Great news – Lithuanian Vytautas Magnus University (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas) joins forces with University College Cork in teacher education.
In order to promote innovative teacher education in Lithuania, VMU is joining forces with other Lithuanian universities and the leading institutions in Ireland and Iceland. As partners of a new project, the universities will prepare a new joint innovative teacher education system which utilises the concept of personalized learning.
The project, entitled Innovative Teacher Education through Personalized Learning, will be implemented by three Lithuanian universities – the new teacher education centres: Šiauliai University, Vytautas Magnus University, and Vilnius University – in cooperation with two foreign partners: the University College Cork (National University of Ireland) and the University of Iceland. The universities aim at strategic partnership for consolidation of academic resources in order to develop innovative teacher education practices of personalized learning in different socio-cultural contexts.
“Innovative teacher education needs to be increasingly more learner-oriented, e. g. focused on innovative education of creative and critically-minded prospective teachers and lecturers, on the already practicing teachers, and on the learners and their changing needs at school. In this regard, there is a growing need for new educational concepts (e. g. personalized learning), innovative methods and strategies, appropriate tools etc. in order to better meet the wide and changing spectrum of learners’ needs and create dynamic learning experiences”, Assoc. Prof. Lina Kaminskienė, Director of VMU Institute of Education, explained.
The aim of the project is to develop, implement, test and transfer innovative practices of personalized learning within the teacher education system(s). This aim will be achieved through the development and implementation of a personalized learning conceptual framework which will bring innovative changes to teacher education curriculum, methods, tools and assessment practices.
Lithuania highlighted the priority to promote changes in the educational systems aimed at ensuring the quality of teacher education and quality education for every learner and creating a good school for all. It requires that educators and education support professionals have the appropriate competences and are ready to work in the rapidly changing innovative school. Changes within education system, which are initiated by educational policy makers and academic communities, are closely related to the educational paradigm shift from teaching to learning and collaboration-based learning.
