Erasmus+ in Dublin

Last July  I left for  Dublin and spent two weeks in the beautiful capital city of Ireland .

I chose  Alpha College in  Dublin where I had already studied  in 2014 . The course was focussed on the use of technology in education- most of the  apps  were free and  we worked on many  Google apps. The tutors were great and I really appreciated the workshops.  In the afternoons we were free or on some days we were guided to discover some cultural institutions and related to the past history of Ireland.

I must say that I was already familiar with many tools before I did the coursee but  what I wanted to do when I chose the course  was to work in English and to reflect on my teaching  experience.  I worked in a small group and I really liked trying new tools  or rather learn more about them.
We could also reflect on our  school systems and we learnt about other countries  and teaching  experiences. I worked  with educators from Spain and Eastern Europe. Everybody was kind and worked well.
Since I had already worked on European projects I was  ready to continue my  CPD.  I started many  years ago with  Leonardo  projects and then I won a scholarship for Comenius.  I was lucky but  I had also taken advantage  of what  Europe is doing for  education and  students. The money spent on such projects  should have an impact on our  life and also our systems of education.

My school is part of a European  Project - Erasmus + which we won last year and which is going to finish next year, in 2020.  The name of the project for Liceo Chierici is  Reach, which implies that our school wants to improve the   language competences of the educators and to provide new learning environments for our  students. Educators have been involved in attending courses abroad in order to better the language competences and  ICT while others  chose  some job  shadowing  experiences.

We want our  school to have a European vision and to help our learners to get access to new learning scenarios both at school and  abroad. When Reach finishes more educators will have learnt about  Europe and the many  projects  we can work on, but what really matters is that  our  school has a new horizon. Educators will be involved in sharing and maybe cooperating  with other schools.

Learning languages, working and studying abroad are a priority for many schools in Italy now. Educators started travelling  with the first  European projects and  some are still developing. My school is  working now to better what we have been doing  so far.

Some educators went  to Scotland and England, others  chose  Dublin  and Spain- Barcelona.  Some will leave in some months and  will go to Dublin and also to France. We are becoming  an international school thanks to this project.

Here is my reflection in Italian which I have shared with the other educators in my school and which I hope will help other educators to develop new learning  paths.

I cannot but say that Europe is helping me as an educator and that  I will try to  develop new skills  among my students, supporting  their learning experiences.

Europe is also supporting people who are unemployed and financing  many projects that are aimed at promoting   life long learning.

I cannot understand why people are against Europe. Europe needs to improve the life of its citizens and education and work are crucial for today and also for the future. Education and better education are our aim.

Erasmus+ is a great opportunity, we cannot but say  " Thank you   Europe! "