4 Elements in Arts

After the success of the 4 ELEMENTS AND LEGENDS project, coordinated by CVO EduKempen, this partnership decided to take a step further and continue exploring the potential of the methodology, but this time with an eye on art, creativity and creative thinking. During their previous project, the partners discovered that provision for adult learners with special needs who take part in nonformal and informal education in the field of foreign languages lacked adapted tools and methods for educators - social workers, teachers, mentors and professors. Therefore this new project supports educators in raising awareness and appreciation of the potential of creative thinking, art and creativity to fight the alienation of people with special needs who take part in life-long learning, and provide adult educators with the tools and techniques needed to implement new educational practices and approaches with their learners.

The partnership expected to develop and deliver innovative teaching materials, presented in an inclusive and accessible open learning platform (including an online collection of pieces of art, a Digital Book and a tool kit for educators) giving visibility to the underlying potential of art as a teaching/learning tool and as a social inclusion tool. Objectives were • to make adult learners acquainted with national and European cultural heritage and to encourage them to search for common European cultural roots; • to help adult learners understand that Europe is culture; • to show learners the value of intercultural learning and culture for being together as people of Europe; • to contribute towards building European awareness and identity through disclosing and communicating elements of its culture; • to contribute towards developing visual literacy in adult education, and the education of learners who have special needs and abilities (dyslectics, people with hearing impairments, etc.); • to familiarise learners with the nature and imagery of the four elements; • to make learners acquainted with stories connected with the four elements and the way they are communicated in fine arts.

(1) PROJECT MONITORING ACTIVITIES: - 4 transnational meetings with 14 participants each; - Online meetings every 1-3 months; - Regular quality monitoring activities as described in the Quality Control plan (monitoring questionnaires, meeting of the Quality Assurance Committee…); - Production of Quality Reports each year. (2) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO RESULTS/PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Result 1: Development of (a) an interactive tool with a collection of pieces of art related to the four elements (earth, water, air and fire) in different EU countries and (b) their conceptual background with a social inclusion perspective. These were developed through 7 main activities: A1: Development of the methodological framework for implementation. Identification of tools/methods to be used. A2: Analysis of pieces of arts and development of the collection. A3: Systematisation of the collected pieces of art and development of the conceptual background for the Digital Book. A4: Peer review of the collected pieces of art and the conceptual background. A5: Finalization and translation of materials into partners’ languages. A6: Adaptation of selected stories in Braille. A7: Design and development of a website and an open education resource. Result 2: Elaboration of a Digital Book with EU pieces of art related to the four elements with (a) guidelines for teachers and (b) lesson plans for using the materials in foreign language teaching contexts. This was developed through 5 main activities: A1: Development of the methodological framework for the implementation (with steps, deadlines, etc.) and templates for the Digital Book and the LLTA. A2: Development of the lesson plans. A3: Development of the platform section with the lesson plans and guidelines for teachers. A4: Peer review of the developed materials. A5: Fine-tuning of the developed materials and their translation into partners’ languages. Result 3: Creation of a tool kit for adult educators including a database of resources and methodological recommendations. Development of videos in Sign Languages. This was developed through 7 main activities: A1: Framework of the tool kit. A2: Analysis of resources for adult educators, development of the database contents. A3: Production of videos about selected pieces of art in Sign Languages. A4: Development of the methodological recommendations for adult educators. A5: Peer review of the developed materials. A6: Development of the Tool Kit platform section. A7: Fine-tuning and translation into partners' languages of the methodological recommendations. (3) Training activity for adult educators: 14 educators took part in the LTTA. (4) DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: - Regular dissemination activities as described in the Dissemination Plan. - 6 multiplier events with in total 120 local participants.

The tangible project results are: Results related to Product 1: - 56 pieces of arts collected, analysed, and described - 35 educators took part in the peer evaluation of the described pieces of art - 7 descriptions of pieces of arts in English adapted in Braille. Results related to Product 2: - 28 lesson plans prepared in English - 35 educators took part in the peer evaluation of the lesson plans. Results related to Product 3: - 20 videos in Sign Languages prepared - Database with 70 resources in English Results related to project mobilities: - 15 educators took part in the LTTA (training for educators) - 4 transnational meetings with 14 participants each - 6 multiplier events with 120 local participants in total. The intangible results and outcomes are: Educators: - are more aware of the skills mismatch and are better able to identify what competences they need; - have improved their knowledge and skills on how to develop better learning provision targeting adults; - have enhanced professional competences, particularly digital ones and, therefore, are better able to improve the teaching methods used in their organisations; - have strengthened their professional competences and become acquainted with tools and techniques on how to use art to motivate their learners; - have improved their knowledge on accessibility and adapting learning materials; - are able to provide more and better quality educational programmes and activities; - have learned how to use new tools in their work, which will increase their motivation; - have acquired new skills on how to apply different tools related to art interpretation in order to increase their learners' creativity and communication skills. Adult learners: - have become more motivated and engaged in self- and online learning processes; - have improved their creativity, creative and artistic thinking; - have enhanced their foreign language and intercultural skills; - have learned through pieces of art and artworks related to the 4 elements (earth, water, air, fire) intercultural and multicultural EU values. The learning community has gained from: - strengthened cooperation and synergies between organisations working in the field of adult education; - educational provision that is adjusted to the needs of adults from very diverse backgrounds, and is prepared to face diversity and inclusion challenges; - quality exchange of ideas, thoughts, pedagogical and methodological materials among educators of adults with special needs across the EU; - introducing an inclusive approach in non-formal and informal learning activities for adults using art as the background; - significant knowledge transfer about different educational systems and perspectives; - raised awareness about the potential of art in non-formal and informal educational contexts; - reinforced social and civic participation of people with special needs thanks to better access to learning opportunities.