For developing the regional cooperation of the International Reading Associations /IRA the so-called developing committees work in different regions of the world which unite the representatives of the reading associations from various regions. International Development in Europe Committee /IDEC has at present become the forum for the representatives of reading associations from 24 European states.
Dec. 6-8, 1996 members of the IDEC met with the Norwegian Reading Association /NoRa (Norsk Forening for Leseopplaering) in the Stavanger College Centre for Reading Research. The members of IDEC were accompanied by the Vice-President of International Reading Association Kathryn A. Ransom from the USA, who was currently on a business trip in Europe.
The participants of the event met in the Stavanger College Centre for Reading Research where 75 members of NoRA had gathered to the third seminar on reading on December 6, 1996. The seminar "Reading Instruction and Reading Ability" presented an opportunity to get acquainted with the methods of teaching people to read used in different countries, analyze reading disabilities and to study different texts in estimating reading ability. It is possible to learn about the abstracts of the seminar reports by the medium of the signatory.
The fall session of the European Developing Committee on December 7-8 was traditionally busy, raising problems and looking for solutions. The participans got an overview of the actions the member association of IDEC have organised from July to December 1996, consulted the network version of the "European Bulletin" and making a homepage for IDEC, drew up the plan for the tenth European Reading Conference in Brussels (August 3-7, 1996) and eleventh European Reading Conference in Stavanger (August 1-4, 1999), pondered the need for a completed and corrected edition of the "European Handbook on Reading & Literacy Activities".
The need for a closer cooperation between IDEC and IRA was discussed during the work session as well as cooperation with other organisations dealing with the development and research of reading, and the possible regional cooperation projects in Europe were pondered.
Cooperation between Estonian and Finnish reading associations was repeatedly pointed out as a positive and resultant example: joint trainings, joint sessions of the managerial boards and regular exchange of professional information has become usual in the work of EstRA and FinRA.
As members of the IDEC come together twice a year, there is a lot to talk about between the work sessions and joint dinners and usually also something to learn from the host country. This time a very spirited lesson how to eat lobsters was carried out by the President of NoRA Ingolv Austad.
The signatory's participation in the IDEC seminar and meeting was financed by IRA and supported by the Tallinn Peadgogical University, Department of Information Studies. The next working session of IDEC will be held on August 2-3, 1997 in Brussels.
Last updated February 17, 1997
sirvir@ tpu.ee
