Education to opera allows an opening of youngsters to artistic culture (most favored by Key competence 8) with a cultural practice which used to be a popular one. This pedagogical approach is a main asset for creativity (key competence 7) and therefore for a harmonious personal development. The opera involves disciplines such as music, drawing, sports, dance. Education to Opera may reveal hidden talents, it enhances a collective and team spirit, it improves culture and knowledge, it allows to acquire various competences, to master one’s body, concentration and breathing, it stimulates memory, it combines written and oral expression in mother tongue or a foreign language (key competence 1 & 2) , it develops the personality of the teenagers, it is a main asset for empowerment.

The EducOpera means to struggle against Earlys School Leavin (ESL) through the acquisition of skills & competences by the means of Education to Opera. To achieve this aim, it intents to design 3 main intellectual outputs:

1- A tool & method (IO1) to identify and assess the competences acquired by teenagers thanks to an education to music in general and Opera in particular which might be relevant skills & competences required at school

2- A training for professionals (IO2) – educators being trained to this pedagogical & innovative approach to enrich their professional practice and being able to use the IO1 in their assessment

3- A guidance for professionals in order for them to be able to explain the EducOpera approach to other teachers/educators (at school and outside school) teaching musical education (IO3) making the link with the struggle against Early School Leaving (ESL) ; learning to learn making the link between formal, non-formal and informal learning

On the basis of national experiences and pedagogies already implemented , the EducOpera project is meant to offer a general pedagogical strategy to enhance education to Opera as an innovative way to struggle against Early School Leaving (ESL) in Europe.

Six partners from five countries are implementing EducOpera: France (Ópera de Massy e IRIV), Dinamarca (Escuela Danesa de Educación), Eslovenia (Centro de Investigación de la Academia Eslovena de Ciencias y Artes), España (INFODEF) e Italia (Universidad de Perugia).