France: The 8 th meeting in Lithuania

Multidisciplinary Flipped Learning with ICT : Project meeting Short-term exchange group of pupils.

The 8th project Meeting in Lithuania, which was part of the « Erasmus+ » program, took place in Velzys gymnasium from the 19th to the 25th February, 2017. It involved eight different countries: Turkey/Poland/Lithuania/Italy/Portugal/Spain/Latvia/France.

è Discovering a new country and its culture

The 8th meeting was held in Lithuania, and more precisely at Velzys Gymnasium located next to the city of Panevezys, approximately two hours north of Vilnius.

The opportunity to visit Lithuania was very exciting for all of us since we had never been there before. Thanks to Lithuania travel guides, we knew some of the must-see sites of this country and we were looking forward to landing in Vilnius!

The first contact with Lithuanian culture took place at school on the first morning of the meeting. Everything was done to offer us a very warm welcome : an orchestra was playing in the entrance, and students dressed in traditional costumes awaited for us.

Thanks to the Lithuanian team, we discovered many aspects of the Lithuanian Culture. On Tuesday, we went to a cultural visit in Anyksciai. We visited the horse Museum, and we went to the treetop walking path. During the week, we entered in the puppet theatre of Panevezys and walked down the streets, stopping in front of the statue of Alexander II who is considered as the founder of the city. On Thursday, we travelled to Trakai island centre, a beautiful medieval castle surrounded by five frozen lakes, which created a particular atmosphere. After crossing the bridge, we visited the castle, and learned by the way a part of the  Lithuanian history.

Then, we went to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius. We walked through the beautiful streets of the old town, we entered amazing orthodox churches and the Catholic cathedral. By seeing these different churches, we noted that Vilnius is a crossroad of different religions : most Lithuanians are Roman Catholic, and the Second largest faith is the Russian Orthodoxy.

We can’t seriously speak about culture without mentioning culinary specialities. We tested potato dumplings with meat, various types of pancakes, hot-smoked hams and sausages, etc. Host families cooked some wonderful traditional Lithuanian food for the welcome party. During the week, we learned how to bake the Lituanian special bread and “Kibinai”, which are imports from Karaim cooking tradition.

   

èDiscussing about specificities of  the country's education systems.

As we spent time in the school during the week, it enabled us to understand how the Lithuanian school system works. In Velzys gymnasium, students wear a uniform. It gave us the opportunity to debate with our French students about the advantages and disadvantages of school uniform.

We visited the school and discovered many things : students attended lessons in ethics or in religion, they could take part in different activities such as “dance”, or “wood working”. School climate seems to be more serene than in France. Teenagers are actively involved in discussions about the proper functioning of the school through a “student parliament”. The corridors are decorated with several articles about student’s activities and successes.

As teachers, the first thing we did when we entered into a classroom was to count the number of students. There were between ten and twenty pupils. We were told that there is a law prohibiting a class of more than thirty students, we would like to have the same law in France ! The Lithuanian students were motivated and really involved in the project.

è Workshop and debate

Students and teachers were involved in activities that could improve their English skills. The first step was to submit their homework: Students showed videos to introduce themselves, to present their country, their school and their leisure activities. Then, they had to make a similar work in international groups. It was a good way of learning more about each others.

Wednesday morning, students had to create a short story with key words related to the project. It enabled them to express their creativity. Since they performed on Friday, they had to dare to express themselves in another language in front of the whole group. This experience allowed them to build self-confidence and to develop skills.

In my opinion, the most interesting workshop was the debate about the use of new technologies at school. Indeed, this debate involved students and teachers about a really interesting topic. We had to prepare a speech which was presented in front of the international group. The theme was completely linked to the project and to current issues both within the school and outside. The use of new technologies was said to have some advantages and drawbacks, which had been raised by each country. The time spared, the access to a lot of information, the ease and quality of communication were evocated. Disadvantages mentioned were the loss of real life contact, the problem of addiction, etc. After each speech, Lithuanian students summed up the various arguments. Students and teachers felt really concerned by this issue. The use of new technologies must be taught at school to help our students to use them properly.

Thanks a lot to the Lithuanian team for their warm welcome and kindness!

By Maité, Frédérique and Anais