Project Activities

International Renaissance Foundation in collaboration with International centre of schooling development (APS International Ltd., Netherlands) continues the realization of Public Platforms of Educational Reform project. The main aim of the project is to create the effective model of interaction between the professional pedagogical community, public and authority in solving the educational problems.

The project partners are Pershe Veresnya Charitable foundation, Shkilnyi Svit Publishing House, Poltava regional institute of post graduation pedagogical education and Odessa advanced training institute for teachers.

The project coordinators are:

Robert Myokh – International centre of schooling development (Netherlands)

Georgii Kasianov – International Renaissance Foundation

Serhii Klepko – Poltava regional institute of post graduation pedagogical education

Liubov Zadorozhna – Odessa advanced training institute for teachers

Albert Yan Krykke and Shpyr Tendoskhat (International centre of schooling development) are the project trainers.

The main aim of the project is to provide constant effective dialogue among teachers, school Masters, parents and pupils with local education authority bodies concerning the most burning problems. There is an idea to create the system of constant interchange and distribution of information between the educators, educational process participants and local education authority bodies within the frame of the project.

Not the least important is the teachers training. They should learn to manage the public dialogue with their colleagues, pupils, parents and education authority bodies concerning the most urgent challenges of the modern system of education. Besides they have to learn not only to discuss these problems, but to find the most efficient ways of their solution in collaboration with all interested parties. Platform is the constantly acting forum of educators, trainings, information and ideas interchange. Platform is the opportunity to speak openly and efficiently about the challenges and suggest the way of their solution. It is the mutually advantageous dialogue and the organizational structure for the pointed actions.

During the year of 2007 the project participants considered the Reformation of manuals publishing theme. They conducted set of events, in particular trainings, sessions and conferences dedicated to the problems of manuals writing and the ways of their solving. The participants got skills as the trainers and focus-groups managers’.

The School of the Future theme is the theme of discussions of the year 2008, which is not the less important for the educators community and Ukrainian society in general.

After this year April regional trainings facilitators conducted corresponding sessions with focus-groups in the cities of Poltava and Odessa region dedicated to the School of the Future theme. They were held during the May, June and July of this year.

In general about 40 sessions were held in the cities of Poltava, Kremenchuk, Karlivka, Reshetylivka, Buhaivka, Odessa, Izmail, Bilgorod-Dnistrovskii, Bolgrad, Ovidiopol.

The main aim of the events are:

- to create the model of School of the Future;

- to distinguish the School of the Future characteristic features;

- to outline the ways for creation School of the Future.

Socially-psychological aim of the project is to prepare socially active, highly intelligent and spiritually rich Ukrainian citizen maintaining the necessary conditions for the gradual teachers’ and pupils’ improvement.

The main tasks are:

- to collect the participants’ ideas concerning the School of the Future;

- lay out the main obstacles for creation School of the Future;

- determine the basic ways for the next development School of the Future.

Conducted events demonstrated that the School of the Future is urgent and in time for our country. Sessions participants expressed their ideas how their experience would help to conduct similar sessions, trainings with school teachers, authority representatives, state bodies, in order to work out their proper view on future of secondary school in small towns and villages.

One of the most interesting is the proper children’s view of the School of the Future. Most of all they value good relations between the adults and children. To their mind school is not only the educational process, but also entertainments, games and pleasure. School of the Future is the school of joy, knowledge and health.

We are very thankful to the Dutch facilitators for their well-wishing, openness and professionalism. They suggested well organized questions system for the dialogue about the School of the Future and interesting methods of studies and discussions organization.