What are collaborative curriculum projects?

Collaborative curriculum projects are activities that are planned and delivered jointly by all schools within a partnership to bring a global dimension to learners’ education. Projects are relevant to the curriculum of each partner country and focus on areas of common interest.

Collaborative projects enable learners to communicate and work directly with their international peers. This interaction builds their understanding of different cultures and societies, and develops the skills necessary for employment in the global economy.

Collaborative curriculum projects also provide opportunities for teachers and school leaders to benchmark their practice against the standards and approaches of educators in other countries.

Project themes

We ask partner schools to develop projects that are specifically designed to enable cultural exchange between learners and which focus on particular themes that are closely linked to the curricula of all countries in the partnership. The most effective and far-reaching projects have themes that work across different curriculum areas and age groups.

Schools in some countries can participate in existing template projects that provide a structure for working together with their partner schools. We are working with a number of different organisations to enable schools in international partnerships to participate in a range of arts and language-based projects that encourage creativity, language skills or literacy, as well as intercultural understanding, including:

• 100 Words, which builds language capacity and creativity through the writing and performance of 100-word plays in different languages
• Big Dance, a biennial celebration of dance which encourages students to learn and perform different dance styles
• Chatterbooks, a reading group project which encourages students to enjoy reading and share their views on global issues
• Classroom Portraits, an art and education project that uses classoom photographs and student surveys to stimulate discussion
• Rivers of the World, an art and education initiative through which students study their, or their partner city's, river, and work with professional artists to produce artworks for public display
• Swanning Around, a dance project which supports young people to develop and perform an original piece of dance choreography
• International Voices, a singing-based project which brings students in different countries together as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

When schools join the programme we let them know about any existing project structures, like those listed above, that they can participate in.

For all collaborative projects, achieving a common understanding is critical. Agreement on project themes must be reached before work begins, and regular cross-reference should take place to ensure that activities remain relevant. Partners are also advised to consider the socio-cultural context of all schools in their partnership, respective areas of educational expertise or need, and the resources available.

Further information

Schools are given guidance on how to plan a collaborative curriculum project, and information about existing projects that they can join, after being accepted onto the programme.

In the meantime, for advice on how to plan a project, or inspiration for possible project themes, see the British Council Schools Online website.