience (un)pleasant emotions, anger, depression, anxiety and vulnerability during the Forum theater/ theater activity. They will become aware of how intolerance is perceived by others, develop empathy and they will see how important is to be an active citizen.

The use of ICT during the activities, supported by internal cognitive aspects of learning will lead to innovative outcomes results tackling learning abilities.

The activities are designed to develop the tolerance, mutual understanding, intercultural

competences, social and civic spirit. The international cooperation will broaden the cross-cultural

knowledge and understanding about the countries, cultures and values strengthening the feeling of belonging to a united Europe.