‘Going beyond the borders of our city; our small homeland’: Embedding eTwinning into Polish national educational policy

‘I first heard about eTwinning at the beginning of the second grade. When I saw that we had it in our timetable, it was a pleasant surprise’, said Anastazja Bytner-Zawadzka, a second-grade student at High School No. VIII in Gdańsk.

As a pilot initiative, students had ‘eTwinning’ as a formal class on their timetable. In the context of an eTwinning project, students met once a week to complete activities with project partners. ‘We often do tasks with people from other countries’, said Kamil Starczewski, a second-grade student. Students found it especially useful to practise English with the students from the partner schools.

‘I can talk to other people from other countries and break the language barrier because I have to get along with them in English, which will facilitate my contacts in the future.’

Emilia Gadomska, a second-grade student at High School No. VIII in Gdańsk

The idea formally came from the school’s headmaster, Tadeusz Chądzyński, and eTwinning Ambassador, Łukasz Kamiński. ‘eTwinning expands what the school has to offer and clearly has an impact on the quality of the school’s work’, said headmaster Chądzyński.

Chądzyński said that it has positively impacted both teachers and students: students improve their linguistic, social and digital competences while teachers can share their practices, not just at their school, but with others around the world.

The initiative also received great support from the Department of Education at the City Hall in Gdańsk. ‘It translates into all the key competences: the development of language competences and also openness to other people, knowledge of other cultures and going beyond the border of our city; our small homeland’, said Grzegorz Kryger, Director of the Department of Education at the City Hall in Gdańsk.

At the end of the year, students received diplomas from the Polish National Support Organisation and were congratulated for being the first graduates of the eTwinning Class.

You can find out more about the initiative by clicking on the video below.