Project “Promotion of critical thinking at primary school – the basis of a qualitative teaching/learning process” (December 15, 2009 till June 15, 2010)

Project Funded by Open Society Institute (OSI) (Fondation OSI, a Swiss charitable foundation)

The aim of the project is to facilitate the implementation of a qualitative teaching/learning process and ensuring the educational environment that promotes thinking in schools of Latvia through promoting the development of critical thinking skills in junior primary school and the mutual cooperation of teachers.
The target group is junior primary school teachers, librarians and representatives of school administration as well as pupils and their parents.

The objectives of the project:

• to evaluate and integrate the results and recommendations of the research carried out in 2008 “The implementation of critical thinking approach (CT) in the educational system – impact and effectiveness in Latvia” in the context of the proposed project and its study;
• to work out a needs-based professional development program for primary school teachers for developing critical thinking skills and increasing the pedagogues capacity in the junior primary education stage and to approbate it in 5 schools of Latvia;
• to promote the cooperation of the teachers working in the junior primary education stage in organizing the teaching/learning process and ensuring consultations to the project school teams during the project;
• to develop recommendations for the education policy makers of Latvia based on the results of the acquiring the program and the results obtained in the study of the proposed project;
• to ensure regular information to the society on the run of the project and its results.

Key activities of the project:

• Two round table discussions: at the beginning of the project with the participation of the project team and the representatives of the education policy makers to evaluate the results and recommendations of the research carried out in 2008 “The implementation of critical thinking approach (CT) in the educational system – impact and effectiveness in Latvia” in the context of the proposed project and its study as well as to work out the structure of the program and the study and at the end of the project with the participation of the project team, the representatives of the project target group and the representatives of the education policy makers of Latvia in order to evaluate the results of the project, its impact and sustainability for implementing a qualitative teaching/learning process and ensuring the educational environment that promotes thinking in schools of Latvia.
• Exploration of the target group in order to select 5 school teams (the school team includes the representative of the school administration, three junior primary school teachers and the school librarian) and ensure the representation of rural and urban schools.
• Working out the professional development program, its coordination/ certification in the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia and its inclusion in the Catalogue of professional development programs after finishing the project as an offer for all those interested.
• Working out the professional development program, its acquisition and approbation. The school teams will acquire the program developed by experts in 5 educational/training seminars during which the pedagogues will acquire the approach of developing CT, they will supplement their skills in planning, in assessing the teaching/learning process, in improving the cooperation skills.
• During the approbation of the professional development program school teams will be provided consultations in order to give the methodological support.
• One of the significant activities in the project is a study, which will ensure the feedback and will give a possibility to react on the pedagogues needs in the field of developing thinking and the study process, to evaluate and improve the quality of professional development program and its impact on the target group.
• For the purpose of informing the society and the target audience and to ensure the publicity of the project a special section will be created in the webpage of the EDC, which will regularly reflect the run of the project, the pedagogues’ reflections on the project activities and the project results.
• Recommendations for education policy makers on implementing a qualitative teaching/learning process and ensuring the educational environment that promotes thinking in schools of Latvia will be handed in the Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Latvia.

Description of the project:

• The aim of the project will be reached by implementing the following objectives: the evaluation of the results and recommendations of the research carried out in 2008 em “The implementation of critical thinking approach (CT) in the educational system – impact and effectiveness in Latvia” in the context of the proposed project and its study; working out a needs-based professional development program for primary school teachers for developing critical thinking skills and increasing the pedagogues capacity; approbation of the developed program and providing methodological support to pedagogues; summary and analysis of the results obtained in the study of the proposed project; developing recommendations for the education policy makers of Latvia; ensuring regular information to the society on the run of the project and its results.
• The teams from 5 schools that will represent both rural and urban schools of Latvia will be involved in the project. The work in the project is planned in school teams, which include the representative of the school administration, three junior primary school teachers and the school librarian, as well as the students of those teachers who will acquire the professional development program developed in the project in order to ensure the educational environment that promotes thinking in the participating schools and to ensure a wider representation of the target group.
• The result of the project will a professional development program for junior primary school teachers, which will be developed, approbated and offered to teachers through the Catalogue of professional development programs of the Ministry of Education and Science and which will include the needs-based content and corresponding methods for teaching it. The prepared recommendations for the education policy makers will be a supporting material for the program based on the study carried out in the proposed project and the experience, which will reveal what results can be achieved if the teachers’ professional development and the teaching/learning process at school that follows it are organized in such a way. The results of the study of the proposed project will reflect the teaching/learning process at school; it will allow noticing its positive and negative trends, will emphasize the necessary improvements as well as will provide justification for the necessity of pedagogues’ professional development through acquisition of the developed program.
• During the project the junior primary school teachers’ skills to develop critical thinking will be facilitated; their professional capacity will be increased, the cooperation among different education levels will be promoted and educational environment that promotes thinking at school will be ensured. The proposed project is a bottom-up strategy because during the project a professional development program for teachers for developing thinking skills will be worked out. This program will be approbated, evaluated and in case of need improved and further integrated in the range of professional development courses offered by Ministry of education and science thus influencing the education policy of Latvia.