Class exchanges, individual student mobility, international projects connecting schools across borders – these are all examples of activities that schools pursue in order to become more “global”, “international”, or in the European context more “European”. What is the educational impact of such activities? What do students learn during these projects and how does it affect their school and its environment?
A recent study conducted for the European Commission has shown that international school partnerships realized within the Comenius Programme have a significant impact on students and teachers, as well as on the schools as such.
Comenius, the younger brother of the well-known Erasmus program, is part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme and it focuses on all levels of school education, from pre-school and primary to secondary schools. It supports bilateral or multilateral projects that bring teachers and students from different countries together. According to the study, participation in these international partnerships improves strongly key skills of students, cultural awareness and expression being the one that was reported to improve most significantly (see chart below).
Impact on students: improvement of key skills
The study also points out that the impact of Comenius school partnerships on participating students is strongest at secondary level and that student mobility, when it is made available, significantly increases project impact.
The results of this study confirm some of the major beliefs that are the backbone of the AFS educational approach: that schools, and secondary schools especially, are the places where intercultural dialogue can be fostered and that real personal encounters are key for development of intercultural competences. The AFS network is investing in building sustainable partnerships with schools more intensely than ever in order to be able to create more opportunities to connect students, teachers and school communities not only in Europe, but all over the world.
To learn more about the results of the study, access the executive summary (in English) or the full study report (in French).