An investment of €60,000 through the Erasmus+ programme is supporting a project led by St Francis School in Birkirkara to strengthen educators’ professional development and create educational resources that can be used beyond the participating schools.
Minister for European Funds, Social Dialogue and Consumer Protection Keith Azzopardi Tanti addressed an event on the Online Professional Development Modules project, which brings together educational institutions from Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia. The partnership gives educators opportunities to share their experiences, observe different teaching methods and develop new practices for the benefit of students.
The project focuses on the emergent curriculum, in which learning develops in response to children’s interests and needs. It supports this approach through learning experiences abroad, job shadowing, the exchange of good practices and parental involvement.
The planned resources include at least 15 videos for educators, five videos for parents, an online course and a professional learning community. The resources are intended to reach more educators and families and remain available after the project ends.
“When an educator visits a European school and returns with new ideas, the value of that experience is reflected in the changes made in the classroom and the benefits for students. We want the knowledge gained through these opportunities to be shared and to reach more schools,” the minister said.
The partnership allows educators from the three countries to share their experience and develop teaching tools together. Azzopardi Tanti encouraged more schools and educators to take part in European programmes and build international partnerships. He acknowledged the European Union Programmes Agency’s work in supporting Erasmus+ in Malta and thanked the participating schools, partners, educators and parents.
Online modules for early childhood education
Head of School Daniela Demicoli said five schools developed the modules. St Francis School in Birkirkara coordinated the project, working with St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat, Bishop’s Conservatory Junior School in Victoria, Gozo, and one school each from Slovenia and Slovakia.
“These online modules targeted Early Childhood Education. Each partner school chose 3 areas relevant to the Early years and prepared a video highlighting practical concepts per area. Each module starts off with a pre-test to check one's current knowledge on a particular topic, a video and a post-test to help one check one's improvement in that area. These modules were uploaded onto a Virtual Learning Environment and will be available to all educators and parents, in an effort to encourage parents to use the same good practices teachers use in their classes,” Demicoli said.
By sharing teaching methods and materials, the partnership aims to help more schools support educators and respond to children’s different learning needs.
Photo credit — DOI / Pierre Sammut
