Modern Ideas

Today I went to the town of Bacau, south of Suceava, with a Maria for an education meeting. It was a symposium, "Holistic Approach to Pre-School Education".

The national government of Romania has decided that pre-school curriculum SHALL BE thematic rather than subject-based. Most schools in America have been teaching this way for a long time. Now, the Romanian pre-schools will be using this format.

From Blog pix

Maria told me that teachers are frightened by this big change. She said that this meeting was to reassure people.

The presentation featured four teachers who have piloted the use of this curriculum in their classrooms. Videos had been made of them with their children. When they presented to the 50+ attendees, they were obviously scared to death. Easier to present to pre-school kids than to their peers. But later, when I asked them about the theme and how they decided what lessons to do, they were very enthusiastic.

From Blog pix

Maria and I were VIPs at this affair, because they considered the Suceava Teachers Association to be a partner. We went to a separate room for coffee and sweets. After the event, they fed us a large meal, complete with champagne and wines.

And of course, they gave us flowers as we left. Here, flowers are required to give to VIPs. I like that people give so many flowers, but it feels awkward to receive VIP treatment when I'm just Maria's side-kick for the day.

From Blog pix

Anyway, it's great to see new educational ideas coming to Romania, and to see so many people discussing them.