Prague Summer School

This week I am in Prague for the Summer School on the future of school. Their website describes it as follows:

The Summer School will address the issues of effective teaching and mediating knowledge in the current world. We will explore the ways a teacher contributes to child development starting from the early days to the lifelong learning processes. We will explore the new trends in teaching and look into their effectiveness. As well as examining how other social agents – parents, tutors and peers (may) contribute to the education process.

Day 0 (Saturday)

We started with some nice icebreakers to get to know each other. Prague Summer Schools offers five different programmes, and everybody came together for some introduction games and practical information. It is a very international group with almost every continent represented. Some of them are Bachelor students, some Master students, PhD students, but also practioners and even high school students.

The housing is great, as is the venue. The summer school offers an interesting programme including some cultural trips and social events.

Day 1 (Sunday)

Beyond School Subjects: Cross-curriculair themes

Two lectures on how to implement cross curiculair topics into primary education. Quit interesting, and very relevant also in the Dutch context. The differences between countries are large, but most of the topics (democracy, radicalisation, well being, citizenship, et cetera) seem to be mostly universal, although there are many differences, for example on religion. We had some nice discussions about these topics, but did not find a silver bullet to solve all problems at once.

Tour of Prague

A tour of Prague with a guide in the afternoon.

Day 2 (Monday)

Principles of Effective Primary Prevention / Trends in Mental Health and Risky Behavior in Children / Ways to Address Harm to Children from Peers, Family and Teachers

Three quarters of the day was filled with prevention. A very interesting topic, for which we were taught best- and bad practices, some insights into mental health issues, trends of risky behaviour of the last years (social media, alcohol, smoking, drugs, energy drinks), and some didactic approaches to enable groups of pupils to reflect upon these things through interactive forms of education. Prevention is a very complex topic, and I very much liked the scientific approach taken by the professor.

Strategic Plans of Czech Education

The last part of the day gave an insight into the strategic plans of the Czech educational system and how it compares with other countries. The system is somewhat similar to the Dutch system, with some key differences in secondary education. Czech kids get a bit more time to decide what educational path they want to follow. Also, in The Netherlands, Universities of Applied Sciences can offer Master programmes, in Czech, as far as I understood it, only Bachelor programmes are offered. University masters are also 2-3 years, which is one year longer than the Dutch masters. But maybe there are exceptions… All in all Czech education performs quit well compared to other countries. Also, teacher wellbeing is very high.

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Learning disabilities: Red Flags and Classroom tips and

Very interesting lectures about Learning Disabilities (LD). This really brought me up to speed with the latest insights. We talked about red flags, classroom tips, the causes of LD, instructional principles, and we also experienced what it is like to have LD. We also spent time on how to deal with parents.

Not Just Academics: Social and Emotional Competencies

The second lecture was about Social Emotional Learning with topics like the differences between sympathie and empathy, why teachers are role models, and we ended with emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders.

Pragulic tour - The Dark Side of Prague

In the afternoon we did a second guided tour of Prague, but this time our tour guide used to be a homeless person with a drug addiction in Prague. We saw the spots where help is offered, the social programmes that are availlable, and the place where he used to sleep. He told us everything in detail about what it is like to live that way in Prague. It was an interesting story.

Day 4 (Wednesday)

Excursion to Kutna Hora

After a proper breakfast we headed by train to through the lovely Czech country side to Kutna Hora, famous for it’s silver mines. The centre of the town lies up a hill, and by walking slowly up it, reveals it secrets one-by-one. First, a high church tower appears. Set in gray stone, it is gracious as well as impressive. Once the cobbled stone roads start, suddenly, through the coloured and well decorated buildings, the arches of the cathedral appear. Obviously the silver mines hide one from these impressive buildings, but the mines have their own splendor. Imagining how it must haven been to look for silver ore (black) in a completely dark mine only with the help of one candela produces by a lamp running on animal fat and once hands to feel the different textures of the stone hopefully to find silver ore, two- to fourhundred meters below the surface. Needles to say, it was a great experience. After a walk through the town and a healthy lunch, we headed to the Sedlec Ossuary to see the chapel furnished with the bones of at least 20.000 people. Unfortunately, we should have planned this better as the tours did not have enough places left for us to see it. All the more reasone to come back to this beautiful place!

Day 5 (Thursday)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Risk factors and Educational Support

I learned a lot from this lecture. The different types of ADHD, the effects of medication, the causes of it, and how to support learners who have ADHD. It truly was in some aspects an eye opener for me. Although I was familiar with ADHD, I did not know the nuances of it and this brought me up to speed.

Autism: Facts and Myths

Same applies to autism. This lecture gave me so much more in depth knowledge than I had before. By showing poems, movies, and giving examples of het own experience, our teachers made this into a great lecture.

NGO META visit part 1 and 2

In the afternoon we visited the META non-governmental organization (NGO) in Prague. They support teachers and learners in teaching and learning the Czech language for those who it is not their first language. For example refugees and immigrant children. We were presented with and overview of the paths these learners can take withing the Czech educational system. They provide much material, most of it for free, and they also develop and publish supportive information, workbooks, methods and such. They also advice the governement into how to improve the support of teachers and learners. Impressive work of which the importance can not be over estimated.

Boat tour

We concluded the day with a boat trip on the river. While the sun was beginning te set, the river was filled with al sorts of boats enjoying this beautiful moment. It was a nice tour on a 100% electric vessel. This made this day something to remember for a long time!

Day 6 (Friday)

Improvisation: Reflection and Feedback

Bullying in school deserves a lot of attention. This lecture was about an evidence based method from Finland promoting a whole school approach to prevent, intervene, and monitor bullying. Is is being used in 24 countries all over the world. The results show a strong positive trend a few years after introduction at a school. We practiced some of the pedagocial approaches that this method uses. It was nice to do and I learned a lot from it!

What do KiVa results tell us?

This second lecture was a case study of a school where KiVa was introduced. We discussed the case and analysed the data in order to determine what was going on at the school. After discussing that, we came up with several measures to improve the situation.

Evaluation and Certificates

This was the final day of the summer school! I’ve enjoyed it very much and I would highly recommend going there to anyone interessted.

Farewell party

On a very nice location we celebrated our week together and sadly had to say goodbye!

Day 7 (Saturday)

Going back to The Netherlands by train.