FEBRUARY 2010

Starting from February the Our People Integration and Migration Foundation (MISA) has a newly redesigned website, which can still be found online at www.meis.eeMobile: +372 52 12 602 / E-mail: [email protected].

There are plans to publish more basic information in Russian and English in addition to Estonian on the new site. Some sections are still waiting for translated texts, although they should be completed in the new future. The majority of news stories will continue to be translated into Russian, as well as into English where necessary and the monthly MISA newsletter will also be translated into both languages.

The MISA website provides information about the range of integration and migration-related activities organised or run by the foundation in the fields of Estonian language teaching and learning, education, civic education, migration support, culture and youth work. Literature published by or with the support of MISA continues to be made available on the site and can be found in the section titled 'Library'.

Due to the redesign of the MISA website, links to pages on the old site will need to be changed. Should redirecting not work or should you not find the information you are looking for from the new site, please contact the Director of Communications, whom you should also inform of any other problems you have noticed with the website.

For further information please contact: Monika Kopti, Director of Communications / Telephone: +372 659 9031 /

Starting from 12 January 2010 and lasting until October, teachers from vocational education institutions will have the chance to practise and develop their professional and language skills by taking part in the 'Another School, Another Language' project.

 

The project will see teachers from vocational schools with Russian as the language of instruction working in vocational schools with Estonian as the language of instruction and vice versa.

 

The work placements will last up to 24 days and include a comprehensive cultural programme. 60 teachers of professional and general subjects who registered for the project in 2009 will be taking part. The placements will be preceded by an 80-hour training course. Special information days will also be held for representatives of the schools sending and hosting the teachers.

 

The first group of partners in the project are from Tallinn, Pärnu, Tartu and Viljandi. A computer science teacher from the Informatics and Computer Technology School will be placed in the Pärnu County Vocational Education Centre; a vocational teacher from the Tallinn Industrial Education Centre in the Tartu Vocational Education Centre; and a vocational teacher from the Tallinn Lasnamäe School of Mechanics in the Viljandi Joint Vocational Secondary School.

 

The 'Another School, Another Language' project is being organised by the Lifelong Learning Unit of the 'Our People' Integration and Migration Foundation as part of the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme of the European Social Fund.

 

For more information about the work placement please contact the organising board:

Tiiu Orgvee

E-mail: [email protected]Mobile: +372 5566 7315 / Telephone: +372 442 2529 /

Linda Kõresaar

E-mail: [email protected]Mobile: +372 5194 6492 / Telephone: +372 677 5835 /

 

For further information please contact: Marje Reimund, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9063 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

As part of the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme of the European Social Fund, the Narva College of the University of Tartu will be launching two pilot courses during the 2009-2010 academic year designed for both teacher training students and working teachers.

 

February will see the launch of the “Intercultural differences: students with Russian cultural background” course in Tartu, organised by the Narva College of the University of Tartu as a partner to the Integration and Migration Foundation.

 

The course will provide an overview of Russian culture in the context of intercultural relations: recognition of Russian culture; the formation of ethnic and cultural identity; the Russian national character; Russian cultural values; Russians in intercultural contact; and more. Particular attention will be turned to Estonian Russians, the formation of their identity and conditions for cultural assimilation. The course will also provide an overview of the basis of Russian ethnopedagogy. The range of topics will help to present a comprehensive view of the idiosyncrasies of Estonian Russians.

The course is the equivalent of 3 CP, i.e. 80 hours, of which 46 are seminar-based, with 28 hours of independent work and 6 of observed lessons. The course is open to future teachers currently undergoing teacher training and/or working teachers taking part in in-service training who are looking to work or working in general or vocational schools with Russian as the language of instruction. The preferred target group for the course is those whose native language is not Russian and/or those who did not study in schools with Russian as the language of instruction.

 

The course is free of charge and designed for up to 20 students.

 

The “Intercultural differences: students with Russian cultural background” course is the second pilot course designed for both working and future teachers to be launched during the 2009-2010 academic year by the Narva College of the University of Tartu as part of the “Language Studies Development 2007-2010” programme financed by the European Social Fund.

 

The first pilot course – “Development of skills in the language of teaching in subject lessons” – was held from October to December 2009 in Narva. It provided an overview from contemporary points of view of the nature and legal aspects of mastering a second language, as well as of the methodological principles of integrated subject and language teaching.

For further information please contact: Liilika Raudhein, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9030 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

The Winter Garden of the Estonia Theatre will host the launch of the latest book in the "Nationalities in Estonia" series on 4 February. The sixth in the series showcases the Armenians living in the country.

 

The book introduces its readers to Armenia itself, the Armenian language, its national costume, its beliefs and customs, and its achievements in the fields of culture, science and sport. It also features recipes from Armenian national cuisine. The authors of the book are Armenui Kazarjan and Ita Serman.

 

"Wisdom, decorousness and equanimity in every situation – these ancient characteristics are true of every Armenian," the authors explain in their preface. "So is an ingrained respect for knowledge and books. All of this must seem very familiar to Estonians – and should encourage us to find out much more about each other!"

 

The book is published and printed by AS Kirjastus ILO. As has become traditional, it will be distributed to schools and libraries free of charge.

 

The series of books, the first of which was published in 2005, is financed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The books released as part of the series Sarja are written according to the specially produced guidelines of Ita Serman so as to ensure that all of the books in the series are similar in style and length.

 

For further information please contact: Kaie Kullik, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9025 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

From 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on 11 February, the Olümpia Hotel will host aseminar and information day for project managers working on the "Events and materials related to civic awareness and tolerance" competition and for the organisers of the Citizens Day quiz.The event is being financed by the Ministry of Education and Research.

 

The subjects and presents at the information day will be as follows:

1)                          Tanel Mätlik, director of the Integration and Migration Foundation, with his presentation titled 'The Integration and Migration Foundation today and tomorrow'

2)                          The presentation 'How can ideas be turned into projects?'

3)                          The presentation 'How have projects submitted to the "Events and materials related to civic awareness and tolerance" competition contributed to the understanding of civic awareness of tolerance among students?'

4)                          The panel 'What have the 7 Citizens Day quizzes to date taught us and what could/should the 2010 quiz be like?'

5)                          The round-table 'What can be achieved by involving projects in civic education?'

 

The seminar should provide an overview of and the results of studies into these areas by the Integration Foundation over the last 5+ years and determine what the 2010 Citizens Day quiz should be like.

 

For further information please contact: Toivo Sikk, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / Telephone: +372 50 62 712 / E-mail: [email protected]

A free one-day course being held in Tallinn on 26 February will cover such topics as theories of nationality and ethnic conflict and the conceptual basis of the social integration policy of Estonia, plus a comparison with the policies of other countries.

 

The course will also provide an overview of the key results and trends in nationality and integration studies in Estonia. The second half of the day will focus briefly on the nature of modelling games, with the BaFá-BaFá game being exhibited (looking at cultural clashes and cultural shock).

 

Registration for the course in via e-mail to [email protected].

 

For further information please contact: Maarja Mänd, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9853 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

A competition for the organisation of family teaching for children who are citizens of third countries within European and children with unspecified citizenship will be launched in the coming weeks, financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the Ministry of Culture. The competition will support homestays in Estonian families in counties other than that in which the children reside.

 

Another competition, also financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals and the Ministry of Culture, will be launched for the organisation of Estonian language camps for children and teenagers living in Estonian whose native language or home language is a language other than Estonian. 50% of the children who attend these camps, which generally last around one week, speak Estonian, and the other 50% speak Russian.

 

Press releases will be issued when both competitions are launched, and information will also be provided on the MISA website. Both competitions will be open for 30 days.

 

As part of extracurricular learning, another competition is planned to be launched, financed by the Ministry of Culture, for the conducting of an additional Estonian language programme at youth camps. This competition will be launched in spring 2010.

 

For further information please contact: Lianne Ristikivi, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9028 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

The Integration and Migration Foundation will be launching a simplified public procurement titled “Language camp for young Estonians living outside of Estonia” at the end of February.

 

The procurement is designed to find partners for the organisation and running of camps designed to support the development of the communication skills in Estonian of young people with Estonian roots who are living outside of the country as well as the promotion of Estonian culture and of the country itself.

 

The foundation has been arranging such camps for almost 10 years. Whereas in the early years the target group for the camps was children and teenagers with Estonian roots living in Latvia, Lithuania and the CIS countries, since 2008 the camps have also involved children from other countries.

 

Visiting Estonia in summer 2009 were children from Sweden, Latvia, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Abkhazia, Russia, Karjala and Ukraine. Children from the Estonian village of Ülem-Suetuk in Siberia also attended the camp.

 

For further information please contact: Kristina Pirgop, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9024 / E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

 

At the end of February the Integration and Migration Foundation will be launching the "Understanding cultural differences and tolerance in youth work" project competition, as part of which it will be possible to submit applications for the organisation of youth training supporting intercultural understanding and tolerance, the conducting of partnership activities and the issuing of youth work-related informational materials.

 

The aim of the youth work competition is to support the activities of youth work associations which deal with understanding cultural differences and involve young people with different national backgrounds in cooperative activity.

 

The target group of the competition is young people with citizenship of the European Union, primarily Estonian citizens, citizens of third countries within Europe and young people with unspecified citizenship.

 

Applications can be submitted by youth associations and organisations, youth centres and youth advisory centres.

 

The project competition is being financed by the European Fund for the Integration of the Third-Country Citizens and the Ministry of Culture.

 

For further information please contact: Kaie Kullik, Coordinator, Culture and Youth Work Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9025 / E-mail: [email protected]