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Description
This EEA Grants project is focused on Staff mobility, specifically job shadowing, for five of our employees at Lillestrom videregaende skole. Grammar school and Vocational school of dr. Vaclav Smejkal provides job shadowing for the same time duration and the equal number of employees from our partner school. The project participants are not only teachers, but also headmasters and deputy head teachers.
Our aim is to learn new teaching methods in subjects of English language, history, social sciences, chemistry and biology, observe the educational process and facilities, gain an insight into methods of inclusive education and exchange information and professional knowledge about managing and leading a school. Apart from enhancing professional skills, personal development of our teachers was an important goal of the project as well.
The outcomes of the project are improved knowledge and skills related to the teaching profession - learning about new and innovative teaching methods, materials, resources and technologies used in classes, seeing different types of classroom procedures and routines, students'' assessment and teacher-student communication, observing and learning from a completely different education system, which is distinctive in values, visions and approaches. All this knowledge is beneficial for all educators and will have long-term impact not only on the project participants, but also on their students and the school in general.
Summary of project results
We carried out two staff mobilities - job shadowing. The core activities planned for both mobilities were identical - teachers of English, chemistry, biology, social sciences and history showed their classes and visiting teachers were observing them. Each of the project members visited at least two or three study units a day. An essential part of job shadowing were consultations - we talked about teaching methods and working with students, assessment methods, we looked at textbooks, materials, classroom equipment, and compared all the other aspects of education systems in Norway and the Czech Republic. During the lessons, the project members participated in class activities and observed students working individually and in groups. They talked to them about how they work in classes, their plans for the future, etc. Schools’ headmasters and their deputies discussed various topics related to managing a school.
Summary of bilateral results
Norway as a country with large number of immigrants needs to focus on these issues every day. Our partner school offers a temporary alternative training. The target group is students who are at risk of not being able to complete a regular course in secondary school and need individual adjustments for a period of time. They have a special two-year personalized program for these students (who are called “New Norwegians”). Our goal was to get some knowledge how exactly this works, try to understand how challenging in terms of staff, finances and training it would be to have a program like this, especially in these times when many Ukrainian students started studying at our schools.