The Competence Centre for Educational Innovation at Tallinn University

The aim of the project is to establish a competence centre for educational innovation at Tallinn University. The centre will gather, analyse and design innovative educational practices and disseminate them among Estonian educational institutions. The competence centre should serve the aims of the Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy, in particular in changing the approach to learning and teaching, and designing and developing modern school culture. During the project the Centre for Innovation in Education at the university will be transformed into a competence centre, the project will be carried out from 01.04.2016 to 30.09.2018.

The activities of the project will be conducted in five areas.

Monitoring and diagnostics

The aims are to gather and make available the current best practices and experiences of teaching and learning from Estonia and other countries and to map the Estonian school culture, including approach to learning and teaching, models of school leadership and management, the subjective well-being of pupils and teachers and other characteristics. 

Development of didactics

The aim is to support (with the cooperation of teachers and students) the development of learning and teaching methods and interdisciplinary programmes, and the application of evidence-based practices into teacher training programmes and into various education programmes for teachers.

School culture

The aim is to develop and test school development and leadership models suitable for Estonia while supporting new approaches to learning and teaching. 

University didactics

The aims are: analysis, testing and further development of world experience, different approaches and models of university didactics, based on support for the development of Tallinn University into a high level learning and teaching environment; development of a system/model of teaching staff professional development (training courses, mentorship, self-evaluation, mutual learning/learning from each other) which supports the philosophy of learning and teaching at university, based on modern approaches. 

Partnership relations

The aim is to establish a network of partner schools where new approaches to teaching and learning will be created and tested. The network should contribute to the teacher training at the university, standing as a community where every counterpart is learning from each other.