The Museum Walks course is based on the idea that the best way to learn or teach local culture, history and heritage is by walking around a place, feeling the vibe and discussing points of interest on site, while mingling with locals and taking-in colours, smells and pictures.

The “Museum Walks” course uses the city of Kalamata and the region of Messinia which is full of historical and cultural places of interest as an example of how you can adopt local history for your class. Finally, participants will learn how to use that information to enhance their teaching skills.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, the participants will:

• be able to introduce local history in their lessons
• be encouraged to use everyday life as powerful source to their teaching
• understand European culture
• be familiar with methodologies for project based learning
• be familiar with Europass tools
• have shared experiences and best practices with other participants
• have improved their competence in English;
• be able to design educational activities for their lessons
• have explored and adopted effective teaching styles;
• have learned how to incorporate cultural heritage into teaching
• have increased their motivation and satisfaction in their daily work;
• have a better understanding of European culture
• have developed a sense of European citizenship and identity through participating in a community of European teachers and trainers

Methodology

The main aspect of the course is to promote collaboration between participants. Lessons will be held in our centre’s classrooms and computer lab, as well as outside. Our approach is to base the learning process on practical rather than theoretical knowledge. The course is designed on active learning methods and, at the end of the course, teach participant should be able to use the taught techniques effectively.

Preparation

Every participant will have to fill a questionnaire which helps the trainers to customize the course to better fit their needs.

Attendants will get instructions and material which will help them to be prepared for the courses needs.

Content

Overview

The course includes:

• a structured city tour;
• a visit to an ancient cultural site (Ancient Messini)  showing you how to use games in order to get to know a place and its history;
• a structured visit to at least four museums (the Kalamata Castle, the Local Archaeological museum, the Kalamata outdoors Train Park and the Kalamata Lyceum Club of Greek Women – The Victoria G. Karelias Collection of Greek Traditional Costumes) with best practices on how Greek schools use them to study local history.

Structured study visits

During the course, we also organize study visits to local schools. Normally, we discuss with participants their needs and we organize study visits to cover these needs. Depending on the group, we organize from a minimum of one to a maximum of five study visits. Popular study visits include:

• A special needs education school
• A school for adults from disadvantaged backgrounds
• A school with Roma mainstreaming classes
• Vocational secondary and post-secondary schools
• General primary and secondary schools

Each study visit is structured and accompanied by reflective activities. There is no extra cost for these study visits.

Outdoors learning

There are two outdoor learning activities: a gamified tour of the town and a visit to a local historical site. The onsite visit is accompanied by non-formal European history learning activities, as well as activities that link this history to the course topic. There is no extra cost for these activities.

Social programme

There is also an optional social programme for those interested. This programme may include an intercultural night, lunches and dinners at different restaurants, going out for a drink or coffee, or even an extra excursion – if there is time! These activities depend on participant needs and wants, and those participating in them will have to pay for what they choose to eat and drink. If there is an optional excursion, they will also have to pay van costs and any other expenses (e.g. museum tickets)

Follow up

The participants will get material which includes information about all the areas covered at the course, lesson plans, all the produced outcomes of the course, useful links and more.

The above material can be freely used by the participants at their school.

Target Group / Who is this course for

This course is for every teacher in primary, secondary, adult or vocational education and training.

Duration and cost

The duration of the course is 7 days and the cost is 490€. This amount can be fully covered via an Erasmus+ grant provided by your National Agency.

Additional costs

Unless you participate in the above mentioned excursions and going-outs, there are no other costs involved. However, we can also offer consultancy/ coaching services to your school. Previous experience includes:

• Supporting the multiculturization of educational material
• Helping with designing more inclusive classrooms
• Material development
• Outdoor learning activities design

Available Dates

• 2018
  • 01.02.2018 – 07.02.2018
  • 11.2.2018 – 17.2.2018
  • 28.10.2018 – 3.11.2018
• 2019
  • 3.2.2019 – 9.2.2019
  • 10.2.2019 – 16.2.2019
  • 7.4.2019 – 13.4.2019
  • 30.6.2019 – 6.7.2019
  • 13.10.2019 – 19.10.2019
• 2020
  • 09.02.2020 – 15.02.2020
  • 03.05.2020 – 09.05.2020

Location

The course will take place in the city of Kalamata, Greece. Here you can find more information about Kalamata and your accomodation.

Application assistance

Assistance is available. Don’t hesitate to ask us for help!

Fill now the pre-registration form