We have also created a pedagogical innovation aimed to introduce volunteering as a teaching process. We cooperate with one of the charities in our region. People from all over the world come here to help those in need. They help people renovate their homes, repair their equipment. [...] And our children help them raise funds to buy paint and brushes. Every time a group of people coming from all over the world comes to visit us. We have had visitors from America, and recently Canadians have visited us. Within the framework of the project, biology teachers gained competences in teaching their subject in English. Then, we applied a pedagogical innovation and now biology and natural science lessons at our school are partly taught in English. This has contributed greatly to better results in the examination in English taken upon the completion of lower secondary school.
Participants in interviews conducted during the second phase of the survey often declared that their participation in mobility served as an inspiration to use digital technologies in teaching. Although in 2016 many of them stressed that they treated it as a novelty that could lead to greater student involvement in learning, the next phase of the survey showed that such solutions have become a standard in many schools and that many of the results of ICT projects are still being used in class. We have introduced new and interesting solutions, such as virtual classrooms and using computer applications and programmes in teaching. Many of the tools that we use are basic, but they were a novelty for us. Now such innovations are a standard to us. A lot has changed in our school over the past four years. Four out of eight classrooms have been equipped with interactive whiteboards, which is an excellent result for a rural school. There's a laptop in every classroom. In addition, we have managed to hire teacher assistants and assistant teachers. When we applied for funding in 2014, I had no idea that we would be able to achieve so many of our project objectives.
Improved foreign languages skills Talking about important benefits of participation in training abroad, survey participants most frequently indicated the opportunity to learn languages. During the first phase of the study, former mobility participants often admitted that language teaching in Polish schools was mainly focused on learning grammatical structures and rules, which does not necessarily mean the acquisition and development of communication skills in a foreign language. Contact with foreigners proved that skills gained during preparatory courses were instrumental in problem-free communication despite errors and limited vocabulary. It was
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