Thinking out of the box

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Directorate of Primary education of arta

Organisation:

Directorate of Primary education of arta

Country:

Greece

About organisation:

DIPE of Arta (Directorate of Primary Education of Arta Prefecture) implements the policy of the Greek Ministry of Education on schools. Its scope is to establish organized school functions and well-staffed schools as well as to provide the means to develop the new educational programmes so as to improve the pedagogic and social role of schools. Arta is located northwest in Greece, one of the four cities in the area of Epirus. It is a byzantine city with many byzantine monuments and a deep history. It is bathed by the Amvrakikos gulf, a protected area with rare fauna and flora.There are 53 primary schools (10 of them in the city of Arta, the prefecture's capital) and 42 kindergartens (12 of them in the city of Arta) with 565 teachers and about 4.000 students from 4 to 12 years old in the prefecture of Arta. DIPE acknowledges the importance of interaction among different educational systems, culture, flexibility and development in a european environment.

Title of the project

Thinking out of the box

Start date:

1/3/2023

End date:

31/12/2023

Objectives:

Aim: Learning 21st century Skills: Thinking out of the box. Keys: problem solving, 8 techniques, green case studies. Benchmark: Students of secondary education (High School & Lyceum) Participants: Directorates of secondary education: Arta, Ioannina, Thesprotia, Messinia, Zakinthos, Viotia, Mytilini. Activities: 5 teleconferences (if it is possible we'll cooperate with the Sahety school in Johannesburg, as we have already cooperated with them); 1 life meeting in each city (in cooperation with Directorates). Closing the program with a meeting of all matters with all the participants (the directorates that participated and the leader of Eurodesk in order to evaluate our work and the benefits. Time to move action in Arta, in cooperation with the municipality of Arta, Epirus region and regional Directorate of education. That will be a 2days symposium and will be settled on with the national Eurodesk. There will be guests who will have speeches, a green company who developed alternative energy sources and 3 problems that can be green case studies for the students in order to provoke problem solving in action: 1. Elimination of industrial emissions. 2. Recycling and waste management. 3.Wastewater treatment.The results are obvious: students will learn to think out of the box and the local community will learn a new way of thinking, with cooperation and sharing knowledge. Because knowledge is power, and it must be shared.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

There is one particular puzzle we may have seen. It's a drawing of a box with some dots in it, and the idea is to connect all the dots by using only four lines. We can work on that puzzle, but the only way to solve it is to draw the lines so they connect outside the box. It's so simple once we realise the principle behind it. But if we keep trying to solve it inside the box, we'll never be able to master that particular puzzle.That puzzle represents the way a lot of people think. They get caught up inside the box of their own lives. We've got to approach any problem objectively. Stand back and see it for exactly what it is. From a little distance, we can see it a lot more clearly. Try and get a different perspective, a fresh point of view. Step outside the box our problem has created within us and come at it from a different direction.All of a sudden, just like the puzzle, we'll see how to handle our problem. And just like the four lines that connect all the dots, we'll discover the course of action that's just right in order to set our life straight.In order to live in a different way we must first think in a different way. Young people must learn how to learn in a world that is changing, in a global society, with many challenges but also prejudice. We are teachers, so we must inspire young people. The key is to change reality and if we want we can work in that direction in order to create tomorrow's thinking outside the box adults.

How the project was inclusive:

What if for every plateau we reach, resource limit we hit — or even every challenge we face — we stopped and asked: “what if?” What if we challenged the rules and started thinking outside the box? But what does it mean to think outside the box — to encourage workplace autonomy and innovation? After all, isn’t there value in leaving things as they are? Read on to learn what that looks like, why it’s important, and how to think outside the box yourself. Thinking outside the box is a metaphor often used to describe different, unconventional, novel, or creative thinking. According to Fast Company, the term came into use in the 1970s. Management consultants would give clients a nine-dot puzzle and ask them to connect the dots with only four lines.It shows up in simple things like using paper to make crafts — instead of just writing on them — for example. Or in more complex forms e.g thinking up concepts like agile methodology for problem-solving.So it is significant to create tomorrow's problem solvers. And because it is about young people, we shall have the opportunity to work under Eurodesk with young people in secondary education in Epirus. We have the experience as an existing Eurodesk multiplier and we have learned from our mistakes. We now know what to do to support creative thinking and develop 21st century skills. We have the techniques, cooperations with Directorates of education, and the will to create the circumstances of thinking outside the box.

Green aspect:

Distance learning education has shown the educational community how we can use technology to communicate without using transportation, in order to reach friends, cooperators, students, colleagues all over the world and be able to share knowledge among us. Our project is green because the development of the thematic area we have chosen can be achieved in a range of 2 hour teleconferences of technical evolution. For example, 5 meetings, one life meeting in each city (in cooperation with Directorates) and closing the program with a meeting of all matter with all the participants (the directorates that participated: Arta, Ioannina, Preveza, Thesprotia, Zakynthos, Mytilini, Messinia, Viotia) and the leader of Eurodesk in order to evaluate our work and the benefits. We shall create a timesheet of actions and organise also the Time to move action in Arta, in cooperation with the municipality of Arta, Epirus region and regional Directorate of education. That will be a 2days symposium and will be settled on with the national Eurodesk. I have already spoken with the Major and the deputy regionher, and they are positive to support us.I am also thinking of 3 problems that can be green case studies for the students in order to provoke problem solving in action: 1. Elimination of industrial emissions. 2. Recycling and waste management. 3. Wastewater treatment.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

What if for every plateau we reach, resource limit we hit — or even every challenge we face — we stopped and asked: “what if?” What if we challenged the rules and started thinking outside the box? But what does it mean to think outside the box — to encourage workplace autonomy and innovation? After all, isn’t there value in leaving things as they are? Read on to learn what that looks like, why it’s important, and how to think outside the box yourself. Thinking outside the box is a metaphor often used to describe different, unconventional, novel, or creative thinking. According to Fast Company, the term came into use in the 1970s. Management consultants would give clients a nine-dot puzzle and ask them to connect the dots with only four lines.It shows up in simple things like using paper to make crafts — instead of just writing on them — for example. Or in more complex forms e.g thinking up concepts like agile methodology for problem-solving.So it is significant to create tomorrow's problem solvers. And because it is about young people, we shall have the opportunity to work under Eurodesk with young people in secondary education in Epirus. We have the experience as an existing Eurodesk multiplier and we have learned from our mistakes. We now know what to do to support creative thinking and develop 21st century skills. We have the techniques, cooperations with Directorates of education, and the will to create the circumstances of thinking outside the box.

Impact:

The target group are the students, the tomorrow citizens of our society. So we can imagine how radical is the direction we have changed. To get out of the comfort zone and learn to think in a different way, to leave aside the typical data is undoubtedly a result that affects more than the participants, opens a new door in the society. The opening and openness of the mind is an opening to society and globalisation. The benefits start from the students and their teachers. Then they will affect the families and their friends, because young people love new things, and thinking out of the box. We'll show them the way. Then there is the local community in which the parents of the students work. Man can imagine at what a level and degree the results can be achieved. It is not that we are more clever than others. It is the will not only to do things right, but to do the right things. And until now, in our region the thinking is common and seems like Youth has no other solutions. So we want to open a new direction and show Youth that life is unlimited.