Effective partnerships in promoting intercultural education

The Moldova State University is continuing its efforts to promote EIC among educational community by strengthening partnerships with pre-school and school institutions. Thus, On April 12, 2023, at the Center for Didactic Resources for Intercultural Education of the Moldova State University, a training course on Methodology of Intercultural Education was organized for teachers and managers from educational institutions where pre-service teachers from the Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Psychology, Pedagogy, Sociology and Social Work conducted their internships.
During training sessions moderated by Dr. Dorina Rotari, participants had the opportunity to develop intercultural skills and learn new educational practices in order to align with the challenges of multicultural schools. These sessions focused on fundamental aspects regarding the principles and dynamics of intercultural competence development, intercultural didactics, intercultural competence
assessment, etc.
Through this training, advanced experiences in the field of intercultural education were disseminated and acquired within the project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training” (phase 2), implemented by E.C. PRO DIDACTICA in partnership with 6 universities with a pedagogical profile in the country and funded by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation from Switzerland.

An intercultural meeting with 40 facets

Children aged 13 to 14 from around of our country participated in an Intercultural Exchange Program from June 11 to June 30, 2023, within the project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training”. The “Children’s Village” in Trogen, Switzerland, served as the program’s host. For more than 70 years, it has provided children with new learning opportunities, such as communication with peers and interaction with other cultures.
The 40 teenagers participated in non-formal educational approaches, which varied in terms of organization and approach to topics, under the supervision of a group of local facilitators, thus giving them the chance to develop their own identities, become aware of their own limits, assimilate strategies for overcoming prejudices and stereotypes of all kinds, to eradicate discrimination, etc.
The values that went through all the activities carried out like a “red thread”, including with a group of teenagers from Switzerland, were: freedom of thought and action; tolerance; mutual respect; empathy; accepting diversity in the name of democracy; peaceful coexistence between peoples; and a better life for all.
The program provided each adolescent with a special opportunity/ a unique experience to gain knowledge and self-awareness, closeness and openness to others, knowledge assimilation and intercultural competence, teamwork, and ties to friends. This experience, which undoubtedly had a profound and long-lasting impact, was also enhanced by travel to significant tourist destinations in Romania, Hungary, Germany, Austria, and, of course, Switzerland. The project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training” is implemented by E.C. PRO DIDACTICA with the support of the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation in Switzerland and aims to increase the tolerance level among young people in the Republic of Moldova by developing and strengthening intercultural competences.

A new editorial appearance: DEVELOPING AUTHENTIC REPORTS

Recently, the PRO DIDACTICA Educational Center’s AICI ȘI ACUM collection was supplemented with a new editorial appearance, developed within the Consolidation of Technical Vocational Training System in Moldova/CONSEPT project, implemented by the Education for Development Public Association (AED), in partnership with the PRO DIDACTICA Educational Center, with financial support from the Liechtenstein Development Services Foundation (LED).

The guide represents a useful and relevant support for managerial activity, with new elements and a focus on authentic and functional reporting. Its development was preceded by several training activities on the subject, involving the managerial teams from technical vocational education institutions, which highlighted the most frequent problematic aspects related to the reporting process, while also addressing the multi-aspect peculiarities and role of the report.

The aim of this work is to streamline managerial activity in the process of elaborating and evaluating reports, utilizing them in decision-making, and using the data/recommendations provided to continuously improve the quality of results. We express our hope that the invitation to reflection, the landmarks, and suggestions proposed by the authors will change the perception of reports and emphasize the necessity and importance of developing authentic, useful, and valuable reports for the institution’s activity in general and for the managerial activity in particular. The book in PDF format can be found by accessing the following LINK.