“Heart-hand-head”, Effective learning focused on the needs of the individuals
21 teachers from pilot schools of the Joint EU/CoE Project “Regional Support for Inclusive Education” attended the second Janusz-Korczak Seminar “Children at the Centre of Education” on 23 April 2014 and Pestalozzi Conference “The professional image and ethos of teachers” that took place in Strasbourg on 24-25 April 2014.
Janusz Korczak second seminar intended to explore pedagogical approaches and practices which put the development on the children at the centre of education and promote the development of competences for democracy and human rights. The seminar was organized by the Polish authorities and the Education Department of the Council of Europe.
Pestalozzi Conference organized on 24-25 April enabled 21 teachers to meet with education experts from all over Europe to define the professional image of the teachers we need for the 21st century and debated on how teachers can equip pupils and students with the skills and understanding they need to meet the challenges and opportunities of our century such as information technology, multiculturalism, economic constraints and environmental threats.
This conference was organized by the Pestalozzi Programme of the Council of Europe (DG II) and the Education and Culture Commission of the Conference of International non-governmental organizations (INGO) at the Council of Europe in cooperation with partners (Centre européen Robert Schuman, the European Wergeland Centre, Landesakademie für Fortbildung und Personalentwicklung an Schulen in Baden Württemberg, Pädagogisches Landesinstitut Rheinland Pfalz.
21 teachers had the opportunity to discuss among themselves as well as among colleagues coming from different European education systems the common challenges, share their daily experiences and learn from each other. This conference served as a chance for all the teachers to reflect on their image and ethos of the teaching profession and what concrete future actions can be envisaged to support the change of mindsets about education.
This conference was divided into 15 thematic tables around 5 major themes such as the: Education needs a new paradigm; teacher today- teacher in the future; pedagogy: what works, why it works and how it works; schools as spaces of learning for the 21st century and media environment and education and 21 teachers were divided into different thematic tables to debate and share ideas on the subjects of personal interest.
An achievement attained during these days was the contribution given by 21 teachers to the discussions on Manifesto for Teachers of the 21st century intended to point out the necessity of fundamental change of mind-sets and beliefs about education. The Manifesto shall eventually serve as inspiration, orientation and guidance for teachers, children, parents, schools, local communities and society as a whole.
The conference pointed out that in a global world that is constantly changing at an unprecedented speed; there seem to be one stable relationship that is the golden triangle: Parent/community – teacher – children/student. The stronger the relationship among these three pillars, the better would it be for preparing democratic citizen in diverse democratic societies by eventually focusing on the needs of the individual. This Manifesto for change is strongly supported by our project’s slogan:
"An inclusive school is a school where:
every child is welcome, every parent is involved, every teacher is valued."
Ms. Ivana Micevska from ASUC Boro Pertusevski, Skopje, “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” expressed: “I was really impressed that even the schools from the modern and developed countries faced the same problems as we in South East Europe do. The team work and people we met in Strasbourg are more than inspiration for every one of us to make a step forward and make a contribution in her/his school in the most suitable way”.
“I have been inspired to think more about my professional and personal development as a teacher and I will definitely work more on that and I will also try to motivate and inspire my colleagues to do the same”, said Ms. Maja Katic, from Primary School “Vladimir Nazor”, Ploce in Croatia.
For Ms. Leposava Furtula, from the VET School “Sergije Stanic” in Podgorica, Montenegro this was a great experience because it gave opportunity to teachers to exchange their experiences and learn things from each other.
Motivated by the Janusz Korczak seminar objectives Ms. Brikena Kullolli, from the Secondary General School “Ismail Qemali” pointed out: “The school must be a place where children are living and learning democracy”.
Ms. Ljiljana Aradanski Rajkov, from Gimnazija “Svetozar Markovic”, Novi Sad in Serbia said: “Different nationalities day” from Janusz Korczak inspired me to propose in my school to have alike; maybe a “Different cultures day”.
“I am so happy that something started to change in education with rapid and positive steps”, said Ms. Gordana Nestorovska from Joakim Krcovski in Volkovo from “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.
Manifesto for teachers of the 21st century was very inspirational for Mr. Tarik Zjajo from the VET school in Jajce who thought that the discussed views will guide him in his work: “I will work on promoting the Manifesto for Teachers of the 21st century in my country”, emphasized Ms. Zjajo.
Inspired by the holistic teaching method of “Heat-hand -head” or “emotional, manual and intellectual development of the learner” of Johan Heinrich Pestalozzi, Ms. Zorana Vujicic from JU Secondary school Foca, in Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded: “Teachers have to listen carefully their students but not by ears … more with their souls, good will, to show empathy and sympathy, to understand their needs and troubles, their vulnerability and background”.
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