European Commission provides funding for the "Stories4all" project with a clear focus on social inclusion and intercultural exchange
8 February 2024
The Center for Lifelong Learning at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has been coordinating the new project "Stories4all – Developing Innovative Pedagogies and Tools to enable the Establishment and Sustenance of Communities of Educators Promoting Empathy and Social Inclusion via Digital Stories for All" since October 2023. The aim of the project, which is financed by the European Commission, is to generate socially inclusive learning environments in schools intended to further social justice and to improve intercultural understanding. The project will employ the narrative technique of digital shadow play. This combination of digital storytelling and educational objectives has the potential to improve social interaction in the classroom by providing all students with opportunities for personal and creative expression in a relaxed and playful setting. This approach offers marginalized groups, in particular, the chance to actively participate and increase their cultural and linguistic awareness.
Over a period of 36 months, the project partners in close cooperation with schools will develop an online training program for teachers, specifically in the STEAM fields. This will involve learning resources and methodology for teacher training in digital storytelling in extracurricular STEAM education, supporting teachers to introduce digital shadow play into various teaching activities across the STEAM subjects. With the aid of digital media, there is a whole range of new possibilities for the creation and sharing of digital stories as an inclusive STEAM learning environment.
The project "Developing Innovative Pedagogies and Tools to enable the Establishment and Sustenance of Communities of Educators Promoting Empathy and Social Inclusion via Digital Stories for All" (Stories4all) is to be coordinated by the JGU Center for Lifelong Learning from October 2023 to September 2026 and is being financed through the Partnerships for Cooperation action of the European Union's Erasmus+ program.