ARiSE: The Right(s) School

The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) redefined children's rights in international law, recognizing them as agents capable of shaping their own lives. Despite efforts by the European Union and the Council of Europe, child poverty and social exclusion are increasing in Europe. Additionally, EU states are major destinations for child migrants and refugees, many unaccompanied, who enter the educational system to integrate into new societies. Yet, EU educational structures often fail to fully embrace and implement children's rights, especially for newcomers. The ARiSE: The Right(s) School project aims to tackle these challenges by enhancing the understanding and capabilities of primary and secondary school teachers regarding children's rights, in alignment with the Erasmus+ focus on supporting educational professionals. The project has developed interactive materials that equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to advocate for children's rights, including digital competencies for online collaboration. This initiative supports the inclusion and diversity goals of Erasmus+, facilitating the integration of vulnerable children, such as migrants and refugees, into the school community and beyond.

The main objectives of the project were: • To develop an innovative learning system and resources, such as face-to-face training modules, e- learning packages and an on-line knowledge-sharing resource for teachers and head teachers on the topic of children’s rights. An accompanying guide was developed to identify how training can be integrated into existing structures of educational systems. • To develop methods and on-line tools that will enhance collaboration, communication and exchange of good practices in the promotion of children’s rights at school. • To facilitate sustainability and transferability of good practices through the development of children’s rights integration manuals for national educational systems, taking into account each system's framework. • To support a Rights-based School policy recommendations and policy making that enhanced cooperation and capacity building among stakeholders, while awareness-raising activities were tested in the respective local contexts. The implementation of the above material promoted the effective implementation of equal rights education and non-discrimination values that are transnational and applicable in all European (and not only) states.

The project aimed to integrate Human Rights Education (HRE) into school education, enhancing teacher competencies and providing them with effective tools to benefit diverse students. Activities focused on developing and transferring curriculum to online platform, creating supportive Interactive guide, and piloting these initiatives through a training event. This event significantly impacted participants, allowing teachers to explore innovative teaching methods suited to children's varying needs and backgrounds, fostering their social, civic, and intercultural skills. Teachers gained new skills and exchanged ideas across diverse backgrounds through innovative learning forms. Dissemination activities (online posting, sharing of the results, developing dissemination materials, and organizing events) expanded the project's reach, laying the groundwork for a transnational community dedicated to improving education through innovative pedagogies. Evaluation and monitoring activities (planning, monitoring, quality control, checks and reports) enabled that project cooperation and communication were regular end efficient and developed results of high quality.

The following results and outcomes were developed: 1) Interactive Training Curriculum (PR1): The Curriculum includes activities designed to help teachers improve their skills in applying HRE in their work with different groups of children. These skills include digital literacy, as well as ways of involving people from different backgrounds in common educational activities. 2) Online Platform (PR2): The platform includes the Curriculum activities, as well as information about HRE opportunities in all partner countries. The platform was used for the training of teachers in all partner countries and is open to the public upon registration. 3) Interactive Guidebook (PR3): The Guidebook summarises the activities and outcomes of the project and is a comprehensive resource that works towards the objective of building the professional capacity of teachers in the field of HRE. It guides stakeholders and organisations to address the needs and gaps and utilize the project results in their working environment. 4) Other outcomes: training event for 14 participants, events attended by 169 participants, materials developed to promote the project, website with access to all results, Evaluation report, Environmental sustainability Memorandum.