Kick Off Meeting of the Project Story Changers “Enhancing Pupils’ Social Skills and Enriching Teaching Methods Through Storytelling and Virtual Reality”

The Kick Off Meeting of the Story Changers project took place online on 23 and 24 February via Zoom with the participation of the project partners: M.M.C Management Center Ltd (Cyprus), EUROCIRCLE ASSOCIATION (France), OMEGATECH (Greece), Apostolos Varnavas Primary School (Cyprus), St. Joseph Mater Boni Consilii School (Malta), Iera Moni Agiou Iosif / Ellinogalliki Scholi Jeanne D’Arc (Greece), Escola A. Aguilera / Escola Sant Josep (Spain) and Mythos: Center for the Study and Dissemination of Myths and Folktales (Greece). It should be noted that Mater Boni Consilii St. Joseph School Paola and Iera Moni Agiou Iosif / Ellinogalliki Scholi Jeanne D’Arc (Greece) form part of the same congregation belonging to the Sisters of St.  Joseph of the Apparition. Ms Ruth Mansueto, Assistant Head is coordinating this initiative on behalf of the Maltese participation.

Story Changers targets pupils and teachers of primary education and aims to develop a training package which will contribute to the development of pupils’ soft skills (e.g., empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, self-consciousness, etc.) through a combination of Storytelling and Virtual Reality. Furthermore, it aims to acquaint pupils with new and innovative technologies and contribute to the enhancement of teachers’ teaching and ICT skills through the integration of the concepts of Storytelling and VR into their teaching.

On the first day of the Kick Off meeting, the project coordinator, M.M.C Management Centre Ltd, provided the consortium with an overview of the project’s aims, expected outcomes and deliverables, as well as with a detailed presentation of the Intellectual Outputs and the activities they comprise. A separate session dealt with the first Intellectual Output (IO1) “Best Practices Guide on Storytelling and VR Technology in Primary Education” and the steps that need to be taken for its implementation. A discussion led by the IO leader, EUROCIRCLE, focused on the content of the template on which partners would record best practices in the fields of Storytelling, VR/innovative technology and the combination of the two for the development of pupils’ social skills. It was agreed that partners’ desk research should be completed by the end of April, in order for EUROCIRCLE to commence compiling the Best Practices Guide in May.

The second day of the Kick Off meeting was dedicated to presentations with regard to the project management and coordination, the quality assurance and dissemination activities.

The Story Changers project is funded with the support of the European Commission.