16 Erasmus+ Teacher Academies selected, 5 of them have Czech partners
Czech universities, schools, educational institutes and DZS will join 5 new academies. Find out more about the project and Call.
In July, the European Commission published a list of Erasmus+ Teacher Academies selected in the Call 2022. 16 new academies thus join the 11 academies supported in the Call 2021. Czech institutions are represented in both of them: in the first Call in three of 11 projects, in the second Call in five of the 16 academies. Erasmus+ Teacher Academies is an initiative of the European Commission, which came in reaction to the need to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession and the quality of the initial training as well as further education of teachers. The academies aim to create international networks of providers of initial and continuous teacher education, to develop innovative learning modules, to strengthen international cooperation and sharing of good practice, or to develop new models of teacher mobility. The Commission has set a goal of creating a total of 25 academies by 2025.
In the second call, 105 applications were submitted. The sixteen selected projects include 313 organizations from 30 programme countries. Around a third of the total number are providers of initial education (96) and approximately a fifth are providers of continuous education (69). Apart from that, 49 schools and 107 other entities (organizations with appropriate expertise, quality assurance agencies, etc.) are involved in the academies. The projects will last 3 years and distribute a total budget of 22.5 million euros among themselves.
DZS will help with the digital skills development
Through the EUN association, the DZS will be involved in one of the recently selected projects. As an associated partner, it will participate in an academy supporting the development of digital competences of pre- as well as in-service teachers. The aim of the Co-constructing the continuum between initial teacher education and continuous professional development (ContinueUP) project is to help teachers to develop skills that will allow them to benefit from online opportunities as much as possible. One of the main outputs is therefore an online MOOC module, focusing on the gaps in the undergraduate and professional education of educators in digital competences based on the DigCompEdu framework, which describes individual digital competences for teachers.
At the same time, the academy should facilitate mutual learning, sharing of good practices and inspiration. "In the final phase of the project, a pan-European network of educators of future teachers will be created, which will regularly meet and co-organize projects outside of the ContinueUP project, similar to what is already happening with teachers within the E-Twinning project," explains Dominik Lipovský from DZS. International mobilities, study visits, conferences and other opportunities are also part of the project. "In the fall, we will attend a meeting with partners from all over Europe and then also the final conference, where the already mentioned network should be launched. However, our main role is to provide data on the education of teachers in the field of digital technologies here in the Czech Republic," comments Lipovský on the role of DZS in the project.
Scientific literacy and sustainable citizenship
Palacký University (full partner) together with one elementary school in Olomouc (associated partner) will participate in the teacher academy Meta-Scientific Literacies in the (Mis-)Information Age (SciLMi). The project is based on the belief, that in today's era of disinformation it is important to develop scientific literacy, so its aim is to facilitate the integration of meta-scientific literacy skills into the education systems across Europe. The Academy will develop, pilot and evaluate cross-disciplinary blended intensive mobility programmes and trainings for pre- and in-service teachers. It will provide the required transversal competences, digital skills and inclusive teaching strategies to educate the future generation of students, to support their critical thinking and ability to work with scientific data. Another output will be a pan-European Hub consisting of initial and continuous education providers, schools, teacher associations, education etc.
Masaryk University will also be involved in two projects. The aim of the Establishing Teacher Education Networks and Communities of Practice on Teaching for Sustainability Citizenship (SYNAPSES) academy, where MUNI participates as a full partner, is to educate both pre- and in-service teachers in teaching for sustainable citizenship. The project is based on the idea that sustainable citizenship can lead to active change, which is much needed, whether it is decreasing consumption and demand, developing sustainable resources and food, or greening schoolyards. As part of the project, a series of training activities focused on innovative teaching methods and tools will be created, the participants of the academy will also have a variety of international opportunities (study visits, job shadowing, conferences).
Innovation in history teaching and mobility for music teachers
The Teacher Education Academy for Music. Future-Making, Mobility and Networking in Europe (TEAM) project also features MUNI (as an associated partner). TEAM is a pan-European network supporting initial and ongoing music teacher education (MTE) and school music education (ME) in Europe according to the current needs of music teacher professionalisation, digitisation, intercultural learning, future viability, sustainability, and social coherence. In this regard, the academy will develop the necessary educational resources, mobility opportunities for music teachers, internships and more.
Another two Czech organizations are involved in the School EducatioN for Sustainable and Equal Inclusion (SENSEI) project: Global Impact Institute and LABYRINTH elementary school (both full partners). The main purpose of the project is to help pre- and in-service history and citizenship teachers with the preparation of interesting and meaningful lessons that will be inclusive and accessible to all students. The consortium will develop both a module for initial teacher training and a hybrid international continued professional development course, which could also be used for other subjects in the future.