International Microdegrees Bring Education Professionals from Around the World to Tallinn University
Last week, two international microdegree programmes organised by the Centre for Educational Innovation at the School of Educational Sciences, Tallinn University, were launched.
The microdegree Educational Innovation and Leadership (EduInno) began with two study groups and is now running for the third consecutive year, while Adult Education and Adult Educators in Transition started for the first time.
On January 20, the Educational Innovation and Leadership microdegree launched within the ESTDEV-funded project “Learning Opportunities for Learners from Developing Countries at Tallinn University.” The programme offers education professionals from third countries the opportunity to learn contemporary teaching methods and leadership skills from leading Estonian education scholars — approaches that have contributed to Estonia’s strong performance in international assessments such as PISA. Within the project, the microdegree includes 4 participants from Armenia, 6 from Moldova, 4 from Kenya and 1 from Uganda. In addition, the study group includes learners from Chile, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Armenia. The microdegree is taught by Eve Eisenschmidt, Reet Sillavee and Kätlin Vanari from Tallinn University.
On January 21, another Educational Innovation and Leadership microdegree started for participants from vocational education institutions in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, as part of the ESTDEV-funded project “Supporting the Reform of the Vocational Education System in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.”
The programme includes 20 participants from three vocational schools and education institutions in the region. It forms part of a three-year development programme that supports Ukrainian school leaders, teachers and education officials in gaining knowledge about Estonia’s education success stories, lessons learned from vocational education reform, modern teaching approaches and curriculum development. Special emphasis is placed on practical skills and on adapting innovative solutions to the needs of Ukrainian vocational education. A key focus is also the strengthening of leadership culture, drawing on the principles of Estonia’s Future School programme. The microdegree is led by Peeter Mehisto.
On January 22, the microdegree Adult Education and Adult Educators in Transition was launched. The programme prepares participants to act as change agents, capable of consciously, creatively and critically designing learning environments that support adult learners. Microdegree includes 9 participants from Estonia, Kenya and Ukraine. Teaching staff come from Tallinn University (Larissa Jõgi, Piret Jeedas and Viktoria Bubukin), the University of Malta (Carmel Borg and Maria Brown) and Tampere University (Anja Heikkinen).
