What's your ID?

The name of the project WHAT'S YOUR ID? comprises both the question of identity and an invitation to students to express their ideas on the topic at hand.The topic of identity, both multidisciplinary and complex, managed to engage our students on a personal level, but also on a cultural and national level. The students were actively involved, using innovative practices. The empowerment of students helped them build confidence and the project gave them the platform of working on the 21st century skills of communication, creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. In addition, they received new knowledge and developed cross-cultural awareness. The aim of the project was to explore various aspects of identity: personal, cultural and European identity. The European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018) gave us reason to explore the culture of our town and region, where the added value of the European dimension made the students more aware of the assets of their own culture but they also learned to appreciate the diversity of Europe. The project raised the students' awareness and understanding of cultures, offering them the opportunity to build networks of international contacts. They actively participated in and contributed to the extended school community and developed a sense of shared European citizenship and identity. They strengthened their English language competence and received a greater understanding of social, linguistic and cultural diversity. The project also strengthened the competence of teachers, teacher trainees and staff members working with international co-operation, communication, digital and problem-solving skills. The Upper Secondary School of Vasa Övningsskola in Finland was the coordinating school. The partner schools were Heilig Hart College Waregem in Belgium, Stanislava Broka Daugavpils Muzikas vidusskola in Daugavpils in Latvia and Agrupamento de Escolas de Constância in Portugal. The students involved were 14-18 years old. Teams of teachers at each school worked in close collaboration with teams of students, thus enabling the empowerment of students. Student representatives were also actively involved in the planning, organization and dissemination of the project. The concrete objectives were to identify the building blocks of what constitutes identity. Student activities included exploring identity with the help of multi-literacy (art, music, drama, media) and multidisciplinary studies (history, art, languages, science). Using various creative methods of presentation (online presentation tools, QR codes, podcasts) the students received new digital presentation skills useful for their future studies. The empowerment of students were enhanced by their initiating, organizing and evaluating events at school. Each partner school succeeded in arranging well-organized workshop weeks with a most interesting program. Different aspects of identity were explored based on the speciality of the host school. Thus art and history were explored in Daugavpils, history and sports in Constäncia, social media and history in Waregem and multidisciplinary work in Vasa, including drama, art, music, history and personal identity. In addition, each school provided a fascinating program for getting to know the town and region. All the workshops worked out in the best possible way, with students forming friendships and collaborating very well. The concrete products included an innovative, digital European ID card. The website, blog and Instagram account made the progress of the project visible. The contact between the partner schools was ensured thanks to Skype meetings and regular e-mail contact. There were several short-term exchange projects, thus ensuring the participation of students in the project work, promoting intercultural dialogue and active citizenship. The long-term effects of the project include an extended European school network and a repertoire of new digital skills and multi-disciplinary methods being used at schools.