Lin E Developing European Competence for Future

Lin. E – Developing European Competence for Future Teachers Marja K. Martikainen 24. 4. 2009 ETEN 2009 Izmir

Lin. E starting point • What competences should a future teacher in • Europe possess today in order to be able to act in a world which gets rapidly smaller and smaller? How should student teachers be educated to enable them to move in their profession from one country to another and to be able to meet learners with different cultural backgrounds?

Aims of the Lin. E project • To seize the of idea of European competence • To discuss this concept and to find various views of it • To define which scopes of knowledge and which abilities, which competencies belong to this idea • To develop concepts of teacher training with the aspect of a multicultural teacher

European Competence • Traditional perspective: – Knowledge about Europe, its history, its geography and its educational systems – Skills: language and knowledge about cultural peculiarities and traditions • Perspective in the case of the Lin. E-project: – students (and teachers) gather knowledge, skills and understanding of Europe by participating in the everyday life at institutes/ schools abroad and through meeting people there

Partners • University of Paderborn/ Germany - the • • • coordinating institution University of Helsinki/Finland Broskolan north of Stockholm/Sweden Det frie Lærerskolverket (Free Teacher‘s College) in Ollerup/Denmark network of schools (Graz-West Schulverbund) in Graz/Austria University of Bucarest/Romania

Multidimensionality of the project • International meetings → visit of the • • • participating institutions and work at the project Exchanges (practical trainings and study visits), which were supported and accompanied by project members Development of material Shared platform, communication and publications

What made it successful? • Good relations between partners • Shared idea of the aims • Shared ideas of being a teacher and of educating teachers • Flexibility • Meeting each other in different surroundings – also in the leisure time • Exchanges

What made it complicated? • Intercultural communication • Permanent change of the participating persons within the project • Organisation of the exchanges consumed more time than calculated • Not always the same ideas of a senseful use of the granted money

Exchanges in Lin. E • Practical trainings abroad: two to four weeks of • • • exploration and proving oneself in one of the Lin. E institutions Preparation of and support during the practical training Portfolio Research assignment: to find out what is special at this institution, i. e. to do a sort of action research

How to improve the exchanges? • By integrating the exchange more to the studies • • • by gathering material for their essays and thesis at the home university By organizing the accommodation so that they get into touch with local people, especially with local students By getting the students into contact with students from other countries By giving them the possibility to gain some language skills beforehand

What did the Lin. E students learn? • Cognitive skills • Social skills • Emotional skills

Education system • To get to know another system with its strengths and weaknesses • To get to know the education system of one’s own country and its background through having to explain it to others • To begin to impugn the systems and to see the changing demands in the home country

Curriculum • To notice the differences between one’s own curricula and the foreign one • To see the different status subjects have at schools • To get to know about different ways of assessment and how it is organized

Methods • To be able to see more and different methods than at the home country • To notice which method functions and when, in which cases, with which pupils

The everyday life at school • To see different ways of keeping a school (pauses, • • • length of the lessons, time schedules, …) To see many different schools, (size, level, atmosphere, with special emphazises, . . ) To impugn the ”normal” ways, to search and to try alternatives Many similarities to one’s own country Pupils are pupils – teachers are teachers Meals Schoolbooks etc. – to borrow or to buy?

School buildings • To notice the role of the school buildings for the pedagogy and for the atmosphere • To notice the role of the surrounding • To notice the responsibility for keeping the building fit • Classrooms: for each class or for each subject • Equipment, especially technical

School as part of a society and history • To notice that the schools are a part of particular societies and that the history of a country clearly reflects the schools • To begin to understand that one school system cannot be taken from one country to another but that there are best practices to be ”stolen”

The teacher profession • The status of a teacher in the particular country • The different status of different teachers (class teacher, subject teacher, kindergarten teacher etc. ) • Teacher – pupil -roles

Pupils • Diversity of pupils • Pupils with special needs

Teacher education system • To get to know another way to educate teachers • To get to know the own system better through explaining it to others

Landeskunde • To get to know one’s own country and culture when having to present it to others

Language skills • To notice what one can where the strengths and • • • weaknesses of one’s language skills are To notice how to survive even in difficult situations in a foreign language To notice the different status languages have in various countries Plurilingual competences To improve the own language skills To notice how important the language skills are for every one, even for a teacher student

Leisure time • To do things one never would do at home (because the hostesses have organized it or because it is typical for that specific country) • To grow as a human being

Effects on their teacher profession • Increasing ability of rethinking, of orientating to diverse ways of living, working and acting as a human being – Independency – Flexibility • Networking • Increasing language and cultural knowledge and skills • Skills and knowledge learnt during the exchange by experiencing effect on their career later on (Thomas)

Europakompetenz • European competence is the cultural awareness of overcrossing the local and national area where one is living and of setting the own living circumstances in relation with the circumstances of people in other cultural contexts. (Manuela Du Bois-Reymond, 2007)

Multicultural education • content integration (cultural aspects combined with the • • subject to be taught) knowledge construction (awareness of how subjects mediate cultural assumptions, frameworks, aspects) prejudice reduction (pupils with diverse ethnic backgrounds learning together) equity in pedagogy (diverse learners) an empowering school culture and social structure (equality between teachers, pupils, cleaners etc. ) (James A. Banks, 1994)

Central concepts of multicultural learning • Learning by experience • The pedagogy of encounter • Authenticity in learning • The cognitive, social and emotional entity of a • • • learner The development of self-assessment and thinking competences Processes of intercultural learning Reflective skills as part of the learning prcesses (Pauli Kaikkonen 2004 b)

Encounters of a teacher • Diverse pupils (motiives, interests, competences) • Diversity of the school • Multiculturalism • Surrounding (Jouni Välijärvi 2000 b) • Diversity, pluriculturalism and plurilingualism in him/herself – diverse identity of a teacher

How is a global(-local) teacher? • Is eager for encounters • Posesses the ability to see far and near • Posesses the ability to listen • Has more questions than answers • Aims to make the pupils aware • Respects others and him/herself • Is an active member of the society • Realizes his/her role in making the future

References • Hilligus, A. , Kreienbaum M. A. 2007. • • Europakompetenz – durch Begegnung lernen. Verlag Barbara Budrich Martikainen Marja K. 2008. Lin. E – developing European competence for future teachers. In Loima, J. (ed. ) Facing the Future – Developing Teacher Education. Palmenia, Helsinki. du Bois-Reymond, M. 2007. Europakompetenz als Herzstück eines neuen Lernverständnisses. In: Hilligus & Kreienbaum (s. oben)

References • Välijärvi, J. 2000 b Kohti avointa opettajuutta. In: J. Välijärvi (ed. ) • • • Koulu maailmassa - maailma koulussa. Haasteet yleissivistävän opetuksen ja opettajankoulutuksen tulevaisuudelle. Opettajien perus - ja täydennyskoulutuksen ennakointi (OPEPRO) 9. Helsinki: Opetushallitus Kaikkonen, P. 2004 Vierauden keskellä. Vierauden, monikulttuurisuuden ja kulttuurienvälisen kasvatuksen aineksia 2004. Jyväskylän yliopisto. Luukkainen, O. Opettajan matkakirja tulevaan, 2005. PS-kustannus, Helsinki. Thomas, A. 2006. Ergebnisse die verändern. Langzeitwirkungen der Teilnahme an internationalen Jugendbegegnungen. Vandhoek, Göttingen.