Step-by-Step in Lithuania - Lithuania

Program Image

Program

  • Type of Program: Educational
  • Age Served: 0 to 10 years
  • Funding Sources: Open Society Institute - New York, Open Society Fund - Lithuania, Ministry of Education and Science, Local Government, Private funding.
  • Presenter: Regina Rimkiene (Coordinator of Step-by-Step project)
  • Address: Jak_to 9
    Vilnius, Lithuania 2001
  • Telephone: (370-2) 22 13 55
  • Fax: (370-2) 22 14 19
  • Email: [email protected]

Program Purpose

To support and to affect the change process in education in the effort to ensure high quality of child teaching and learning that corresponds to the requirements of an open/democratic society.

Program Description

In 1994 the Open Society Fund - Lithuania started an international educational Step-by-Step project, and introduced child-centred educational technologies of teaching and learning. The project authors project share a deep belief that every child is unique, and that teachers, while individualizing the process of teaching and learning, encourage the development of skills, necessary for living in a democratic society: adjustment and acceptance of changes, critical thinking, ability to make choices and be responsible for those choices, creativity, interest in the community and the country. The network has expanded to 60 kindergartens/50 primary schools.

The project facilitates recognition of democratic values and behavioural norms. It offers high quality of teaching and learning and for success assists social and ethnic minorities to integrate into the Lithuanian society, it also spreads the idea of tolerance towards every member of the community. The project methodology and philosophy is based on the best scientific research and practices from the US and Europe. Teachers participating in the project implement national state educational program. The level of child knowledge corresponds to the state imposed standards, but the teaching process is organised through the implementation of modern and generally accepted methods of teaching and the scientific research based on teaching and learning techniques.

Most Unique Program Feature

The Centre for Innovative Education (CIE), an NGO and a spin-off to the international educational project Step-by-Step has commenced activity according to the decision of the board of OSF-Lithuania of 29 March 2000. The mission of the centre is to support and to affect the change process in education in the effort to ensure high quality of child teaching and learning that corresponds to the requirements of an open and democratic society.

The centre focuses on major trends of the educational reform in Lithuania. The main advantage of the project is that it covers the educational system in full as it promotes Step-by-Step methodologies in nurseries, kindergartens, primary schools, and to the pedagogical community in the form of Step-by-Step courses delivered to the three pedagogical universities. Students are exposed to practical work at schools and child-centred classrooms.

The CIE closely co-operates with the Ministry of Education and Science, divisions for education of municipalities, universities, higher pedagogical schools, institutes for professional training, educational centres and other non-governmental organisations.

Edited by Michael Kalinowski