From Class to the Real World: Conscious Learning

Summary

This project exemplifies inclusion by offering mobility opportunities to individuals with fewer opportunities, including those from low-income backgrounds, immigrants, people with disabilities, and the unemployed. Despite the additional travel challenges posed by its location in the Canary Islands, the project’s impact extends well beyond education, enriching participants’ personal, social, and professional lives.

“Thanks to the project, inclusion has ceased to be just a word and has become a true reality.”

Topic(s) addressed

• Awareness of European values
• History, and citizenship
• Environmental protection
• Promotion of inclusion
• Reduction of dropout rates in adult education
• Improving the teaching and learning process through digital tools
• Fostering language learning; lifelong learning

Target group(s)

• Adult learners, many from diverse backgrounds, including those with fewer opportunities (such as low income, limited education, or with disabilities)
• Teaching staff

Methodologies used

The project combined language learning with themes of sustainability, European and civic values, and digital literacy. Digital tools were used to support reflection and collaboration throughout the process.

Key competences were developed through real-world tasks such as tree planting and beach clean-ups. During their mobility, students cohabited with peers of different abilities, fostering empathy, respect, and inclusion. Learning outcomes were assessed through final surveys completed by both students and teachers, while educators also submitted reports evaluating student engagement and skill development.

Staff members participated in international training on innovation, sustainability, and inclusion, with outcomes disseminated across the school to maximise the project’s impact and ensure a whole-school approach.

Innovation environment

The school served as a hub of innovation, embedding project outcomes into its curriculum with sustainability, inclusion, European awareness, and social and civic values as cross-cutting themes.

A positive school climate was fostered through transparency, teamwork, and the active dissemination of results. Sustainability was promoted not only through the use of digital tools - reducing paper and plastic consumption - but also through hands-on activities such as beach clean-ups and tree planting.

A whole-school approach ensured the engagement of both staff and students at every stage of the project. Cross-sectoral cooperation was strengthened through partnerships with NGOs and local media, as well as participation in national congresses - including the EOI Congress in Santiago de Compostela - and online events, broadening the project’s reach and long-term impact.

Teachers’ role

Teachers played a key role as innovators by participating in methodology training courses and sharing their learning with colleagues through a structured in-house training programme. This peer exchange fostered collaborative design of new activities, which were then adapted and implemented across various classrooms. As a result, all students in the school benefited from updated, inclusive, and engaging teaching practices.

This process not only enhanced teachers’ pedagogical and methodological skills but also fostered professional autonomy and a culture of cooperation and continuous improvement, positioning them as essential agents in driving innovative and sustainable learning.

Impact and output

The teaching and learning processes had a significant impact on both students and teachers. They boosted motivation across the school community, increased ecological awareness, slightly reduced dropout rates, and reinforced a sense of European identity.

Students participated enthusiastically in project activities such as multimedia presentations, beach clean-ups, and tree-planting. These hands-on experiences helped connect classroom learning with real-world environmental action, fostering a deeper sense of responsibility toward nature.

The positive effects extended beyond the direct participants, reaching the wider school community through effective dissemination. In particular, living and learning alongside a student with autism helped the entire school better understand, visualise, and accept neurodiversity, fostering a greater sense of empathy and inclusion.

Learn more about the project