As part of the Erasmus + KA2 School Partnership project "With the Skills of the Future for a Successful Job and Life" in Estonia, a transnational teaching, teaching and training activity for teachers was held from 9 to 13 December 2019 in Seminar 21st century skills and teaching strategies. " The host of this mobility was Kanepi High School.
The seminar was attended by a total of 10 teachers involved in the project from 5 countries (Estonia, Slovenia, Turkey, Italy and Croatia).
The first seminar was held at BCS Koolitus, Tallinn. Topics were: 21st Century Critical Skills. Generational and cultural differences.
BCS Koolitus is a leading training, project management and consulting company in Estonia. The lecturer was Mrs. Carmen Ruut. The lecture emphasizes learning and innovation skills - communication, creativity, problem solving and critical thinking. Attention is drawn to a concept called the "golden circle", which is a way of understanding business and what people respond to. It was designed by Simon Sinek. The golden circle consists of three circles (questions): what, how and why. Any person or organization can explain what it does; some may explain how different or better they are than others; but very little can clearly explain why. Why it is not about money or profit - these are the results. The “why” is the thing that inspires us and others. It is important for startup founders to find adequate answers to these questions in order to be successful.
The goal setting according to SMART criteria is explained, as well as the SWOT analysis that is present in each company, and the analysis considers current and future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
To improve your time management skills, among the tools and time management concepts at our disposal, the Emergency Matrix is one of the most useful.
Five generations by age in Estonia and ways of managing different generations in a business environment are presented.
Aiki Pärle, Lecturer at Tallinn's Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences held a second seminar. She is an experienced lecturer working in higher education with skills in quality management, leadership, strategic planning and organizational development. The topics were: Development and Innovation in Organizations. Estonian success story.
Interesting was the lecture on the need to develop the school as a brand in order to be competitive in the school choice competition of future students. School staff must create a strong brand that will be influential and effective. When the community, families and school work together to support learning, research shows that children tend to do much better at school.
To create that unity, with everyone working toward the same goal (learning with the hope that we develop a love for lifelong learning), you need to invite others to trust and identify with your brand. The school and its successes, spirit, cooperation of good people must be visible to all. You want your community to be proud and supportive of your school, and you also want to attract elite teachers and staff. Branding can help make that happen. A successful school brand is the reason students choose it.
Although Estonia, with a population of one million and 300,000, is one of the smallest countries in the European Union, this former Soviet republic has become the technological leader of today. Everything in Estonia is adapted to the development of new ideas. The importance of Estonia in the global computer scene is also indicated by the fact that Skype was developed there. Estonian startups also created PlayTech or TransferWise, a money transfer system.
Today, Estonia is the only country in the world to guarantee (and provide) free high-speed internet to all its inhabitants. This benefit is very well used by the Estonians, so almost the entire country is online. The ID card is digital, and in elections, whether for the local council, parliament or president, the Estonians do not go to the polls but give their votes from the computer.
The third seminar was held by lecturers Anu Sarv and Airi Nülo from the University of Tartu. The topic was Improving Transferable Skills and Supporting Active Learning.
Transferable skills are skills that are relevant and useful in different areas of life: social life, professional and school. These are general skills that can be transferred between jobs, departments and industry (hence the name).
Employers often appreciate these skills because they can be used in a variety of ways in the workplace. Transferable skills are those you develop as you progress through employment, education, or training. Communication, problem solving and teamwork are examples of transferable skills that you can use in any job role, your education or training. It is important to emphasize your transferable skills in all application documents and during interview for a new job. These skills can greatly convince a potential employer that you are a perfect fit for their company, even if you do not have the necessary experience. Transferable skills are a tool you will need to adapt to any new job.
Among the ten most important transferable skills are: business strategy, leadership and team management, problem solving, teamwork, data analysis, communication skills, time management, work ethic, commercial awareness, and listening and providing feedback.
The seminar introduced the "reverse classroom" as an opportunity to apply new technologies in teaching to increase students' motivation, to achieve better educational results and to modernize the teaching process. Numerous teaching methods and their application in the inverted classroom have been analyzed.
The participants will transfer their acquired experience and knowledge from the seminar to their home schools through working with students and working with fellow teachers.
Mobility participants visited the Võru County Vocational Education Center (VCVTC or Võrumaa Kutsehariduskeskus). It was established in September 1999 by two different schools - Väimela Agricultural Technical School and Võru Industrial Technical School.
The Võru County Vocational Training Center is an internationally recognized educational center in Estonia providing vocational education for many specialties with attractive, inclusive and flexible education whose values are: competence, flexibility, empathy, development ability, innovation.
In cultural activities, mobility participants got to know the cities of Tallinn, Tartu and Võru.
Tallinn as the capital of Estonia, is the oldest and largest city center in Northeast Europe. Its historic center is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Walking through its streets you notice traces of the medieval past.
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia where participants visited the oldest and most famous Estonian university (founded in 1632), which is included in the list of the best higher education institutions in the world. At the Estonian National Museum, they listened to a concert and visited the A. Le Coq Company, which is the oldest and largest beverage producer in Estonia with an interesting Beer Museum.
Võru, a town and municipality in southeastern Estonia, located on the shores of Lake Tamula, surprised its square and provided the winter magic of Estonia with snow and snowflakes.
The meeting ended with a visit and an interview with the Mayor of Kanepia, Mrs. Piret Rammul. A municipality in southeastern Estonia with a population of about 5,000 has an interesting flag - a cannabis leaf was adopted as an emblem by voting online. Kanepi (Cannabis) means hemp in Estonian, and according to local legend, the leaf has been used as a symbol of the area for at least 150 years. Kanepi takes care of his students at school with free meals and textbooks.
Mobility in Estonia is co-financed by the European Union's Erasmus + program. The project "With the Skills of the Future for a Successful Job and Life" lasts two school years. The project coordinator is Kanepi Gümnaasium from Estonia. The next mobility for students and teachers will take place in April 2020 and will be hosted by the Požega Technical School.
