REPORT Artmile International Collaborative Learning 2022
Country/Region [ Lithuania ]School [ Kuršėnai Laurynas Ivinskis Gymnasium ] Teacher [ Valdonė Verseckienė ] Grade ( 10th ) Member ( 48 )JP School [ Mukohigashi Junior High School ] Teacher [ Maya Shirai ]# Subjects, Activities and Hours of the lessons
Subject
Conception of the lesson
17 SDGs. Goal No.16.Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions. Elections. What can
we do? The philosophy of peace. The history of war & peace and its impact on
Englishpeople’s lives & choices. Chiune Sugihara. The Educational system & school
life in Japan. The Japanese language.
Geography
History
ArtHours

12Japanese geography, economy & culture.

2Japanese history & traditions.

3Discussing ideas & painting the Mural.

10# Theme and Message of the mural
ThemeMessage
United thoughts toshare with the world

Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions.

We are from different countries, different cultures, and different religious beliefs.
However, we believe that everyone in the world has a heart that wishes for peace.
We also thought that the important thing is to connect those feelings. We ourselves
have not experienced war directly. However, we thought it was our role to inherit
the feelings of those who are older than us and pass them on to the next generation.

# Effects and Problems
Effects your students have gained A much deeper cross-cultural understanding.
 Awareness of the 17 SDGs, especially of SDG
No.16.
 Considerable increase in critical thinking skills
through learning to see issues from different
perspectives.
 Invaluable experience in active & interactive
learning collaboratively on global issues incooperation with project partners.
 Enhancement of students’ ability to express theirthoughts & feelings both in words & in pictures.
 Improvement in their English skills.
 Development of online communication skills.

Points for further improvement
So far, separate classes of our 10th-year
students have participated in the Artmile
project. If we are accepted to participate in thenext stage of the project, we will form a groupof 20 – 25 volunteers from all four classes aged
16 who will be directly & actively involved in all
the project activities and will share
responsibilities. Their classmates will be joining
in different activities during English, History,Geography & Art lessons. Due to this newdynamics, twice as many students will get theopportunity to be part of the project.
In September, a new National Curriculum isbeing introduced in Lithuania. Schools are given
the right to choose part of the teachingcontents. Our experience in the Artmile projectshows that teaching about the 17 SDGs is
crucially important. It will definitely be included
in our school curriculum.

# How has your impression toward your partner’s country/region and the world changed?
Changes in the students
Changes in the teachers Now they know much more about their project  The friendly relationship with the Japanese
partners’ country, its culture, traditions andteachers’ team and with the national project
people’s way of life.
coordinators helped us feel part of the big The year 2022 was the 100th anniversary ofworldwide Artmile Project community leading
diplomatic relations between Japan and Lithuania.
Communication with the Embassy of Japan inand assisting our students in this amazing
Lithuania, the Ambassador’s and his team’s visit
collaborative learning journey. It was anto our school in September was one of theexcellent example of what a good international
highlights of the project.
project should be like from the planning phase to During the visit, our students were introduced to
the great joint product and reflection on all otherthe kimono tradition, which inspired the girl who
volunteered to be the model for the kimono
project results.
dressing demonstration. After that, she made a  All teachers participated together with theirkimono herself and was dressed in it whilestudents in all the project activities andmeeting the Ambassador of Japan again incooperation with the Embassy of Japan which
February and heading a group of students andteachers of our school at the opening of thehelped them deepen their knowledge about theworld-wide famous exhibition “Built Environment.
project partners’ country.
An Alternative Guide to Japan” in the centre of  The Art teacher was involved in a new project
our region.
initiated by the Embassy of Japan based on the Participation in the project activities, cooperation
Artmile Project idea. They decided to renew
with the Embassy and meeting the Ambassador
Mr. Tetsu Ozaki helped our students understandtheir Facebook page adding students’ pictures
how important it is to build friendly relationships
and changing them every season. Our studentsof cooperation among countries of the world in alllead by the Art teacher were invited and actively
spheres of life. The Ambassador shows anjoined in the project.
inspiring personal example of constantparticipation in volunteering activities to support  All teachers of the school, not only the ones who
Ukrainian war refugees in Vilnius. This encouraged
were directly involved in the project, haveour students and teachers to gather used candles
acquired more knowledge about the 17 SDGs
necessary for the Ukrainian refugees who live inand have started introducing this topic in their
our town and make candles for the soldierssubject curricula.
fighting in the front.
 Investigating SDG No 16 added a lot to eachstudent’s personal development and growth aswell as to their awareness how important it is tohave strong human values and act according tothem. In December 2022, a group of our students
were invited to participate in a discussion held by
the Japanese Embassy in our National Library in
Vilnius to commemorate the contribution of theJapanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara to theworld’s fight for peace & justice during WWII.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonth

RESEARCH
the themeSep.
Oct.





What you did
Senior students who
participatedin2021AICL
presented
last year’s project andits results.
In Geography & History
lessons
students
studied about Japan:
physicalgeography,nature,culture,traditions & history.
In
Englishlessons,
project
participantsstudied issues related toSDG
No.16.
&communicatedwithpartners in the Forum.
A group of volunteers
arranged a display aboutJapan in the school
museum for students,
teachers and school
guests to get acquaintedwith.
Allstudents
wereinvolved in preparation
for the meeting with theAmbassador of JapanMr. Tetsu Ozaki & histeam.
DuringtheAmbassador’svisit,students
listened to
his lecture about thephilosophy of peace,
watched the kimono
dressing ceremony andpracticedJapanesecalligraphy.
A group of students
wrote an article in theschool newsletter toinformthewholeschool community about
the progress of theproject.

Your students’ attitude/reflection
 Students were encouraged by theprevious year’s project team andexcited to start this project.
 Students were interested toparticipate in Geography & History
lessons and study the issues
related to the project.

Students were greatly moved by thestory of the atomic bombing inJapan and the story of Chiune
Sugihara.



Students got actively involved inarranging the display.

Students prepared questions to theAmbassador and were reallyinterested in all the activities during
his visit.

Subject

EnglishGeograp
hyHistoryArt

SHAREwith thepartner

Oct.





UNITE
the thoughtsOct.
Nov.






CREATEthe muralJan.
Feb.


Students communicatedwith partners via Forum.
We had video meetings
with our partners (onewith teachers, one withstudents).
Students prepared avideo introducing ourproject activities & sent it
to our partners to help
them prepare for the
Cultural Festival they
had.
Students deepened thediscussions related to
SDG No 16 from an
objective and criticalperspective & thought
what we can do as
conscious creators of the
future to make it betterfor everyone in the world.
Communicating in theForum and during video
meetings of students &teachers,students
discussed and came upwith the united message
to be presented in theMural.
Students generated ideas
how to convey theirthoughts
invisualsymbols.
Students discussed &appreciatedourpartners’ ideas theyshared about the first halfof the Mural.



They kept asking when the Mural
would arrive.

We received the MuralfromJapanandappreciated the great
work our partners haddone.
Our students sketched& painted their part of
the Mural & exhibited it
at school for the schoolcommunity & school
guests to admire.
Students
practisedmaking origami in Art
lessons.
Wepostedthecompleted Mural and theorigami we made to ourpartners in Japan.

Students were excited to open theparcel box and find their partners’letter and souvenirs.
The moment of unfolding the Mural
was really special. Seeing the peaceof art their Japanese partners hadcreated,students
startedapplauding.
Students were happy to sketch &paint the second half of the Mural
as well as try making origami.
They were especially proud of theMural hanging in the school
exhibition area and explained tostudents of other classes thesymbols conveying the joint
message they had come up withtogether with their project partners.

Everybody was excited to meet thepartners and talk to them.

EnglishStudents became more independentwhile writing & sharing ideas in theForum.

English
Art




Art
English

APPRECIATE
the wholelearningMar.


A group of students
wrote an article about
the progress & resultsof the ARTMILE projectin the school newsletter.
Everybody reflected on
the whole collaborative
learning and its impact
on our personal growth.

Students were happy to post thefinished Mural together with theorigami.

Reflecting on the collaborativelearning journey they had made, thestudents said they realized how
much they had learned andunderstood during this year.

English# Effect and evaluation gained through the collaborative learning
Evaluation: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected effectEvaluation

Cross-cultural
understanding

5

Active learningand action

4

Critical thinking(objective, logical views)

5

Collaborating withdifferent people

5

Expressing in words,in shape

4

Scenes and reasons that teachers felt the effects
Students have learned a lot about Japan, its history, traditions &culture. A great addition to the project was cooperation with theJapanese Embassy in Lithuania, especially in the period when the firsthalf of the Mural was being painted in Japan. Preparation for thediscussion about the legacy of Chiune Sugihara at the National Libraryin Vilnius, the capital, organized by the Japanese Embassy, as well asparticipation in the opening of the exhibition in Šiauliai, the centre of
our region, arranged by the Embassy, added a lot to the overall flow ofthe project.
Students now know much more about the 17 SDGs and their importancefor the world they are going to live in. However, it is too early to saythat every and each student has fully understood that .he/she isdirectly responsible for each action taken today and the consequences
it may have in the future. A lot has to be done in this field.
While studying SDG No.16 & discussing related issues with theirpartners as well as with other members of the discussion at the National
Library in Vilnius, they understood the importance of being active andmaking responsible choices based on human values, especially in
difficult situations and in difficult times, such as war time.
In spite of many differences based on the different parts of the world
we live in, on different cultural backgrounds we come from, we managed
to work collaboratively with our project partners and create a common
piece of art full of deep meaning based on shared thoughts and feelings.
It is an extremely valuable lesson our students have learnt: our good
will and wish to understand each other as well as our joined effort totake action is the only way to move towards the peaceful and friendly
world we all dream to create for ourselves and future generations.
Individual students have different language levels and different levels of
ability to express their ideas in words or visual symbols. The diverse
project activities enabled each of them to grow and develop theirtalents at their own pace which was respected by others. Nobody felt
excluded. Everybody felt proud to be of being part of this project andco-author of its result.