C1 HEALTHY BODY International Piloting
TK hosted the training experienced in the professional use of Non-Formal Education methodologies, ICT tools, and digitization. Each school sent 3 teachers. However, the NGO sent participants 3 trainers. The mobility lasted 7 full days of activity.
Participants’ profile: Participants were 3 teachers/trainers aged 22+ per partner country, selected at the national level by each partner organization, in coordination with Associated Partners and partners’ stakeholder networks at the regional level. It was no mystery that exercise boosted mental health and cognitive function in kids. Many schools had cancelled in-person classes and announced a shift to online teaching. Partner schools and a number of research states that teaching Language, Maths, Science, Art, Music, and other subjects were taught to students through the use of online tools during the lockdown and pandemic period. Yet, when it came to PE, it was not taught online. Not teaching PE online was the gap not only in our associations but also across our regions and parts of the EU.
Partner schools’ teachers and their teaching community stated that “the majority of the students were not moving during the lockdown period.” They also stated that “this was a serious threat to our kids’ mental health and well-being.” For fostering comprehension regarding the subject of mental health and well-being, PE was a must. Also, knowing how to teach PE online was more than a need now and for the following future. Thus, the added value of these Learning, Teaching, Training activities was that:
The staff of the partner organizations and students aged 12-17 were trained in PE through online tools for having better mental health and well-being extensively.
These LTTAs included the whole education package:
- Increased the level of competences of school teachers in the field of mental health through online PE (sport) and a healthy lifestyle.
- Piloted online courses (the use of meditation and sports as a methodology for well-being) with regards to digital tools and new technologies.
- Ensured directing and stimulating peer-learning and the teaching process among students based on the methodology of well-being through the trainings and online empowerment.
- Enhanced mental-health education and enabled students to become more familiar with the mind-body connection through the involvement of the LTTs and local activities.
- Promoted healthy eating and exercise through music and dance using ICT with these LTTs.
In the long term, the added value of the LTTs:
Fostered the use of ICT new technologies and online tools to encourage students to take part in individualized sport while they were at home, ensuring that in the long term, students would be able to stay balanced through e-learning in PE online tools.
C2 Blended Online Sport Tools and Healthy Mindset.
Blended Online Sport Tools and Healthy Mindset. Activity Description (including profile of participants per organization, goals, and results of the activity)
The LTT Activity was held in Malta with the participation of teachers and students. The duration of the activity was 5 days, excluding the travel days.
The goal of the LTT was:
- To raise awareness of mental well-being through sport.
- To direct and stimulate peer-learning and the teaching process among students based on the methodology of well-being.
- To raise our students’ comprehension ability by making them active in their own learning process.
- To lead them to think, compare, search, and collaborate with each other and share their ideas via these tools.
- To improve the quality of teaching professions with new educational tools.
- To improve the foreign language and digital competences of our students and teachers.
Agenda of the LTT:
First, the participants got to know each other with an icebreaker activity named “Where Do I Come From?”. A city tour was arranged, and the host school organized an international welcoming dinner.
On the second day, students participated in a nature walk activity: Host and guest students followed a tracking route. They learned peer-learning techniques in PE.
On the third day, students participated in a workshop based on the methodology of well-being through PE. They brainstormed and participated in group activities.
The fourth day involved students participating in a workshop and practical exercise: “The Use of Online Tools Embedded in Sport, Meditation, Moving, Mental-Health, and Well-being.”
On the fifth day, students participated in a practical exercise: blended learning online sport and the establishment of a health mindset.
Result of the LTT:
They filled in the survey about their experience online. Similar lesson activities were organized in all partner countries with the supervision of subject teachers, and then, in time, students started to use these tools to ensure mental health and well-being. They started to use these tools mentioned above, especially when they were away from school, and thus the cooperation regarding the lessons continued to go on while students were working on a task that they needed to complete outside of school hours.
C3 The connection of Mind and Body 17-23 August 2023
The LTT Activity was held in Romania, Braila with the participation of 3 students from each country and 1 accompanying teacher, totaling 21 students and 7 teachers. The duration of the activity was 5 days, excluding the travel days.
The goal of the LTT was:
To enhance mental-health education and enable students to become more familiar with the mind-body connection.
To promote healthy eating and exercise through music and dance.
The Agenda of the LTT:
First, the participants got to know each other with an icebreaker activity named “Where Do I Come From?”. A city tour was arranged, and the host school organized an international welcoming dinner.
On the second day, students participated in online class activities with a focus on the mind-body connection.
On the third day, students participated in a workshop based on promoting healthy eating and exercise through music and dance. Students were shown the importance of healthy eating, exercise through music with good examples.
The fourth day involved students participating in practical exercise: “Healthy Eating and Exercise through Music and Dance”. A professional figure provided by NAMOI arranged a full day of practical exercise. At the end of the day, students found answers to the following questions:
What are the relationships between health eating and mental health?
How can I keep fit myself when I have to stay at home?
What are the key benefits of music and dance for my mental health?
How can I use ICT for regular exercise?
On the fifth day, students participated in a practical exercise: blended learning online sport and establishment of a health mindset.
Result of the LTT:
Students learned about the mind-body connection not only in lock-down periods but also in the general process of life.
Students were promoted healthy nutrition and having the competency of physical activity for better mental health through sport and other activities.
Students and teachers were promoted the establishment and protection of healthy places outdoors and contact with nature.
Teachers acquired the competency and skills, as well as interventions and developed care pathways for the prevention of and early intervention in harmful stress and its consequences at the individual level.
Teachers and students disseminated good practice examples of services and systems that support and promote recovery and social inclusion. They were able to offer technical support to their peers to draft and implement basic strategies that promote recovery and social inclusion and address inequalities and discrimination.
The students learned how to promote healthy eating and exercise through music and dance.
More importantly, the LTT enhanced mental-health education through sport and online tools, enabling students to become more familiar with the mind-body connection.
