OCTOBER 2010

The conference centre of the Swissôtel Tallinn (Tornimäe 3) will host the 10^th annual language immersion conference on 26 & 27 October 2010. Educational institutions who have joined the programme, its partners, representatives of other institutions operating in the field of education and anyone else who is interested are welcome to attend the conference.

 

The programme can be viewed on the website of the Integration and Migration Foundation at www.meis.ee/konverents-2010. The conference will provide an overview of the progress in and results of the creation of the quality system for the language immersion programme, showcasing success stories in this area. The results of surveys from recent years related to the language immersion programme will also be discussed.

 

The conference will not only provide attendees with plenty to see and hear, but also the chance to get actively involved – there will be a plenary session as well as five workshops.

 

The organisation of the conference is being financed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The conference is being run by the Our People Integration and Migration Foundation.

 

For further information please contact: Karin Piirsalu, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9854 / E-mail: karin.piirsalu@meis.ee

 

A four-part training course will be held from September to December for 25 authors of teaching materials and employees of the publishing houses releasing them.

 

Those taking part in the course will learn about changes to the national curriculums for basic and upper secondary schools and the resulting requirements in terms of new teaching materials; common requirements in the devising of teaching materials; and the principles of the development of language skills. The authors and publishers will take part in both lectures and workshops.

 

The guest speaker at the first part of the course, which was held in September, was international publishing consultant and lecturer James McCall, who spoke about the writing, editing and publishing of teaching materials for schools.

 

In October, Koidu Tani-Jürisoo and Anneli Loodus from the Open Mind Institute will be speaking to the participants about ways of getting students to learn.

 

During the third part of the course, which will be held at the end of October, lecturers from the University of Tartu will be speaking to and guiding the participants. Margit Sutrop, from the university’s Ethics Centre, will talk about the importance of the topic of values; Veronika Kalmus, from the Literature and Communication Institute, will provide an overview of ways in which implicitly represented values can be woven into teaching materials; specialists from the Educational Studies and Curriculum Development Centre will be looking at the fostering of values as a running theme and how it should be taken into account when writing textbooks; Nelli Jung, also from the Ethics Centre, will be talking about the objectives of fostering values in different subjects; and Ana Kontor and Karl Karlep, from the Educational Support Services Centre and the University of Tartu respectively, will be giving a presentation on teaching materials being within the abilities of students with learning difficulties.

 

The course will be concluded in November by teaching materials author and methodology specialist Leelo Kingisepp and Piret Kärtner from the University of Tartu, who will talk about the starting points in the development of teaching materials for the national curriculum as a guiding hand in the learning process.

 

The course is being financed by the Ministry of Education and Research.

 

For further information please contact: Reet Kallo, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9841 / E-mail: reet.kallo @meis.ee

 

 

 

Over three days in October the Integration and Migration Foundation, in association with Estonian vocational education institutions, will be holding three information days on professional language teaching materials for language and professional subject teachers.

 

The information days are designed to provide an overview of the ways in which professional language teaching materials can be developed, used and distributed. The keynote speaker at the event will be author and trainer Mare Kitsnik, who will be showcasing her own professional Estonian language teaching kit for the service industry. She will also be showing the attendees how to analyse teaching materials and bring them to life in lessons, as well as giving advice on creating materials. Throughout the day the participants will also find out more about the e-learning materials website www.kutsekeel.ee.

 

The information days will be held in the following institutions on the following dates: 15 October at Tartu Vocational Education Centre; 21 October at Narva Vocational Education Centre; and 29 October at Tallinn School of Service.

 

You can register for the information days online at www.kutsekeel.ee. The organisation of the information days is being financed by the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education and Research.

For further information please contact: Merlin Mägi, Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9068 / E-mail: merlin.magi@meis.ee; or Maria Ratassepp / E-mail: maria.ratassepp@meis.ee

 

 

The Nõiariik nursery school in Urvaste municipality in Võru County will play host to this year’s autumn school for Estonian language teachers from nursery schools from 22–24 October. This is the fifth time the autumn school is being held.

A total of 50 Estonian language teachers from nursery schools all over the country will be coming together to build on their knowledge of how to support children with native languages or home languages other than Estonian learning the national language in nursery school.

2010 is the International Year of Reading. As such, the autumn school will primarily focus on topics which will help children prepare for reading.

For further information please contact: Marje Sarapuu, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9852 / E-mail: marje.sarapuu@meis.ee

Upper secondary schools with Russian as the primary language of instruction now have worksheets at their disposal to accompany ‘Turning Points in Estonian History: Documents and Materials for Upper Secondary Schools with Russian as the Primary Language of Instruction’, published in 2008. The worksheets and the original material they go with enable both history and literature teachers to make lessons related to Estonia more detailed and interesting.

Estonian history is taught in schools with Russian as the primary language of instruction in Estonian. ‘Turning Points…’ and its worksheets were produced with this in mind. The writing and publishing of a collection of materials focussing on the twists and turns of Estonian history specifically for Russian-speaking students represents an important step in educating the younger generation on the nation’s past and forming a shared view of events.

 

“The publication of ‘Turning Points…’ is a great way of making learning history more interesting, and as such more popular,” said Kai Võlli, an expert on integrated subject and language learning who played a part in the development of the worksheets. “What’s so notable about it is that its sources cast a critical eye over events and look at them from very different angles. The worksheets will certainly help teachers make better use of the original material in future.”

 

Võlli says that the tasks contained in the worksheets enable students to delve into the sources of information and teach them how to draw conclusions from them, how pictures of the past are formed, how historians work and what kind of problems they encounter. “The students are guided to work with a variety of sources, to examine and discuss different interpretations and to form their own views. Tasks like this help them understand historical events and phenomena better, but also get them reading and interpreting Estonian-language texts and images in greater depth.”

 

The team behind the worksheets comprised Anneli Loodus, Tiina Kilumets, Anželika Valdre, Maaja Nagel and Maia Jelissejeva. The worksheets were edited by renowned Doctor of History Toomas Karjahärm (one of the authors of the original materials) and teacher and methodology specialist Anatoli Grigorjev.

 

The ‘Turning Points…’ teaching materials and worksheets, and recommendations on how to make the most effective use of them, are available from the international teaching materials website http://lemill.net/community/groups/eesti-ajaloo-toolehed.

 

For further information please contact: Karin Piirsalu, Coordinator, Multicultural Education Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9854 / E-mail: karin.piirsalu@meis.ee

 

 

 

In October the Integration and Migration Foundation will be launching the ‘One Media’ project competition, which will support radio programmes and news portal projects.

 

The aims of the competition are to contribute to the development of a unified information space for all of the people living in Estonia and to boost the consumption of Estonian media among third country nationals. Applications can be submitted by private and public legal entities registered in Estonia.

 

The competition is being financed from the state budget through the Ministry of Culture (25%) and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (75%) on the basis of the implementation plan of the Estonian Integration Programme 2008–2013.

 

For further information please contact: Kati Tamm, Coordinator, Civic Education and Migration Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9027 / E-mail: kati.tamm@meis.ee

 

 

 

The public project competition entitled ‘Adaptation training for new immigrants’ is open for submissions until 25 October 2010.

 

The aim of the competition is to provide third country nationals who have recently arrived in Estonia with special training so that they can acquire the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to life in the country and to help them integrate into Estonian society and become active members of it.

 

Adaptation training will be organised as part of the competition for third country nationals residing in Harju County. The training will make use of the adaptation programme developed in 2009, which includes language training, civic studies and social and economic integration (http://kohanemisprogramm.tlu.ee).

 

Applications for the competition can be submitted by private and public legal entities registered in Estonia (local governments, training companies, universities and non-profit organisations).

 

The competition is being financed from the state budget through the Ministry of Culture (25%) and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (75%) on the basis of the implementation plan of the Estonian Integration Programme 2008–2013.

 

The training was launched by the Narva College of the University of Tartu in August, providing training for 12 newly arrived third country nationals residing in Narva.

 

For further information please contact: Ruslan Prohhorenko, Coordinator, Civic Education and Migration Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9035 / E-mail: ruslan.prohhorenko@meis.ee.

 

 

 

The public project competition entitled ‘Development of Mentor Services for New Immigrants’ is now open and applications may be submitted until 21 October 2010.

 

The competition is designed to create and develop a mentor service for new immigrants in Estonia. A mentor service system will need to be developed to this end.

 

A mentor service will be piloted as part of the project which will incorporate guidance of new immigrants in the fields of employment, health care, education and social services. 20 mentors from different parts of Estonia will be trained to work with third country nationals who have recently arrived in the country.

 

Applications for the competition can be submitted by private and public legal entities registered in Estonia (local governments, training companies, universities and non-profit organisations).

 

The competition is being financed from the budgetary resources of the Ministry of Culture (25%) and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (75%) on the basis of the implementation plan of the Estonian Integration Programme 2008–2013.

 

For further information please contact: Ruslan Prohhorenko, Coordinator, Civic Education and Migration Unit / Telephone: +372 659 9035 / E-mail: ruslan.prohhorenko@meis.ee

 

 

 

 

 

Led by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, National Minorities Day was celebrated in three cities around the country during the third week of September. The events were held in the capital, Tallinn, as well as Jõhvi and Pärnu.

 

The first event held under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture was the National Minority Youth Council conference ‘National minorities in Estonia yesterday, today and tomorrow’ at the National Library in Tallinn on 22 September.

 

The conference was followed by a theatre and music programme at the Russian Theatre, including a performance by the Russian Puppet Theatre of children’s classic The Silver Hoof. The adults in the audience, meanwhile, enjoyed the Russian Theatre School’s performance of smraH and the Tuuleveski Theatre’s version of Let The Wind Blow. Music was provided by the Chuvash ensemble Taraj Kun and the Estonian-Ukrainian folk group Svjata Vatra.

 

As part of National Minorities Day, a photographic exhibition entitled EtnoFotorism opened in the Solaris centre on the same day. A range of exhibitions by members of national minorities who call Estonia home can also be seen in Tallinn at the Russian Theatre. The exhibitions are open until the end of October.

 

The celebratory events moved on to Tartu on 24 September, where a concert was held in the Vanemuine Concert Hall. Staged by Valga’s Marina Jerjomina, the director of Art Studio Joy, its performers included national minority cultural association groups from Tallinn and Tartu, as well as from elsewhere in southern Estonia. People in Tartu will also enjoy an exhibition as part of EtnoFotorism, this time of the Russian Old Believers, which will be on display in the café and gallery of the Vanemuine Concert Hall until the end of October. 

 

The celebratory events moved on to Tartu on 26 September, where a concert was held in the Vanemuine Concert Hall. There were also book and national handicraft exhibitions as part of the festival, and a display of children’s drawings entitled ‘The colours of the Earth’. Anyone interested was also able to take part in puppet-making, bobbin lace and pearl embroidery workshops. There were also meetings with authors Jelena Skulskaja and Arvo Valton as part of the 2010 Year of Reading. The gala concert held in the evening saw performances by national minority cultural groups, ethnic groups and communities from different parts of Estonia. Special guests at the concert were the folk ensemble Jarytsa from Verhnedviskni in Belarus. Minister of Culture Laine Jänes handed over certificates of citizenship to new Estonia citizens in both Tartu and Jõhvi.

 

24 September was nominated as National Minority Day by then Minister for Population Affairs Paul-Eerik Rummo in 2005. Its roots date back to 1988 when the 1^st Estonian National Minorities Forum was held on 24 September. The forum unanimously declared its willingness to openly support the attempts of the Estonian population to restore their statehood and democracy. It was on this day that the Union of Estonian National Minorities was founded, whose activities are guided by the internationally recognised principles of national minorities and human rights with the aim of developing information-based and cultural cooperation among Estonia’s national minorities.

 

For further information please contact: Sirli Tooming, Chief Specialist, Cultural Diversity Department, Ministry of Culture / Telephone: +372 628 2261 / E-mail: sirli.tooming@kul.ee 

 

 

 

The 2010 Golden Mask Festival opened on 1 October with a performance of Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya by the Moscow-based Yevgeny Vahtangov Theatre. The festival will run until 10 October, with performances in theatres around Tallinn as well as in the Jõhvi Concert Hall (see www.goldenmask.ee). 

 

The 2005 Golden Mask Festival was the first in the series to be held in Estonia, and indeed the first to be held outside of Russia. This year the festival is being organised in Estonia for the sixth time. It will not only include performances, but also seminars, master classes and lectures. A special place in this year’s programme is held by the St Petersburg theatre.

 

The festival contributes to the strengthening of cultural ties between Estonia and Russia and to forming contacts between people working in the theatre in both countries. The festival is being organised jointly by the Ministries of Culture of Russia and Estonia and with the support of the Tallinn City Government. The embassies of both countries are also behind the festival, as is the Estonian Cultural Capital.

 

For further information please contact: Olga Burmakina, Chief Specialist, Cultural Diversity Department, Ministry of Culture / Telephone: +372 628 2238 / E-mail: olga.burmakina@kul.ee; or see www.goldenmask.ee.