Additional language training for vocational education students to resume in September
In-service training for vocational school teachers to commence in autumn
Students from Narva and Valga strengthen ties with Estonia at integration camp
September is Exercise Month for children in Narva and Põltsamaa
Additional language training for vocational education students to resume in September
The Integration and Migration Foundation is set to continue with activities designed to develop vocational studies as part of the ‘Language Studies Development 2011-2013’ programme financed from the European Social Fund. The foundation will be organising Estonian language studies in eight vocational education institutions during the autumn months of the 2014/2015 academic year. Intensive support studies for students will also be funded so as to allow them to cope more effectively in Estonian cultural space.
With the additional language studies for vocational students the Integration and Migration Foundation is offering vocational education institutions the chance to obtain support for the organisation of additional studies of the national language for students whose mother tongue is a language other than Estonian. The studies will be arranged for students in Russian-language groups as well as for students whose native language is a language other than Estonian but who are studying in Estonian-language vocational education groups or in a Russian-language group with partial studies in Estonian. It will also be arranged for studies funded from the state budget within the study programme.
This spring the Integration and Migration Foundation held a fourth round of proposals for the organisation of additional Estonian language studies, on the basis of which it is organising the language studies as well as work placements in Estonian-language working environments. 14 proposals submitted by 10 vocational education institutions were approved during the spring round of proposals, to a total value of 94,880 euros. The foundation provided such language training in five educational institutions in spring: Sillamäe Vocational School, Narva Vocational Education Centre, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, Tartu Vocational Education Centre and Kopli Vocational School in Tallinn. 95 students took part in the studies.
This autumn, as part of the 2104/2015 academic year, the foundation will be organising Estonian language studies for 205 students from eight institutions of vocational education: Sillamäe Vocational School, Narva Vocational Education Centre, Ida-Viru County Vocational Education Centre, Tallinn Industrial Education Centre, Tallinn School of Service, Lasnamäe Mechanics School in Tallinn, Valga County Vocational Education Centre and Tartu Vocational Education Centre.
“This is a really useful way of learning Estonian, since we approach groups and professional fields individually, based on the needs of the school and the group,” said Jana Tondi, the director of the foundation’s Lifelong Learning Unit.
Intensive support studies and field trips to production, observation and exhibition centres will also be funded as part of the programme. The project is designed to offer students whose native language is Russian opportunities to boost their ability to cope in Estonian-language and cultural space, to take cultural differences into account when communicating with others and to understand Estonian culture through the prism of another.
The Estonian language studies are being financed by the Ministry of Education and Research via the ‘Language Studies Development 2011-2013’ programme financed from the European Social Fund. The programme is being implemented by the Integration and Migration Foundation.
For further information please contact Jana Tondi, Lifelong Learning Unit / telephone: 659 9069 / e-mail: jana.tondi@meis.ee.
In-service training for vocational school teachers to commence in autumn
This autumn the Integration and Migration Foundation will be organising Estonian language courses for 57 vocational school teachers whose native tongue is a language other than Estonian in order to improve their professional language skills in the national language and to make them better able to cope in their working environment. The courses are being run as part of the ‘In-service training for teachers from vocational education institutions’ activity of the ‘Language Studies Development 2011-2013’ programme financed from the European Social Fund.
The courses will be offered to teachers who speak languages other than Estonian from five institutions of vocational education: Ida-Viru County Vocational Education Centre, the School of Informatics and Computer Science, Tallinn Industrial Education Centre, Lasnamäe Mechanics School in Tallinn and Narva Vocational Studies Centre.
“The content of the courses has been put together based on the needs and wishes set out by the institutions themselves in the proposals they made,” explained the director of the Lifelong Learning Unit. “They’ll last for up to 100 academic hours, including work experience in an Estonian-language environment, the drawing up of teaching materials and the conducting of lessons. The keywords of the studies carried out at the institutions themselves are objective-based and diversified language studies, realistic achievement of the desired results and motivated teachers.”
Training on the implementation of methodology for integrated subject and language studies, which began in summer, will continue in September, lasting up to 80 academic hours. The courses will be run for two study groups in Tallinn and one in Narva, involving 40 teachers in total. The training is being organised by the Omanäolise Kooli Arenduskeskus foundation.
A total of 41,476 euros in financing will be provided for the in-service training of teachers from vocational education institutions this autumn as part of the ‘Language Studies Development 2011-2013’ programme of the European Social Fund. Language studies will account for 19,300 euros of this amount.
In addition to this training, the Integration and Migration Foundation will also be continuing with its programme of work placements in schools with Estonian-language study groups for teachers with native languages other than Estonian. Three teachers undertook such placements in spring, with a further eight having signed up to do so this autumn.
Estonian language studies are financed by the Ministry of Education and Research via the ‘In-service training for teachers from vocational education institutions’ activity of the ‘Language Training Development 2011-2013’ programme, a measure of the ‘Lifelong Learning’ priority of the ‘Human Resources Development Plan’ financed by the European Social Fund. The ‘Language Training Development 2011-2013’ programme of the ESF is being implemented in Estonia by the Integration and Migration Foundation.
For further information please contact Liilika Raudhein, Lifelong Learning Unit / telephone: +372 659 9841 / e-mail: liilika.raudhein@meis.ee.
Students from Narva and Valga strengthen ties with Estonia at integration camp
The Integration and Migration Foundation, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences and the Valga Patriotic Education Foundation have organised an integration camp designed to boost the awareness of 30 students from Estonian- and Russian-language secondary schools in Narva and Valga of what it means to be an active Estonian citizen.
The aim of the three-day camp was to give Russian-speaking students an opportunity to practise their Estonian, become familiar with the history of the country’s national defence and thereby reinforce their national identity. In addition to a variety of workshops, sports games and visits to museums and memorials, a youth parliament also formed part of the camp experience. The students raised a number of topical issues in the parliament, such as unemployment, emigration and the insufficient number of native Estonian-speaking teachers of Estonian in Narva.
“The camp’s organisers were happy to see that the students had no problems communicating with one another over the three days,” said Toivo Sikk, a coordinator with the Multicultural Education Unit of the Integration and Migration Foundation. “Kids from different linguistic backgrounds adapt quickly and find a common language – which that shows that they’re willing and able to cope perfectly well in an Estonian-language environment.”
More details of the camp can be found online (in Estonian) here.
Organisation of the ‘Fostering the civic awareness and patriotic education of secondary school students from Narva and Valga through joint activities in an Estonian-language environment’ project was supported by the Ministry of Education and Research. Its implementation was coordinated by the Integration and Migration Foundation.
For further information please contact Toivo Sikk, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / telephone: 659 9850 / e-mail: toivo.sikk@meis.ee.
September is Exercise Month for children in Narva and Põltsamaa
Under the coordination of the Integration and Migration Foundation, School no. 6 in Narva is organising Exercise Month this September – raising youngsters’ awareness of active ways of life, overcoming language barriers through joint activities and producing a Russian-Estonian dictionary for integrated subject and language studies in physical education.
Taking part in the month of activities will be students from Grades 1-9 at School no. 6 in Narva, the district kindergarten based at the school and the Estonian-language Põltsamaa Co-Educational Secondary School. The students will participate in a variety of orienteering games in areas of outstanding natural beauty in Ida-Viru County, go ice-skating together and take part in photo-cross events in Narva and Põltsamaa, during which they will take snapshots of sports events, people exercising and events promoting healthy lifestyles in their home towns. Summaries of the photo-cross events will be presented at the ‘I choose sport and healthy living’ information day that will close the month.
One of the practical outcomes of Exercise Month will be a Russian-Estonian dictionary for integrated subject and language studies in physical education, which the participating students will contribute to after every activity forming part of the project. “The dictionary will then be able to be used in classes, at Russian- and Estonian-language schools alike,” said Maret Annuk, the project manager with School no. 6 in Narva. “Teaching P.E. in Estonian forms part of the study programme at our school, so hopefully the dictionary will be of great help to our teachers.”
Annuk explained that the project is designed to boost awareness among the target group not only of sports and healthy lifestyles, but also of Estonian society as a whole. “Students from different language backgrounds will be working together as part of the project, so those who speak languages other than Estonian will benefit from the practice,” she said. “They’ll improve their practical skills in the language through some fun and interesting activities.”
The ‘Exercise unites’ project is being supported by the Ministry of Culture. Its implementation is being coordinated by the Integration and Migration Foundation.
For further information please contact Marina Fanfora, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / telephone: 659 9068 / e-mail: marina.fanfora@meis.ee.
