Inclusive Education Through Arts – Heraklion, Crete 🧿🏺
Inclusive Education Through Arts – Heraklion, Crete 🧿🏺
ErasmusLearn Academy – 4th-10th August 2025
I spent a week in Heraklion, on the beautiful island of Crete, for an Erasmus+ course on Inclusive Education Through Arts. Crete is simply amazing – full of history, gorgeous landscapes, friendly people, and a culture that makes you feel at home from the very first day. The course was held at ErasmusLearn Academy.
Day 1 – Monday
The first morning was all about introductions and setting the tone for the week. We were around 15 participants from Greece, Germany, Spain, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria – such a rich mix of perspectives.
We received the weekly schedule and learned about Greece’s education system as well as Crete’s history, traditions, and highlights. I was amazed at how many words in our own languages come from Greek.
One of our first activities was creating a comparative table of education systems in our countries. I presented San Clemente, and our school, IES Diego Torrente Pérez, sharing our traditions, events, and Erasmus+ projects. I also connected with two Polish schools whose Erasmus+ goals matched ours – a great opportunity for future collaboration.
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Day 2 – Tuesday
From this day, our group became smaller – just six people: four Polish colleagues, a Bulgarian teacher, and me. Our trainer, Ioanna Anagnostaki, was incredibly inspiring – professional, kind, and with almost a decade of teaching experience in Crete.
We started with warm-up games to build trust and teamwork. Then we explored what inclusion really means and discussed different student needs. Everyone shared how inclusion is approached in their own countries – the support we have and the gaps we still see.
Ioanna introduced creative tools like fairy tales, puppets, and comics for teaching in an inclusive way. We also played board games and role-played scenarios to understand students’ perspectives better.
She also showed us tech tools like:
- Magic School AI – for creative classroom ideas
- Natural Reader – text-to-speech support
- Word’s Read Aloud function – accessibility tool
- DeepL Translator – instant, accurate translations, even with voice
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Day 3 – Wednesday
Today’s focus was art as a gateway to inclusion. Ioanna encouraged us to think about the teacher’s role in creating curiosity and engagement.
We experimented with:
- Painting a mural while music played
- Creating symbols for different sounds
- Playing “broken telephone” game for memory and laughter
- Collaborative drawings, swapping them when the music stopped
- Listening to songs and discussing their emotional impact
- Making “human sculptures” to represent concepts
- Building a miniature house using different materials and ideas
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In the afternoon, we had a guided city tour. Starting at Morosini's Fountain, we wandered through the local market and historical sites, discovering the Venetian influence on Heraklion’s architecture and layout.
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Day 4 – Thursday
We visited the Historical Museum of Crete, exploring the island’s past through different periods. The Venetian era was particularly striking, and it was fascinating to connect what we saw there with what we’d already experienced in the city.
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Day 5 – Friday
Our trainer, Khalid Tahir, introduced us to psychodrama tools in education – sociodrama, monodrama, and using symbols for emotional work in the classroom.
We did activities like:
- A “feelings game” to share our emotions
- Drawing places with personal meaning and the emotions they bring
- Reflecting on one personal quality, one challenge, and one goal for improvement
- Assigning qualities to other group members and sharing our thoughts about them
It was a very emotional, connecting experience that reminded us how inclusion starts with empathy.
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Day 6 – Saturday
Back with Ioanna, we talked about how music can influence learning and how games can make lessons more engaging.
Highlights included:
- Creating stories inspired by paintings
- Designing an inclusive classroom – accessible spaces, sensory-friendly areas, and collaborative layouts
- Making a collage magazine cover on the theme of inclusion
- Creating a collaborative comic strip
- Using Suno AI to compose our own songs
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Final Day
We wrapped up by reviewing Erasmus+ goals, sharing what we had learned, and receiving our certificates. ErasmusLearn even surprised us with local gifts – extra virgin olive oil, natural soap, and Cretan herbs.
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Besides the course activities, I also took advantage of free moments to explore other corners of Crete — its rich art history, fascinating sites, vibrant culture, stunning landscapes, and beautiful beaches. These experiences made the stay even more inspiring and unforgettable.
Looking back, the week was full of creativity, practical tools, and cultural exchange. I learned so much about group cohesion, using art as a universal language, and making classrooms more inclusive. This course was not only informative and inspiring, but also genuinely fun.
I met amazing people from all over Europe – colleagues who shared their stories, ideas, and laughter. Who knows? This might be the start of new Erasmus+ adventures together in the future. Crete itself was unforgettable – a perfect mix of history, culture, and warmth – and I’m taking home not just new skills for my teaching, but also wonderful memories and friendships that I hope will last far beyond this week.
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