Rationale The inspiration for this project is based
upon the assumption that we as human beings require interaction with others in
order to grow in a spiritual way. The underpinning philosophy is that in
order to become spiritually developed we need to interact with others. So the John Donne quote which was
originally written nearly 450 years ago may still hold some truth for young
people living in Western Europe in the 21st century. The aim of this project is to give some of
these young people the opportunity to talk with their peers in different parts
of Europe about the issues which affect them all in one way or another. The problems involved with such
communication are clearly large and complex but not necessarily insurmountable. In this project the main language of
communication will be English. As we are in the 21st century
and information communication technology is increasing at a rate which is
faster than most of us can cope with it has been decided to use this technology
to our advantage. So put in its most simple form our aim
must be to allow our students to use e-mail or video conferencing to discuss
major issues which appear to affect us all to some extent. How do we measure the success of our
project? This is a question we must try to
address………. Here are some ideas: Have the students been able to communicate?
(This sounds to simple but it is an obvious objective.) How did they communicate? How often did they communicate? Did they find the interaction meaningful? Was the experience worthwhile? It is my view that if we can answer these
questions positively we may succeed.