Use Bottom-Up Approach to Define Your Learning Needs under Erasmus+ Programme Objectives

In this blog you will find a procedure how to find out learning needs of your school using bottom-up approach. It will help you justifying your arguments in the Erasmus Accreditation application.
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Firstly, I will tell what NOT TO DO. Do not try to show your school’s learning needs in a different light because you want to get the Erasmus+ grant or accreditation. It seems to be a good strategy on a short run but on a long-run you will face difficulties with teachers’ motivation because they will not see the project as relevant to their needs. Bottom-up approach on the other hand, in which you give the voice to all teachers at your school to express their learning needs, is a good starting point for drafting your Internationalization Strategy and Erasmus Plan. Both documents are essential part of the Erasmus Accreditation application.

Drafting Internationalization Strategy and Erasmus Plan can be a very lonely task. You might have a feeling that writing it alone is more efficient, because you do not need so much time. But if it is efficient it does not mean it is effective. If you write it alone it is a lost opportunity to benefit from a collective wisdom. Drafting an Internationalization Strategy and Erasmus Plan is an opportunity to encourage teachers to contribute, connect diverse people and ideas, make collective knowledge visible, connecting ideas, listening to the middle, noticing deeper themes and questions.

And we know just the right method for that, which can be conducted on-site or online – World Café. A simple yet effective method for creating meaningful conversations and write irresistible internationalization strategy.

World Cafe has the capacity to activate collective wisdom. (Laura Weisel)

The process of the World Café for drafting internationalization ideas for your school.

Seat 4-5 participants at café-style tables or in conversation clusters. If you work online, start with all the participants in the main room and set up breakout rooms later.

Clarify the context of the café and state the questions about the internationalization. We propose the following questions, which you can change:
First round:

• What have some best international learning experience brought to our school?
• Why does our international work really matter to us?

Second round:

• What do we really want from the internationalization? When we explore our boldest hopes and highest aspirations, what is it that we ultimately want?
• What does our ideal future internationalization look like for the team?

Third round:

• How can we benefit from internationalization on the following topics (choose relevant for your school): digital competencies, cross-curricular collaboration, tackling early school leaving and inclusive education, strengthening the profile of the teaching professions, promoting STEM?
• What international activities do we want to deliver in the next two years, which will help us to thrive?

 
Each café selects a host; the host selects a time keeper, a writer for graphic of the dialog,
and a guardian of the growth mindset.

The question(s) are written at the top of the easel paper in the center of the table.

Begin the dialogue and let the conversation continue for 15 - 30 minutes.

The conversation is documented using a graphic organizer, mindmap or web.

Begin the second round on the same or a next question by having the host stay at the table
and participants move to another table.

Begin the 2nd round by having the host briefly share with new table members the key
insights and ideas discussed in the first café, then new members build on what has already
been documented and add to the depth and breath on the conversation topic.

Allow time for a whole-group harvest of the conversations.

Set up progressive rounds of conversation, usually of 15-30 minutes each –
have some good questions!

The process of the World Café ​is adapted by Laura Weisel.

Are you up to share your dilemmas in writing Erasmus Accreditation? Join Facebook group Erasmus Accreditation 2021 - 2027 and benefit from collective wisdom.