This event was a joint initiative to celebrate Social Inclusion Days of ESN and to help launch the "St@rt!" Project, developed by teacher Dora Rodrigues at Escola de Comércio do Porto with VET students - http://projetostart.ecp.edu.pt/about-our-project/. This is an English project aiming to stimulate students' language learning while they (re)discover and present their own culture to others. Since the pandemic made all classrooms virtual and neither the young students got to take their project to the streets, as foreseen, and the Erasmus had not had the chance to interact with the local community (and many of them, haven't even visited the city yet), this event built a bridge between them and allowed them to reach these goals.
This initiative promoted Education and Youth, allowing participants and ESNers to explore public speaking, English skills, interpersonal communication, etc, but also indirectly promoted Higher Education among VET students. Since both Erasmus and locals shared interesting and unique things about their countries, cities but also family traditions and themselves Culture was also a main cause.
Regarding Social Inclusion, this event not only brought Erasmus to a local institution as it allow them to directly contribute to a school and gave a unique opportunity to students with fewer opportunities (most from low socioeconomic backgrounds and in risk of school dropout) to take pride on themselves while presenting their work and their city in while getting to know cities and countries - presented by the Erasmus - they may never afford to visit.
This event was also a contribution to ESN's Erasmus VET project, as all of the highschoolers participating will be presented with opportunities to do VET traineeships. Not only we promoted mobility among them, but also ensured that if they do go abroad, they will already know they can count on ESN.
Escola de Comércio do Porto, a local VET highschool, co-created the event with the ESNers. It was initially planned to be a regular Erasmus in Schools session but understanding that the online format demands a different and more stimulating approach, we created a new dynamic with their international coordinator and the teacher who invited us. Activities were decided together to ensure they fitted the needs of both parties. Collaborative docs and meetings allowed for this co-creation. At the same time, to keep the Erasmus informed and actively involved even before the event, a group on Whatsapp was created, allowing direct communication with ESNers and the school.
Instead of having the Erasmus simply present their countries to the whole class, small groups formed by 4/5 learners + 1 Erasmus + 1/2 ESNers or teachers (to ensure the students had translation if needed) were divided in breakout rooms. To prevent shyness or insecurities, increase interaction and make the younger participants feel more comfortable, the interaction was previously structured and both parties were given an active role and had prepared questions and presentations for each other. First, the Erasmus presented themselves and their hometowns/countries and the Portuguese students followed with questions about their opinions on Porto, Portugal and Erasmus. With this information, in the next English classes, the students wrote small articles for the Social Media of "Porto with AttiTUde" (part of "St@rt!"). The Erasmus were also given a set of several questions concerning recommendations for Porto, a topic the students really enjoy discussing. The teacher also prepared the students to answer so they wouldn't feel so nervous or be caught off guard, making them feel safe regardless of the need to use English.
