The main objective of the project is to make pupils aware of two aspects of what makes up the cultural identity of the region where they live: what they perceive as their local cultural identity in the past, and what they envision as their cultural identity for the future. Pupils should bear in mind two sets of relations (both on the horizontal and the vertical plane): how does their perception of their cultural identity in the past influence their vision of their cultural identity for the future on the one hand, and on the other hand, how does the cultural identity of their own region, in both the past and the future, relate to the cultural identity as presented by project participants from other countries. So, on the vertical plane, they will learn to observe how their cultural past has shaped their present, and will play a role in shaping their future, cultural identity. On the horizontal plane, they will examine the interrelations, both past and future, between the five geographical regions whose local cultural identity will be presented in the project. The presentation of one's cultural identity will thus be influenced by the exchange of knowledge drawn by pupils from getting to know the local cultural identity as perceived by their peers in four other countries located in their geographical neighborhood. It is therefore fortunate that as many as five countries chose to join the project, representing three various ethnic groups: Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks; Austrians; and Hungarians. When contemplating their local cultural identity, pupils will bear in mind how their regional identity is connected with the cultural identity of today's Europe that is becoming unified. What role is played by local cultural identities in a process of unification that is sometimes sceptically seen as subverting them? The project's main focus area will be traditional literature or music of each school's region, and the responses pupils are expected to come up with should be no less creative than their object of inquiry. A poem or short story dealing with the subject matter in an oblique fashion, or a picture illustrating a story believed to typify a region's local flavour, can prove as insightful as any well-argued paper. Thus pupils will get to know art as one of the best means of expressing one's cultural identity, both past and future. They will observe pupils from other countries utilizing the same means in order to express their (artistic) visions of what is particular for each region: this should foster an atmosphere of increasing mutual understanding, tolerance and respect towards material coming from divergent cultures or locales, and foster similar attitudes in pupils' everyday lives. Another lasting influence the project is intended to exert is that of developing pupils' communication skills, on at least two levels. Firstly, the language level: English and German have been chosen as working languages for the project, which will make it necessary for the pupils to translate the bulk of their contributions into these languages in order to communicate them to their peers. Secondly, the technology level: an integral part of mutual communication will be the use of new technologies; they will at all project stages be used to develop, document and present the project. Participating pupils will be required to meet the demand for computer literacy, including regular email communication and project management along with peers from other countries, and basic website presentation and management skills. Pupils will share a great deal of responsibility for the progress of the project. The key activities the project entails were first sketched during the ABC Network meeting organized by Austria's Österreichischer Kulturservice (OKS) in January 2002, in Vienna, with representatives of all five future partner schools attending. Broadly speaking, ten areas of activities were identified; their chronological order, however, is only orientational: it will be productive if none of the ten stages is ever completely abandoned as the project (scheduled to last three years) progresses, though its focus is likely to shift towards latter items on the list after sufficient material to process will have been assembled in the opening stages:

1) the local, regional artistic tradition is examined, with a focus on (folk) literature or (folk) music;
2) pupils will then search for representative works of art, collecting them for future inclusion in the project;
particularly works that, although representative, seem neglected at home or unknown abroad or are likely to go unnoticed or become forgotten by most people today;
3) pupils will get in touch with local experts and/or artists, involving them in workshops organized by schools;
4) all project stages are to be documented and presented in an ongoing fashion with the help of new
technologies: a website devoted exclusively to the Comenius project will be procurred, with students primarily responsible for its management and maintenance;
5) collected material, or summaries thereof, will have to be translated into languages understood by participants from all five countries involved, i.e. into English or German;
6) the collected material (from one's own as well as the foreign regions) will be incorporated in the schools' curriculum;
7) students will be encouraged to create their own works of art addressing issues of regional identity;
8) creative writings or other production, both collected and newly created, will be illustrated by pupils
making it presentable to the general public: in digital media (CD ROM, own exclusive website, ABC Network website), local media (print, radio, TV), possibly on paper (leaflets, booklets, books).
9) project results, besides their continual presentation on the Internet, should be made tangible in an exhibition that would advance from school to school with new exhibits accruing;
10) cooperation between all schools participating in Comenius will be deepened as part of the ABC Network: teachers from all schools will be meeting regularly to facilitate regional coordination of the ABC Network, with the first of such meetings devoted to presentation of results and working processes scheduled for 3rd -- 5th July 2003 in Krakow, Poland. Apart from the ABC Network meetings for all Comenius schools, representatives of the staff (plus a pair of students) and possibly head teachers from each of the five schools participating in the project here described will be meeting twice a year, with host countries taking turns. The first two such meetings have already been scheduled for the 2002/03 school year. The evaluation of the project will be ensured by the close contact maintained between partner schools and within ABC Network, and by meetings in person. Everyone involved in the project will be asked to provide feedback in questionaires tailored for the needs of the current project; this will include pupils' parents, participating artists and experts. Such evaluation will be held a number of times during the three years, depicting in concrete terms the impact the project will have had on students, teachers, the school as an institution, and the region where the school is active; progress will be monitored throughout. The coordinating school is responsible for maintaining a steady flow of communication (primarily via email) between the participating schools. It is in the process of communication that the role of each participant will be specified to further the achievement of partial goals that all partner schools had agreed upon previously. While the coordinating school is responsible for maintaining the flow of communication, decisions as to immediate or long-term goals are made jointly, by consent of all partner schools, in a process of consultation. Once a route of action is agreed upon by everyone, it will be the responsibility of the coordinator to ensure that undertakings of the partner schools do not dissolve into partial activities that do not enhance the overall aim. The particular implementation of each activity is, however, left entirely up to each partner school's judgment. The active participation of pupils in the project's planning, implementation, and evaluation will be ensured by employing methodological and didactic approaches that further such skills as pupils will learn to appreciate even in areas of their school work unconnected to the Comenius project. Key competencies of the students (self-competence, social competence, management competence, knowledge competence) will be enhanced; interdisciplinary approach stressed; process-oriented thinking emphasized; and an array of methods in both learning and teaching introduced. Each teacher decides individually how the project is to be integrated into his or her curriculum; the goal for all five schools is common but there are innumerable ways to approach it. The project's subject matter will necessarily have a wide-ranging impact on the curricula: the humanities (literature, mother language, foreign languages, history, the arts, aspects of religion and ethics) but also elements of science and mathematics (geography for providing accurate topography for the collected material; many skills in information technologies required to operate a website).

Obsah projektu a jeho organizace

Základním cílem projektu je to, aby si studenti uvědomili dva aspekty, které vytvářejí identitu regionu ve kterém žijí: otázky, jak vnímají místní kulturní identitu minulosti, a jak si představují svou identitu do budoucnosti. Studenti by měli přemýšlet ve dvou rovinách (horizontální a vertikální): jak jejich vnímání kulturní identity v minulosti ovlivňuje jejich vizi budoucnosti, na straně jedné, a jak se kulturní identita jejich vlastního regionu v přítomnosti i minulosti vztahuje ke kulturním identitám prezentovaným projekty účastníků z jiných zemí, na straně druhé. Ve vertikálním plánu se naučí pozorovat, jak byla jejich přítomnost tvarována jejich kulturní minulostí, a jakou roli to bude hrát do budoucnosti při formování jejich kulturní identity. V horizontálním plánu budou zkoumat vztahy jak v minulosti, tak v budoucnosti, mezi pěti zeměpisně odlišnými regiony, jejichž lokální kulturní identita bude prezentována v projektech. Prezentace vlastní kulturní identity tak bude ovlivněna výměnou poznatků získaných studenty při poznávání kulturní identity, jak ji vnímají jejich vrstevníci ve čtyřech dalších zemích, situovaných v jejich geografickém sousedství. Máme proto štěstí, že se na projektu bude podílet až pět zemí, které jsou zastoupeny třemi rozdílnými etnickými skupinami: Poláky, Čechy a Slováky; Rakušany; a Maďary. Při hledání své kulturní identity studenti zjistí, jak je jejich kulturní identita spojena s kulturní identitou dnešní Evropy, která se stává jednotnou. Jakou roli hraje jejich kulturní identita v procesu sjednocování Evropy, které je někdy skepticky nazíráno jako potlačující ji. Centrem zájmu tohoto projektu bude tradiční literatura nebo hudba každého regionu, a odezva, kterou od studentů očekáváme, by měla být neméně kreativní, něž samotný objekt jejich zájmu. Báseň nebo povídka týkající se předmětu nepřímo, nebo obrázek ilustrující příběh typický pro místní kolorit, může být stejně přínosný, jako seminární práce. Tak studenti poznají umění, jako jeden z nejlepších prostředků vyjádření své kulturní identity jak v minulosti, tak v budoucnosti.Budou pozorovat studenty z jiných zemí využívajících stejných prostředků k vyjádření svých (uměleckých) vizí toho, co je pro daný region specifické: to by mělo pomoci rozvíjet atmosféru vzájemného porozumění, tolerance a respektu k vlivům přicházejícím z rozdílných kultur a lokalit, a podpořit podobné postoje v každodenním životě studentů. Dalším vlivem, který se projekt snaží přinést, je rozvíjení komunikačních dovedností studentů alespoň ve dvou úrovních. Zaprvé, jazyková úroveň: pracovním jazykem projektu byla zvolena angličtina a němčina, což donutí studenty přeložit své příspěvky do těchto jazyků, aby je mohli prezentovat před svými vrstevníky. Za druhé, technická úroveň: nedílná součást vzájemné komunikace, která bude využívat moderních technologií; studenti si je zvyknou používat ve všech fázích projektu, dokumentační, prezentační, atd. Studenti podílející se na projektu budou nuceni být schopni pracovat s počítačem, např. vést běžnou e-mailovou korespondenci nebo vytvořit si WWW stránky prezentující celý projekt. Ponesou také za vývoj projektu zodpovědnost.

1) the local, regional artistic tradition is examined, with a focus on (folk) literature or (folk) music;
2) pupils will then search for representative works of art, collecting them for future inclusion in the project; particularly works that, although representative, seem neglected at home or unknown abroad or are likely to go unnoticed or become forgotten by most people today;
3) pupils will get in touch with local experts and/or artists, involving them in workshops organized by schools;
4) all project stages are to be documented and presented in an ongoing fashion with the help of new technologies: a website devoted exclusively to the Comenius project will be procurred, with students primarily responsible for its management and maintenance;
5) collected material, or summaries thereof, will have to be translated into languages understood by participants from all five countries involved, i.e. into English or German;
6) the collected material (from one's own as well as the foreign regions) will be incorporated in the schools' curriculum;
7) students will be encouraged to create their own works of art addressing issues of regional identity;
8) creative writings or other production, both collected and newly created, will be illustrated by pupils making it presentable to the general public: in digital media (CD ROM, own exclusive website, ABC Network website), local media (print, radio, TV), possibly on paper (leaflets, booklets, books).
9) project results, besides their continual presentation on the Internet, should be made tangible in an exhibition that would advance from school to school with new exhibits accruing;
10) cooperation between all schools participating in Comenius will be deepened as part of the ABC Network: teachers from all schools will be meeting regularly to facilitate regional coordination of the ABC Network, with the first of such meetings devoted to presentation of results and working processes scheduled for 3rd -- 5th July 2003 in Krakow, Poland. Apart from the ABC Network meetings for all Comenius schools, representatives of the staff (plus a pair of students) and possibly head teachers from each of the five schools participating in the project here described will be meeting twice a year, with host countries taking turns. The first two such meetings have already been scheduled for the 2002/03 school year. The evaluation of the project will be ensured by the close contact maintained between partner schools and within ABC Network, and by meetings in person. Everyone involved in the project will be asked to provide feedback in questionaires tailored for the needs of the current project; this will include pupils' parents, participating artists and experts. Such evaluation will be held a number of times during the three years, depicting in concrete terms the impact the project will have had on students, teachers, the school as an institution, and the region where the school is active; progress will be monitored throughout. The coordinating school is responsible for maintaining a steady flow of communication (primarily via email) between the participating schools. It is in the process of communication that the role of each participant will be specified to further the achievement of partial goals that all partner schools had agreed upon previously. While the coordinating school is responsible for maintaining the flow of communication, decisions as to immediate or long-term goals are made jointly, by consent of all partner schools, in a process of consultation. Once a route of action is agreed upon by everyone, it will be the responsibility of the coordinator to ensure that undertakings of the partner schools do not dissolve into partial activities that do not enhance the overall aim. The particular implementation of each activity is, however, left entirely up to each partner school's judgment. The active participation of pupils in the project's planning, implementation, and evaluation will be ensured by employing methodological and didactic approaches that further such skills as pupils will learn to appreciate even in areas of their school work unconnected to the Comenius project. Key competencies of the students (self-competence, social competence, management competence, knowledge competence) will be enhanced; interdisciplinary approach stressed; process-oriented thinking emphasized; and an array of methods in both learning and teaching introduced. Each teacher decides individually how the project is to be integrated into his or her curriculum; the goal for all five schools is common but there are innumerable ways to approach it. The project's subject matter will necessarily have a wide-ranging impact on the curricula: the humanities (literature, mother language, foreign languages, history, the arts, aspects of religion and ethics) but also elements of science and mathematics (geography for providing accurate topography for the collected material; many skills in information technologies required to operate a website).