Weekly Roundup
Cedefop’s future of VET work presented in Finland
Cedefop Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions introduced the agency’s work on the changing nature and role of vocational education and training at the Taitaja2019 international seminar, in Joensuu, Finland. More than a 100 participants from over 20 nationalities attended the seminar. Cedefop’s Head of Department gave a speech and participated in a discussion panel about the future developments in VET, looked into facts and data but also solutions that Finland has started putting in place.
Read more here.
Strategic moves: the educational potential of chess
A game of chess is seen as an activity for talented pupils who could benefit from an extra challenge. Recently it is used as an educational activity. Following rules, thinking ahead, considering what the other person can do. This triggers cognitive attainment and helps with social skills. A game of chess trains concentration, decision-making and self-responsibility. Letting children explain their moves also improves their verbalization. In 2012 the European Parliament declared its support for the introduction of chess in education systems. Millions of European pupils are now participating in curricular or afterschool chess programs.
Read the article here.
Irish Funding Available: Energy for Generations Fund
ESB has created an ‘Energy for Generations Fund’ to help tackle some of the social issues that Ireland is facing today. Education Access and Support is one of the funds three main pillars of focus, alongside the issues of suicide and homelessness. The Energy for Generation Fund introduced a new focus on education in 2014, which addresses the need for educational support at all levels to ensure that Ireland has the skills it needs to compete in the future. Energy for Generations Funds aim is to maximize the impact of investments by taking a more strategic method to generate change.
Find out more here.
Serious games as a tool for learning prosocial behaviours in bullying situations
There are a lot of positive effects of playing prosocial video games. Using serious games for learning development has increased considerably due to increasing popularity for playing digital games. There is a huge variety of serious games that can be used for more than just amusement. The project eConfidence (H2020) has made the goal to develop and evaluate a serious game aimed at changing the behavior of children in bullying situations. The game titles ‘School of Empathy’ edhances the helping behaviors of bystanders who witnessed bullying situations and was applied with 12 to 14-year-old students.
Find the full article here.
World Ethics Week in Toprakkale
On 25 of May is world ethics day celebrated in the world. On that day, Toprakkale Public Education Center invited the trainees and citizens of Toprakkale district to the meeting hall of center and informed them about ethics. The word ethics is derived from the word ethos, which means ‘character’ in Greek. It is a philosophical discipline that investigates the values, norms, rules, right-wrong or good evil that constitutes the basis of the individual and social relations that people establish.
Read more here.
Estonians participation in adult learning at all-time high
The participation rate in adult life-long learning has risen to an all-time record level. According to the latest data, 19.7 percent of Estonian citizens aged 25-64 participated in adult learning last year, which is 2.5 percent more than in 2017. This places Estonia fourth among European Union member states. The most successful European Union countries were Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Estonian Minister of Education and Research was positively surprised by the results. “Together with the European Union we have made great investments in adult education”.
Find more information here.
Check out the Eurostat data here.
eTwinning in the United Kingdom the Shetland Islands, Scotland’s Northernmost point
Shetland is one of the most remote areas of the United Kingdom. Shetland is made up of 100 islands with only 16 inhabited. A network of 22 primary school currently covers the islands. Some primary school are very small employing only one of two teachers. An eTwinner Isabelle Boulay, a Scottisch teacher of secondary education describes what it means to be a teacher in a remote area and talks about how eTwinning has improved her school and her classroom.
Read full article here.
Second EERA Hosted Academic Writing Workshop – Eger, Hungary
One of the challenges for educational researchers from non-English speaking countries is the requirement to publish their research in English. EERA members suggested that the Association develops an Academic Writing Workshop. EERA experts will provide the workshops in a number of European Universities. Participants will explore a wide range of themes designed to help them expand writing, editing and re-writing kills in English and gain knowledge about journal publication processes.
Find more about the workshops here.
Prepared by Rachel van Wetten
