INCLUSIVE CREATIVITY THROUGH EDUCATIONAL ARTMAKING (InCrea+)

INCLUSIVE CREATIVITY THROUGH EDUCATIONAL ARTMAKING (InCrea+)

Erasmus + project  “INclusive CREAtivity through Educational Artmaking” (InCrea+) aims to provide an innovative method of inclusive education and promotion of wellbeing through the implementation of arts educational content and practices.

Context

COVID-19 pandemic has severely worsened educational disparities and increased forecasted dropout rates.To counteract these negative consequences, more inclusive education practices, attentive of students learning and mental needs are recommended. Teaching of arts in formal and informal educational settings can support the establishment of a more inclusive school culture and promote students’ wellbeing. Arts provide the perfect platform for inclusion, cooperation, learning growth and development of all students, while promoting creative expression, problem solving, critical thinking skills, intercultural communication and wellbeing for children with and without special needs.

Programme: Erasmus+  KA2 – Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices, KA227 – Partnerships for Creativity

Project period: 01/03/2021-28/02/2023

Project objectives:

  • Enhancement of teachers’ skills and competences in inclusive education

  • Provide a set of new skills and competences for the CCS aimed at creating new job opportunities in the next future for current and future professionals

  • Promotion of social inclusion of secondary education students with SEN, students from minorities or low-income families (focusing more on 5th-9th grade)

  • Development of learning resources, materials, activities and training modules to foster creativity, culture, multicultural dialogue and wellbeing

  • Foster possible collaboration between art specialists, education experts and teachers

 

To reach the objectives, three steps have been defined:

1. Knowledge Building. Research will be conducted in order to define the proper methodology and artistic means, and design.

Main deliverable: Methodological material.

2. Curriculum design and testing. At this stage, the InCrea+ curriculum will be designed and tested. Teachers from associated partner schools and artists will be trained and they will implement InCrea+ curriculum in their schools and associations.

Main deliverables: InCrea+ Curriculum and people trained.

3. Digitalization. Finally, the InCrea+ curriculum will be made available on an OER platform in which teachers will find both training materials for them and pre-made lessons practices that can be readily adopted in class.

Main Deliverable: OER Platform.

The target groups of this project are:

  • secondary education teachers,
  • students from 11 to 16 years old,
  • creative and cultural sector workers and education help-specialists (psychologist, logo-pedagogists and any kind of specialists dealing with children with SEN, behavioural issue or from minorities).

InCrea+ expects to train teachers and CCS professionals in artistic inclusive practices as well as establishing teaching tools, materials and resources to foster creativity, culture, multiculturalism and wellbeing, increasing both students’ and teachers’ creative skills.

InCrea+ also aims to increase inclusion of disadvantaged students into participants’ schools. Such students will be in direct contact with reference teachers and cultural mediators who will also aid in sorting language barriers. Planned activities will be promoted with special attention to students with different learning needs and they will be monitored and involved in activities tailored to them. To evaluate effectiveness, feedback will be sought directly from these students.

The project’s expected results are the following:

  1. Methodological material on inclusive arts education and wellbeing: this methodological material is designed for experts in psychology or education and it will aim to provide a guide to the successful adoption of educational artmaking practices for the establishment of activities promoting inclusion, wellbeing and creativity.

  2. InCrea+ curriculum: After the creation of the methodological material and completion of C1, it will be devised materials, topics, tools and activities that can be readily adopted in class. They will be part of IncRea+ curriculum, which will be designed to train arts teachers and workers of the cultural and creative sector. The Whole curriculum will be digitalized and provided in multimedia format though the Open Educational Resource (OER) platform created on the project’s website.

  3. Teachers trained in the InCrea+ curriculum: On the basis of knowledge built in the previous activities, each partner will carry out trainings for teachers from associated partner schools, where InCrea+ curriculum will be adopted. It will involve at least 2 teachers from each associated partner school, ensuring the dissemination of project’s results and their immediate adoption and impact.

  4. Test classes and evaluation of results: after completion of teachers training, they will transfer and adopt the knowledge and practices acquired in their classes throughout a whole academic year. The resting phase will be evaluated through questionnaires distributed among all participants (teachers and students) and their analysis will produce an assessment about the effectiveness of InCrea+ methodology.

  5. Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform: finally, all the material will be made available on an OER platform designed for teachers and workers in the creative sector interested in expanding their knowledge and competences. The OER will comprise online courses on art for inclusive education and promotion of wellbeing , as well as useful practical activities that teachers can easily adopt in everyday school activities or non-formal education centres.

 

Project partners:

  1. Kaunas Juozas Grusas Art Gymnasium, Lithuania (coordinating institution)

  2. Trakų rajono savivaldybės pedagoginė psichologinė tarnyba, Lithuania

  3. Besime Ozderici Ortaokulu,Turkey

  4. Foundation for development of the cultural and business potential of civil society, Bulgaria

  5. Associació Meraki Projectes de València, Spain

  6. Fundatia EuroEd, Romania

  7. Universita degli studi di Padova, Italia

 

Public institution „eMundus“ participates as associated partner responsible for dissemination, improvement of impact, evaluation, exploitation, as well support in management.

Project website: increa.emundus.lt

Project social network: https://www.facebook.com/InCreaplus