ERASMUS+ BRAINFINITY

“Brainfinity” has already become popular in Serbia as a national problem-solving competition. The high responsiveness of school-age children and teachers made us think about the internationalisation of this great initiative.

This is exactly what this project will make possible.

The vision of the project is to help students to think creatively and to solve problems independently so that they learn how to successfully overcome various challenges in their future careers.

Today’s education system is based on memorising facts, not on finding solutions to problems and testing whether those solutions can lead to success. On the other hand, due to the development of technology, the labour market is very unpredictable, so it is necessary for today’s and future generations to develop skills that will allow them to be adaptable. Problem-solving and creativity are the future. We need to start developing these skills in students already in primary school so that they are ready for what awaits them in life. With “Brainfinity”, we can achieve that!

By implementing this project, we want to create a new approach to teaching and learning. It is interesting for the students and will encourage them to think, link information, collaborate, and find creative solutions. Of course, we also want to provide training and tools to teachers so that they can easily adopt this approach to teaching.

The consortium that will implement the “Brainfinity” project consists of organisations from Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Serbia.

The main goals of the project are:

• increase the capacity of teachers to move from the traditional ex-cathedra teaching style to the role of facilitator, motivator, and mentor;
• empower teachers to motivate students and involve them in the learning process;
• help teachers understand what skills need to be developed in order to teach students innovative concepts – how to think, solve problems, search for data and collaborate;
• motivate students to get used to looking for information instead of just asking their teachers, to be literate and able to evaluate the validity of collected information;
• teach students to express their ideas freely, without fear;
• teach students to form teams, work together, use their strengths for the benefit of the team and support each other.

Expected results of the project:

• matrix of competencies and skills for teachers and students;
• educational content for teachers;
• training for teachers when it comes to creating detective tasks and organising the national competition “Brainfinity”;
• a guide for the organisation of the national competition “Brainfinity”;
• a guide for using Brainfinity methodology in teaching;
• a portal with a collection of Brainfinity challenges.

The project duration is 30 months.

The project partners are:

• AEG1 – state school, Portugal;
• JumpIN HUB – non-governmental organisation, Portugal;
• TC Ragina – educational centre, Bulgaria;
• 119 Secondary School ”Academician Mihail Arnaudov”, Bulgaria;
• Smart Idea – MSP, Slovenia;
• Primary School “Šalovci”, Slovenia;
• Primary School “Savremena”, Serbia;
• Institute for Contemporary Education, Serbia.