Shawlands Academy: managing and developing a Comenius 1 European Education Project

The overall objectives of Comenius are to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of school education. It seeks to help those learning and teaching in schools to develop a sense of belonging to a broader and outward-looking European community - a community characterised by diverse traditions, cultures and regional identities, but rooted nevertheless in a common history of European development. The aim of Comenius school development projects is to extend the development plan of each partner school by an international partnership which agrees on a programme of work which relates to the school ethos and development plan but which also adds an international dimension. It also aims to develop teacher professionalism through international education. Each school has a Comenius team which agrees on the development work appropriate for its own school and in collaboration with its partner colleagues.

Shawlands Academy has been involved in Comenius projects for six years. This case study focuses on ‘Roads to Equality’. This project aimed to develop school policy on race, gender, student democracy and issues relating to bilingual students. The text is supported by a very detailed and useful website which includes everything from project meeting reports to examples of work carried out both by teachers and by pupils.