Beyond the school

The Beyond the school project deals in the main with local history, environmental education, geography, the natural sciences, social sciences and computer education. It can also be used to develop pupils’ interpersonal skills, their ability to communicate effectively and to provide a context for the exploration of key issues in personal, social and health education and citizenship. The basis of this cross curricular project is an active approach by the students to the things that surround them: their school, the places where they live, their home town and wider local area.

An overview of the project

1. During the research stage, the students find interesting historic photographs of their local area from collectors, family members or institutions such as libraries, museums and local records offices.

2. They scan these pictures so that they have a digital version of the images for later use.

3. They try then to locate the places featured in the historic photographs.

4. The pupils use digital cameras to take new photos of the subjects featured in the historic photographs. These may be of landscape, architecture, public places, local personalities or traditions.

5. Each pair of photos may be accompanied by a subtitle, which briefly describes or comment it. The information can be gained from written materials, which the students will find, or from the interviews with local people, collectors or family members.

6. All the results of their work can be then uploaded to the Beyond the School Project web site. The photo pairs and their accompanying texts can be viewed as either static or dynamic images.

7. A subtitle, a sound or video file and a text commentary can be added to each pair of photos.

8. The images and the other associated information can also be edited into a brochure or a book, which will introduce the most interesting aspects of the research to the public. (the size of this publication will be dependent upon the scale of the project)

9. After the print versions are prepared, it is possibler to produce an exhibition consisting of selected pairs of photographs, an introductory text and a map for each project.

11. The project partners can also share the results of their work and their exhibitions through local or regional presentations, seminars and conferences.

To learn more about the Beyond the school project just visit the website: www.krajinazaskolou.cz