Partners share the view that reading develops aesthetic sensitivity, influences intellectual development, broadens the possibilities of knowing the world, improves speech, educates thinking and trains memory and attention. It is therefore an essential component of social development, affecting the material level. In the partner countries the level of readership varies, but the indicators characterizing this phenomenon are much lower than in the leading EU countries in this respect, i.e. Sweden and Netherlands. Through the implementation of the project, the partners intend to take action to increase readership among school students associated with partnership, and initiate such activities in local societies, regions and partner countries. The applicant organization is the District Education Development Center in Giżycko (Powiatowy Ośrodek Rozwoju Edukacji - PORE) (Poland). Partnership is created by 9 schools: From Poland, they are the Primary School in Rydzewo, Kindergarten No. 4 in Giżycko and the Electronic and IT Schools in Giżycko - (Zespół Szkół Elektronicznych i Informatycznych - ZSEiI). From Lithuania - Dzukija Primary School in Alytus, Dainava Junior High School in Alytus, Alytus Center for Vocational Training. From Latvia - School No. 93 in Riga, Lithuanian School in Riga and Technical School in Jelgava. Project goals 1.Completion of teachers' competences with knowledge, skills and attitudes allowing for more effective education of students' reading skills. 2. Developing more effective strategies to implement reading education in schools. 3. Determining the contemporary role of the school library, its target infrastructure, equipment and staff competences. 4. Promoting readership in partner regions (society, students, teachers, school authorities, local government). 5. Equipping school teams with competences necessary to conduct reading education in other schools. The project will be attended by 100 people from 10 partner organizations. Each of them will be represented by the same number of people, consisting of school leaders, library teachers, native language teachers, foreign language teachers and others who have the greatest influence on reading education at school. The main activities in the project are short training programs for employees. Three such five-day events will be organized: in Alytus in Lithuania, in Giżycko in Poland and in Riga in Latvia. All participants of the project will take part in these trainings. They will be divided into five groups, where they will develop IT competences according to the "Framework of reference for the development and understanding of digital competences in Europe DIGCO MP" in application to reading education and library work. They will learn about new strategies for reading education in particular countries, take part in demonstrations of reading education and learn about the organization and methods of work of school libraries. The headmasters of the partner schools and the applicant's employees will create a Project Team that will set the rules and details of the activities, carry out the evaluation and organize the preparation of the results. The team will meet at 7 meetings related to the project. At the end of the project, dissemination conferences will be organized in three cities. The following results will be obtained: 1. Organizing the participation of 200 people in international activities related to learning / teaching / training. Type of activity - Short training programs for employees. Total duration (days) - 1000 days. 2.Developing by 100 participants of the project an innovative approach to reading education of students in the home school. 3.Development by 9 school teams of new school strategies in the conduct of pupil reading education. 4.Development by 9 school teams of a new model of school library functioning. 5. Improvement of digital competencies of 100 project participants. 6.Developing recommendations for local and state authorities pointing to readership development needs. 7.Organization of three conferences in the partner country disseminating results. 8.Enhanced cooperation with 10 partners from three countries in the field of education and training of young people. Teachers participating in the project will develop their professional skills. The project will have a positive impact on schools. Quality and positive perception of their work in the environment will increase. The school library will change. Project participants will teach more effectively, resulting in higher student achievement. The website of the project will include the Open Educational Resources in informatics used in the project, novel reading strategies (in three countries), reading education reports descriptions of the work and 100 lessons from reading education. This entire resource will be available to all interested parties. The implementation of the project will be an element and an impulse to strengthen the quality of education in the partner areas.
Through the implementation of the project, the partners are taking steps to increase and consolidate reading among the students of the partnership schools. We want to pay special attention to children from generally non-reading families. It is mainly for them that kindergarten and school, through the creation of appropriate cultural capital, can complement the educational role of the family. Learning about the best methods and forms of reading education used in the partners' countries will allow us to develop the most effective strategies for use in the partners' schools. The knowledge obtained as a result of the project, we want to make available for others to use. Objectives of the project: 1.To supplement teachers' competencies with knowledge, skills and attitudes that will allow more effective education of students' reading competencies. 2.To develop more effective strategies for implementing reading education in schools. 3.To define the contemporary role of the school library, its target infrastructure, equipment and staff competencies. 4.Promotion of reading in the regions of partners. 5.To equip school teams with the competencies necessary to conduct reading education in other schools.
The applicants share the view that reading develops aesthetic sensitivity, influences intellectual development, expands opportunities to learn about the world, improves speech, educates thinking and exercises memory and attention. Thus, it is an important component of human social development, and also affects the material level. In Poland, the level of readership is very low. Nearly half (48%) of the Polish population is among the "general non-readers" (National Library research). A significant number of people abandon reading after completing their formal education. This means that a significant part of the population in Poland has lower chances of achieving a high social and material status, and their potential is not fully used for the country's development. In partner countries, the level of readership is slightly higher, nevertheless these indicators are much worse than in the leading EU countries in this regard, i.e. Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. The literature on reading emphasizes the importance of the family home (cultural capital) for the formation and consolidation of reading habits, but one may be concerned whether "general non-readers" create such conditions for their children.