“The British government decided not to participate in the Erasmus exchange programme”: Michel Barnier, EU chief negotiator, 24 December 2020.
This was the news many of us were dreading. The loss of Erasmus+ would be bad enough...the loss of future collaborative projects, partnerships, opportunities that broadened the horizons of so many young people. But the loss of Erasmus also means the loss of eTwinning.
Chances are that people outside of education would have heard of Erasmus, but probably not eTwinning. As an eTwinning ambassador, I sometimes had the opportunity of promoting eTwinning at educational events. I was often surprised that some teachers had not heard of eTwinning. I do wonder whether if the government knew more about eTwinning and its benefits, they wouldn't have chosen to scrap it.
So what was it and why was it so good? eTwinning is a community for schools in Europe. And of course it still is, but now without the UK! eTwinning is free, something that used to surprise and please Headteachers when I visited schools to deliver eTwinning training. It's a secure platform which allows teachers from over forty countries to find partners, work on projects, exchange best practice and enable student collaboration. So doing the Maths here, you can see that a country does not need to be a member of the EU to be part of eTwinning. There are countries which are geographically close to Europe which have become eTwinning Plus countries, like Tunisia and Jordan. eTwinning can often be a schools first experience of international work and can also be the first step towards Erasmus+ funding. So eTwinning lives on, without the UK, but what have we lost?
School trips abroad are fantastic and foreign exchanges even better. These educational activities place students out of their comfort zone which boosts resilience. They introduce young people to different cultures, providing new experiences. They may enhance foreign language skills. They are excellent!
But even before the present Covid-19 pandemic, an exchange or a trip abroad might not be practical. There is cost, time away from lessons for staff and students, Safeguarding, age of children, paperwork...to consider. And for many young people, the idea of staying with another family or hosting another student, or even just being far away from home, is too scary. With current travel restrictions, exchanges and trips abroad are obviously not allowed.
eTwinning offers students the opportunity to collaborate on a project with students in another country from the safety and security of their own school. There is no travel, no cost, no risk. But the introduction to different cultures is still there, providing new experiences. eTwinning is open to all ages within the school system, it's as relevant for a class of 6 year olds as for a class of 16 year olds. The partnership can be between two schools or a number of schools. A project can last a couple of weeks, a month, a term or years. It can work with a small group of students in a lunchtime club, a whole class, a year group or a whole school. Projects can be cross-curricular, encouraging subject areas/departments within a school to work together. It's flexible.
UK schools have lost eTwinning and they will miss out. Young people are curious and want to learn about other cultures, how things are done differently elsewhere. They are naturally friendly and want to meet young people of their age in other countries. eTwinning allowed them to do this virtually, safely and for free. An eTwinning project embedded in the UK schools curriculum motivated students, allowing them to share their learning, often providing an audience for their work. All this has gone and it's such a shame.
