Fourth seminar, Kaunas
The 4th seminar of the project was held in Kaunas from 18th to 22nd March 2019, organized by Kaunas Teacher Training Centre.
The first day of the seminar started with a meeting at Kaunas Teacher Training Center whose Director Rasa Bortkevičienė opened the seminar and congratulated the project partners, welcoming their stay in Kaunas, international cooperation and the benefit to teacher training.
The project partners from Spain, France, Poland and Lithuania shared their experience on the assessment of the teacher training events and needs analysis. All project partners carry out the assessment of the training events by interviewing the participants and the trainers and by means of tools for training assessment. By applying training evaluation tools, the benefits of training for teacher´s professional development, practical use, training quality, lecturer's comity, etc. are assessed. A study of training needs is being conducted by interviewing teachers and the school management by visiting schools, identifying areas for improvement in the school, and taking into account national and regional education priorities. This shared international experience has been of great benefit to project partners, all of whom have shared excellent examples on how to improve their performance.
After the presentations, Aušra Rutkienė, associate professor of the Institute of Educational Sciences of Vytautas Magnus University, delivered a report on cooperation between VMU and the Center in researching the needs of qualification development as well as application of acquired knowledge in the education process. The Center, together with VMU, not only does it carry out a survey of teachers' qualification development needs, but also, the applicability of the new skills acquired during the training in the lessons. During the visit at VMU, we learned about the university, and the transformation of national universities, teacher training study programs and study subjects.


We visited Kaunas School of Jonas and Petras Vileišiai (preschool education). The priority of the school curriculum is the development and integration of Information and Communication technologies into the teaching and learning of subjects in the basic school curriculum. The school participates in international projects related to the use of ICT for teaching. In collaboration with social partners and educational publishers, the school is testing new training development solutions that include smart technologies and software. The integration of ICT not only strengthens pupils' engagement and motivation to learn, but also develops competencies in critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. The community of Kaunas Juozas Grušas Art Gymnasium presented their unique method which involves integration of Art subjects into general curriculum. Schools teachers developed an individual curriculum for Art (Art and Technology) and a specific model for its implementation (integration of formal and non-formal education).


We visited “J. Jablonskis Gymnasium” where we were introduced to the gymnasium experience, the international bachelor program and bilingual education.
Since 2017 Kaunas Jonas Jablonskis High School has been offered the students of Kaunas to join the Entrepreneurial Class (EC). However, in addition to that the students regularly attend lectures, meet with famous people and participate in various workshops in order to develop their entrepreneurial skills. They are required to participate in simulation games, give presentations, take part in various projects and show personal initiatives to provide solutions to problems raised in formal education settings. The EC students and teachers closely cooperate with businesses, various institutions as well as colleges and university. More information about school: https://jablonskis.kaunas.lm.lt

Since 2017 Kaunas Jonas Jablonskis High School has been offered the students of Kaunas to join the Entrepreneurial Class (EC). However, in addition to that the students regularly attend lectures, meet with famous people and participate in various workshops in order to develop their entrepreneurial skills. They are required to participate in simulation games, give presentations, take part in various projects and show personal initiatives to provide solutions to problems raised in formal education settings. The EC students and teachers closely cooperate with businesses, various institutions as well as colleges and university. More information about school: https://jablonskis.kaunas.lm.lt

We visited the kindergarten “Aviliukas” in Kaunas. This center has developed prioritizing outdoor education children's education. The physical environment is adapted to the age of the children and meets their basic needs that involve playing and moving. In 2018 the kindergarten was awarded the title of the winner of the school education spaces competition.

