Structure-creativity interplay: research programmes methodology according to Lakatos (8 hrs) (Prof. Umberto Margiotta, Italy)

Comparative perspectives on education in Europe (6 hrs) (Francesca Caena, Italy)

The course aims at sharing and discussing different perspectives on education, teaching and the preparation of teachers in Europe, endeavouring to take full advantage of the rich variety of knowledge, cultures and experiences brought by the participants. References to recent European policies and recommendations concerning education and teaching will be embedded within a comparative framework of analysis, considering national educational systems and practices from a multi-level, ecological perspective. Expected outcomes of seminars will consist in enhanced understandings of similarities and distinctive traits across a variety of European contexts and cultures of education.

Accountability Politics – the Tools of Educational Governance and their Perspectives (2 hours) (Prof. Jens Rasmussen, Denmark)

Accountability has been the dominating policy strategy for steering educational systems in many western countries. In the presentation the roots of accountability policy in the USA will be explained, and it will be shown that the strategy can be debated in at least three different discourses: as a strategy for strengthening academic standards, as a strategy for steering public institutions, and a (maybe) as a strategy for changing tax funded welfare states.

Teacher Education in Europe (2 hrs) (Prof. Jens Rasmussen, Denmark)

Taking departure in a comparative study of Nordic teacher education programs the presentation will highlight the variety of trends in teacher education policy in Europe.

On the Analysis of Ordinary Practice in Innovative Practice (4hrs) (Prof. Marguerite Altet, France)

We will describe and implement “Analysis of practices”, a way of training used by professional teacher trainers with teachers to build their teaching competences, to make links between practice-theory-practice, to help to understand the actions done in different ways of teaching, in innovated teaching, to construct the professional identity by developing a reflexive attitude. It allows, by the means of instrumented distanciation from teaching, to identify behaviours, to throw the light on the competencies involved, to understand the sense of the action that took place in concrete professional situations, all this with the use of analytic conceptual tools. It is a training carried out by a group of peers who think about their actions with the help of professional trainers specialized in the analysis of practices.

Professional teachers in Europe (4 hrs) (Assoc. Prof. Pierre Yves Bernard, France)

These two seminars are about Teacher Training and Professionalization patterns in Europe. Based on the data of the survey carried out by EMETT designers among a sample of European students, it deals with discrepancies and convergences between these patterns, and with their ability in meeting new educational needs and institutional demands.

The Role of Group Work in Teacher Training (4 hrs) (Assoc. Prof. Aušra Janulienė, Lithuania)

The course participants will be given an opportunity to discuss group sensitive teaching, group facilitation qualities and skills. They will also look at different activity types for working with groups and analyze effective ways of running a discussion.

Employment of Contemporary Technological Tools in Conducting Research and Dissertation Preparation (4 hrs) (Dr Marios Pittalis, Cyprus)

The seminars aim to assist students in acknowledging contemporary technological tools, freely available on the web, and other tools necessary for conducting high level research in education. Specifically, the seminar will address the following topics: introduction to educational statistics, academic research (data bases, university libraries, networked digital libraries of thesis, Google-scholar), APA academic writing style, advanced office features.

Crash course in Lithuanian language and culture + Field work + Comparative analysis (16 hrs) (R.Vickiene and L.Chodzkiene, Lithuania)

The course participants will be introduced to the basics of the Lithuanian language and provided with an opportunity to apply the acquired linguistic skills to practice. Language lessons will be followed by a number of input sessions on the Lithuanian society, history, arts, politics, literature, education and nature. Guided tours round Vilnius University, the Old Town, Vilnius catacombs, churches, to the Museum of Applied Arts and National Galery of Art will take place nearly every day. At the weekend an excursion to an open-air folk museum in Rumsiskes representing for major ethnographic regions of Lithuania will be organised. Those who would like to explore Lithuanian deeper will be offered a tour to the Curonian Spit, a thin stretch of land between the Baltic sea and the Curonian Lagoon.

ELT training via Culture (4 hrs) (Prof. Anna Nizegorodcew, Poland)

The course will be based on the licentiate projects (approximately the equivalent of BA) the author has supervised. The focus of the projects is on how to integrate target (and native) language culture teaching with target language teaching. In view of the fact that the target language is English, it will be considered from the perspective of teaching English as a language of international communication. The workshops will involve students’ own work how to design lessons integrating English language teaching and British, American and native culture teaching (through English). The students will be supposed to select teaching materials in class and prepare mini-projects (in multinational groups). The outcome of the course will involve presentations of the prepared projects.

ICT in Intercultural Communication (4 hrs) (Dr Marcin Kleban, Poland)

The plan of the seminars is for us to learn a bit more about our cultures through the resources available on the Internet. During the course we are going to talk about the selected resources and also have a general discussion on learning about other cultures through technology.

The Promises of Modernity – Perspectives on National and Transnational Modernity in an Age of Globalization (2 hrs) (Assoc. Prof. Hans Dorf, Denmark)

Modern society is often thought of as particular epoch covering roughly the last two centuries of European economic, political and social development. The concept of modernity can be said to include, on the one hand, a cultural programme interpreting the relationship between individual and society in a new way or a vision of new principles of civilization. On the other hand, the concept of modernity encompasses a process of economic, political and social institutionalization aimed at supporting and controlling the expansion of European economic, political and social structures on a nationals and transnational scale. Education was to acquire a crucial role in both respects preparing subjects for modern civilization within the frameworks of capitalism, democracy and civil society more or less controlled by nation states.

European Union Visions since the Lisbon Treaty – The equivocal Role of Education (4 hrs) (Assoc. Prof. Hans Dorf, Denmark)

The development of modern European society has been accompanied by national conflicts and wars. One of the basic visions of the European Union was that mutual interdependence, transactions and functional integration would make for a more peaceful Europe. The subsequent European economic integration as well as globalization processes have brought about a Europe of may nations and cultures faced with new issues of economic competition; unequal levels of qualifications and political resources; national, social and intercultural tension; environmental issues etc. all of which represent new challenges to a European citizenry or polity, which has as yet not developed a firmly grounded common identity or tolerance.

The dilemma of universal education in a society with a complex division of labour is the fact that individuals must be trained to take different roles – to become different – and at the same time to become equal members of a political and social community. Hence, education is concerned with the dual functions of competence development as well as social integration. The Lisbon declaration made this very explicit in the sense that the issues of economic competition, cultural diversity, social inequality (inclusion/exclusion) and pluralist democracy were treated as interdependent under the common heading of active citizenship.

The European Community is far from having a unified educational system or a common educational culture. It is obvious, however, that efforts of convergence are being made in the shape of common educational programs, common modes of educational governance, and an emphasis on educational mobility. And since education is considered a major instrument in the attempt to bring about active citizenship, the qualities of teacher expertise, and hence the potentials of teacher education become important issues with regard to the development of modern Europe.

Regional Identity and European Citizenship (6hrs) (Dr Markus Juranek, Austria)

The seminasr on regional identity and European citizenship will compare the different conceptions and definitions of regional identity in different countries and identify similarities and differences in the conception of regional identity. Furthermore, the factors and their impact which influence regional identities will be analysed: among them cultural, social, religious factors will be compared as well as country specific regulations and laws will be discussed within the country specific historic development. Based on the results of the first part of the seminar the participants will increase their awareness what European citizenship means, what kind of transnational mechanisms and supra national measures exist and are to be implemented in the Member States and what new opportunities and European countries and their citizens will be able to benefit from in the 21st century if Europe succeeds in further integration.

Multiculturalism and Diversity: the Social Psychological Point of View (8 hrs) (Dr Monika Kovács, Hungary)

The goal of the course to understand the main models of intergroup relations, the causes of intergroup conflicts, and the options to create more equal and more multicultral societies. Students will learn more about prejudices and hierarchy through different activities and discussions.