The aim of the project was to improve the educational process by training teachers in the possibilities and characteristics of 21st-century pedagogies. This led to an enhanced understanding of contemporary psychological processes involved in student-centered learning, as well as the implementation of project-based learning in the classroom and the use of technology to enhance student engagement in collaborative learning. The integration of activities within the selected course met the needs and improved the pedagogical and digital competencies of the teachers, contributing to an increased percentage of teachers at 19.High School utilizes new digital skills for working in an online environment and blending traditional teaching with key elements of the new digital era in education. Through the use of open lessons, successful pedagogical practices for blended learning were demonstrated, combining traditional teaching methods with digital resources. By applying various digital skills, teachers and students alike learned how to make collaborative decisions on global issues and case studies. This project prevented dropout among at-risk students by providing them with the opportunity for distance learning through digital lessons and PBL.
The context of our project combines an educational course on the current topic "Effective Pedagogies for 21st-Century Learning," in which 11 teachers were trained and presented their learning to the pedagogical team and in open pedagogical practices. Our aim was to motivate colleagues to apply new teaching methods and innovative approaches in the educational process and thereby expand their range of pedagogical skills to meet new educational needs. 19 High school “Elin Pelin” has a 90-year history. Along with traditional teaching methods, we have successfully implemented newly acquired knowledge and approaches in distance and blended learning in the educational process. For years, our school has been trying to apply different innovative teaching approaches, especially effective for its language profile: entrepreneurship and business, with intensive study of English, German, Norwegian, and Danish. The choice of this course was imposed by the challenges in 21st-century education, related to the process of overcoming and improving the pedagogical and digital competencies of our teachers and, subsequently, increasing the motivation for learning among our students.