Evaluations of the Greece Meeting
According to the students’ evaluation form, 1 out of 3 participants found the peer-teaching activity quite successful while 1 in 2 found it satisfactory. Almost 80% found the sightseeing and the socialisation activities relevant and successful. The practical arrangements were found good by 3 out of 4 participants. Specifically, 84% stated that the meeting further enhanced their European identity, cooperation skills and communicative competence in English. Over 6 out of 10 developed a deeper appreciation for the European and their own cultural heritage as well as active citizenship. Over 50% mentioned a boost in their critical thinking skills and creativity.
The peer-teachers had their self-confidence, cooperation and communication skills, as well as their cultural and intercultural awareness promoted, while the peer-learners enjoyed the Greek course because they could understand the origin of some international words (75%), learnt how to perform simple communicative tasks in Greek (66%), enjoyed the lively interaction with peers from across Europe (66%) and got to know the Greek culture via its language (50%). From the observation sheets, it came out that the levels of learner engagement, memorisation and creativity ranged from quite high to high during the Introduction and the Elaboration stages.
The accompanying teachers found the meeting well-organised, relevant to the project aims and objectives and appreciated the preparatory activities carried out online in the previous school year that familiarized them with Suggestopaedia in its application for peer language teaching via culture. They agreed that this meeting was successful in presenting the Greek culture, thus promoting intercultural exchange and plurilingualism. Everyone enjoyed the sightseeing and socialisation activities and wished there had been more time for a more thorough visit to the Acropolis.