Dublin - a Tale of Two Parties and One City
A European project in Ireland
Upper secondary
Rosmarie de Monte-Frick, Real Gymnasium, Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
Finland meets South-Tyrol meets Ireland on dancing feet
Whiskey still pots, writers, heroes, an illuminated Book, a castle, a post office, churches, museums, bridges, Trinity College at night and day
Ancient times, medieval times, recent times and now
Celts, Vikings, Anglo-Normans, the English and the Irish
PUBS
Guinness, whiskey, Irish coffee, Bailey's
Music
The sound and fury of traffic lights, buses, trams, DARTs and WALKING
Drizzle, snow, hail, showers, wind, clouds, cold and some hours of sunshine
City-scapes and sea-scapes, sidewalks and coastal paths
Interviews, talks, chats and debates
THANKS A MILLION, FOLKS
OUR DUBLIN
A "Third-location", International and Inter-cultural Adventure
with Finland-Swedish and South-Tyrolean Players
The project idea was born as a sideline of a Comenius Project on the Regional Identity of Young Europeans from Ethnic Minority Groups. The concept behind it was creating a need for using English as a means of communication for cultural exchange in an English-speaking environment. In order to keep expenses low for both groups and add the attraction of visiting a first-rate European tourist destination, where English is spoken, a third location was chosen: Dublin. From the very beginning the students were involved in the planning and organisation of the project, teamwork and collaboration, the creation of products and their presentation, as well as the evaluation of results and processes.
Procedure
In both the South-Tyrolean and the Finnish-Swedish schools students aged 17 and 18 were chosen to participate in the project. The members of the two groups did not know one another well, nor did they know the members of the group from the other country, which presented a significant challenge to all the participants in the project.
Pre-journey Activities
Two thematic "globetrotter" weeks (aimed at the whole school community of Realgymnasium Bozen in South-Tyrol) with events ranging from student-teacher gatherings with the presentation of book reviews of books by Irish authors, Irish books on display in the school library, a talk on Irish history and The Troubles, Irish films, Irish dancing and the tasting of Irish coffee and cakes were organised to set the atmosphere for the big event. After warming-up sessions with the group travelling to Dublin dealing with Ireland and its history, both past and recent, current affairs and the press, its culture and literature at home, and e-mail contacts with the group members from the other country, we met at Dublin airport, where excitement and expectations were running high.
Project Work in Dublin
To maximise the students' motivation to use English we housed them all together in dormitories in a Dublin youth hostel. They worked in mixed groups of 8, each accompanied by one teacher. The highlights on the programme included
- Ice-breaking exercises
- A treasure hunt through Temple Bar
- Sightseeing tours to sights chosen by the various groups*
- A visit to a Dublin school and afternoon with Leaving-Certificate students **
- Two hiking tours in Howth (to the north of Dublin)
- A visit to the theatre, a concert and the cinema
- Meals in pubs and restaurants ***
- Pub crawls
- ..... and some shopping
Post-journey Activities
Students met for an evaluation of the trip****, compiled a Dublin Student Tourist Guide with useful information for future visitors (c.f. *), exhibited their photos in the school library, created two power-point presentations entitled "Dublin Impressions" and "5 Days in Dublin", wrote a report for the school and Comenius webpages, and organised an evening for presenting their products to the school community (including Irish dancing and Irish coffee!).
*The students had to evaluate the sights according to the following criteria:
1. learning with all senses
2. special offers/ costs
3. staff
4. variety of media
5. structure of museum
6. exhibits
7. possibilities for independent learning
8. website
In addition they kept a diary throughout the stay where they noted down impressions (experiencing Dublin with all senses)
1. seeing things: people in the streets, buildings; stunning ads
2. hearing things: sounds, the way people talk: rhythm, facial expression, gestures, typical expressions
3. smelling things: pleasant/unpleasant smells and associations
4. feelings: funniest/saddest experience; felt best/... when...; enjoyed most...; found it difficult to...; etc.
Furthermore, the students prepared questions for interviewing passers-by, native Dubliners and tourists.
**Both Finland Swedes and South-Tyroleans presented their countries to the Irish students, who in their turn then taught them traditional Irish dances. There was ample space and time for interaction between all the students.
***As the students mostly worked in separate groups during the day, they enjoyed coming together for an evening meal and for arranging their evenings out in interest groups.
**** They created mind-maps on their experiences in general, then described one experience/feeling/ problem that characterised their stay in particular (in written form,anonymously), exhibited these descriptions on the walls, read them and presented one of them to the whole group, who then debated on it.
Editorial Note: for me the special interest in this project lies in the meeting between members of the German speaking minority from North Italy, with the Swedish speaking minority in Finland, both minorities that have a civilised but not entirely easy relationship with the majority groups in their country, respectively, mother tongue Italian speakers and mother tongue Finnish speakers. Extra interest arises from their meeting in Ireland, a place which has suffered centuries of brutal English domination, which included the virtual extirpation of their native tongue, Ers. The new Europe has to be built by bridging many chasms and fissures of fierce, grounded hatreds. ( People in the South Tyrol planted bombs in the 1950's and 60's on the way to achieving their present day status of considerable autonomy within Italy.)
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