Project "Polish school abroad. A competent teacher and creative student are the keys to success" was created as a continuation and extension of activities undertaken in the project "Polish school abroad. Supporting in-service training for teachers of Polish overseas communities", Erasmus+, KA201 action. The reason for the implementation of this project was the need to continue the planned, systemic improvement of the teaching and management staff of the Polish schools overseas that are part of the partner group. An analysis of the needs of Polish community teachers in the project partner countries still shows a huge demand for training related to the improvement of the workshop especially based on modern methods and forms of work. These needs are high due to the large number of Polish emigrants in Western Europe. The analysis of the needs of target groups of the project showed the following problems: insufficient methodological support, lack of access to new teaching methods, materials, technologies and up-to-date subject knowledge. The project ‘Polish school abroad’ answers the actual needs of Polish educational institutions abroad. Main aims of the project: - to organize in-service training for Polish teachers abroad in terms of pre-school education and subjects taught in Polish; to improve teaching, psychological, intercultural skills and subject knowledge - to improve skills of managers of the partner institutions in terms of the educational institution managment - to create methodological guide for Polish overseas teachers, comprised of didactic materials - to create methodical e-learning courses - to promote the use of ICT in teaching, e.g. through e-learning - to maintain the national identity of Poles living abroad The participants of the project are teachers and managers of the partner institutions (around 62 participants in total). The project partners are: Municipal Centre of Methodology and Counselling in Białystok (Poland), Associació Cultural Escuela Polaca (Spain), "ProPolonia" Poolse Vereniging voor Cultuur en Onderwijs (Belgium), Vilniaus r. Maisiagalos vaiku lopselis-darzelis (Lithuania), Integrative Saturday School Limited by Guarantee (the UK), Polish School Altogether (Ireland), Stichting Nederlands-Pools Centrum voor Cultuur en Educatie (the Netherlands) - organizations and associations running Polish schools overseas. The participants will take part in courses, workshops, exchange of experience and good practices, the results of intellectual work elaboration and creating didactic materials. On the part of the coordinator, the participants are employees responsible for preparing and carrying out of the in-service training. E-learning courses and didactic materials will be available for all interested teachers of Polish schools abroad. The in-service teacher training programme can be used by institutions and associations active in the field of Polish overseas education. Indirectly, the project will impact around 200 recipients. In order to achieve the aims of the project the partners planned the following activities: - transnational project meetings, for the management of the project and coordinating the work on the results - transnational training activities consisting of courses, workshops, exchange of experience and elements of job shadowing - joint activities of partners to produce intellectual work products of the project including: * creating e-learning courses, available on Moodle platform administered by the coordinator of the project * creating the methodological guide for teachers of Polish schools abroad - creating the project website, where the products of the project will be made available as Open Educational Resources Achieved results, especially the methodological guide and e-learning courses, will be presented during the seminars and a conference organised at the end of the project. The events will be attended by teachers and employees of associations, organisations and institutions connected with Polish education abroad. The results will be also disseminated through the project website. The project will have significant impact on raising qualifications and developing knowledge and professional skills of the participants. This will increase the quality of work of the partner institutions and positively influence the Polish community abroad. Moreover, the resources created during the project will be of use to many teachers and institutions not included in the project. The methodological guide, together with the system of e-learning courses, will assist teachers who have no access to materials designed especially for this type of didactic work. In the long term, after the project is finished, the partners plan to continue the work on the resources,and to expand the cooperation to other institutions.
Based on the conclusions from the needs analysis, the following project goals were assumed: I. The basic assumption and main goal of the project was to develop and implement comprehensive, innovative and widely available tools and methods to support the professional development of teachers and management staff of Polish schools conducting educational activities in Polish abroad. Main goals: - improving the knowledge and competences of Polish school teachers abroad in the field of teaching methodology in Polish language - improving the competences of the management staff of Polish abroad educational institutions in the field of school management skills - development and implementation in partner institutions of a methodological guide for a Polish school teacher - developing and conducting methodical e-learning courses - improving the teaching, psychological, pedagogical and intercultural competences of teachers and management staff of Polish schools abroad - improving the competences of teaching staff in conducting training and providing methodological advice to new groups of recipients (coordinating organization) - adapting teaching offers to the needs of local communities of Poles abroad
The project goals were formulated based on the analysis of the needs of the organizations included in the project group. Based on this analysis, the following assumptions were prepared for the implemented project: a) organization needs: - development and implementation of "know-how" tools to support the methodological improvement of teachers and management staff of Polish educational institutions abroad b) teachers' needs: - continuous improvement of methodological competences based on blended learning training - updating and expanding subject knowledge - improving psychopedagogical competences - the need to exchange experiences of teachers conducting Polish education abroad in EU countries - the use of ICT tools in teaching as well as in professional self-development c) management staff needs: - improving the ability to organize the teaching process in the institution - developing the ability to cooperate with the local environment - improving the skills of managing an educational institution and its promotion The project was also a continuation of activities undertaken during the implementation of the project "Polish school abroad. Supporting the professional development of teachers of Polish schools abroad".