eTwinning project stories from rural schools

eTwinning projects show how rural schools can turn local experiences into shared learning. Alongside developing language and digital skills, pupils discover that their rural communities and traditions have a place in a wider European context.

In the eTwinning project Small Schools, Big Voices, pupils from small schools explore their cultural diversity, local environment and community values. Through collaborative activities, they practise English and build digital skills and intercultural awareness. The project experience gave language learning a real purpose, as one of the participating language teachers explained:

One of the main benefits for our learners was the opportunity to use English in a meaningful and authentic context. Instead of completing isolated classroom activities, they communicated with real pupils from Greece and Romania, shared information about their villages and traditions, and learned about other cultures.

— Laura Faura Vilalta, English teacher, Spain 

Laura acknowledges the barriers that can come with living in small villages, where pupils may have fewer opportunities to interact with peers from other countries. However, she highlights that the project helped pupils realise that ‘their voices, experiences and traditions are valuable and worth sharing with a wider European community’.

‘Perhaps the most valuable outcome was that our pupils felt proud of their rural identity. By presenting their villages, traditions and everyday lives, they realised that even small schools can have a big voice and play an active role in Europe’, concluded Laura.

In the activity ‘Our rural world’, schools presented aspects of their daily life in a rural area, including nature, landmarks and local traditions.

Another eTwinning project, European Rural Schools: We are All Europe!, brought together pupils aged 4-16 and teachers from rural schools across several European countries. Pupils shared with their peers the unique characteristics of their school and community, from local traditions to learning spaces, through collaborative digital activities.  

Schools got involved in sharing recipes, cooked and tasted some of them, and enjoyed playing or singing the ‘Ode to Joy’, the anthem of Europe that unites us all. They know what it means because their teachers explained where and how it was born. It was great to see them all in that final video call singing together. 

— Esther González Cabrera, Pedagogical adviser and project coordinator

Rural schools exchanged recipes and later cooked and discussed flavours from different countries.

For teachers, the project offered a practical way to integrate digital skills, pupil voice and intercultural learning into everyday lessons, while exchanging ideas and practices with other rural schools across Europe. Esther reflected on the project impact:

All schools have declared their pupils feel a little bit more European ... They feel their schools, little towns and villages are important, and they have opened their schools to Europe thanks to digital media. The impact on pupils has been great on motivation, plurilingualism and personal growth as they realised English was useful to communicate with pupils from any country in Europe. 

 

Rural schools can build on their community strengths while creating new opportunities for learning and collaboration across borders. Through eTwinning, they show that strong local roots and wider connections can go hand in hand.