The project „Professional training of secondary education didactical staff for new opportunities in career development”– POSDRU/57/1.3./S/32629 started on January, 1^st,2010 and is selected within the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013 (POS DRU) and co-financed from the European Social Fund. 

The project will be developed for a period of 3 years, being implemented by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, through the Management Unit of Projects with External Financing (UMPFE), in partnership with:   

1.                  European Foundation for Quality in eLearning – EFQUEL

2.                  Polytechnic University of Bucharest   

3.                  Technical Constructions University of Bucharest 

4.                  Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca

5.                  Petrol and Gas University of Ploieşti   

6.                  Transilvania University of Braşov

7.                  University of Bucharest

8.                  SC OMNIA International SRL

9.                  SC Contrast Advertising SRL

The project is implemented on a national level, the general objective being that of creating professional development opportunities for 1.000 didactical staff in secondary education through their participation to quality post-graduate training programs adapted to long distance education technology (ED). The target group also includes didactical staff from partner institutions, 100 of them will be trained for long distance education specifically.   

I.                  OBJECTIVES

On the long term, the project generates effects which insure sustainability and focus on:  

·        A better training level for students who benefit from the didactical staff trained in interactive teaching-learning methods, centred on the student  and using TIC information-communication technologies in the didactical process;  

·        Improvement of the capacity of higher education institutions to develop and implement training programs through quality ED;   

·        The stimulation of didactical staff to participate to continuous training and the development of a life-long learning culture.

Specific objectives / operational objectives of the project which underline the benefits of the target group itsself, are:    

·        Revision and implementation of 12 professional conversion study programs for the didactical staff in secondary education;   

·        Improvement of the professional training of 1.000 didactical staff in secondary education, of which 10% are at the start of their didactical career;

·        Certification – following the successful graduation – of at least 95% of the didactical staff involved in the training

·        Development and implementation of a training program in order to develop competences specific for the planning and implementation of long-distance education training programs, for the didactical staff from higher education;

·        Training and certification of 100 didactical staff from the university education, of which 80% assistants or lectors, for the planning and implementation of long-distance training programs;

·        Insure proper study conditions and facilities, support materials, etc. for all didactical staff involved in the training programs, including by developing and implementing long-distance education platforms  

II.    ACTIVITIES

The main activities that are to be carried out within the project in order to reach the general and specific objectives, are:   

(1) Revision and adaptation of the curricula and existent study modules  

The curriculum and study materials, ED adapted, have been drawn up within the Project for Rural Education, implemented by the applicant between 2003-2009, with the financing of the World Bank and Romanian Government. Following the experience  gained with the development of these projects for a series of students, in total over 3.000 didactical staff, it is required that they be revised in agreement with the European tendencies for teacher’s training. Of the 150 subjects that are to be taught, the manuals for about 10% will be revised. 

(2) The training of the didactical staff that insure the implementation of the study programs   

The activity aims to develop competencies specific for the planning and implementation of training programs for distance education (ED), it addresses the didactical staff from higher education and involves the development of the curricula and study materials, as well as their delivery for 100 students, of which 80 will be lectors or assistants. 5 study modules will be developed.    

(3) Development of the e-learning platform and development of the proper information and communication infrastructure   

The training activities within the project will be developed with the help of a distance education platform, that will allow the permanent availability of didactical materials and allow a bidirectional communication didactical staff- students, and the communication of students among themselves.   

(4) Implementation of training programs destined for the didactical staff from secondary education, in ED technology.   

The selection and management of the beneficiaries, as well as the implementation of professional conversion programs for the didactical staff in secondary education will be carried out following a unitary strategy, in order to insure the best quality conditions and agreement with long distance education requirements. 1000 didactical staff from secondary education will participate to continuous training activities within the professional conversion programs. Of these 10% will be didactical staff at the start of their didactical career, 70% from rural areas and 70% women.    

(5) Applicant’s evaluation and supervision of training activities carried out in partner institutions.   

The evaluation and supervision of the implementation of training programs will be carried out based on the methodology that will be drawn up within the project, through analysis of the self-evaluation file and continually through specific tools.  

(6) Promotion and dissemination of training programs, as well as of the activities and results of the project   

The promotion and dissemination will follow a specific strategy that will be drawn up within the project. This mainly involves the draw-up and distribution of promotion materials (fliers, posters, etc.), draw-up of a web site for the project, the organisation of conferences and seminaries, participation to meetings on a local level with the representatives of district school inspectorates and school principals, draw-up of press conferences and participation to media events, as well as the publication and communication of project results in various specialized publications or scientific conferences.    

III.          TRAINING PROGRAMS

The training programs for the didactical staff in secondary education that are to be implemented within the project are post-graduate professional conversion programs, with a duration of 3 or 4 semesters organized based on Law 94/1995, Art. 161, long-distance courses. The programs end with a graduation examination awarding the right to receive a diploma and work in the new specialization.    

The education plans, analytical programs and study materials of these programs have been drawn up within the Project for Rural Education implemented between 2003-2009 by the Ministry of Education, with the financing of the World Bank, Romanian Government and local communities.    

For the draw-up of the study plans and the study subjects, we have started from the knowledge, skills and competences provided by teachers’ professional standards, approved by the Ministry of Education and Research and the requirements of long-distance education technology. We have here specialized subjects (basic and applicative), special didactical subjects and specialized didactical training subjects, optional subjects (specialized and didactical), computer-assisted training, psycho-pedagogical subjects, differently combined, according to the specialisation. A higher novelty degree are the manuals that approach curricular didactics, drawn-up within the project.  

The study materials mainly focus on the participants’ individual study, which usually characterises distance learning. The modules are drawn-up in such a way, so as to be attractive for the students, easily approachable for individual study from the content and form point of view, and so as to stimulate long-distance dialogues between teacher and student.    

The training activities within the project will be carried out based on a long-distance education platform, that will involve the permanent availability of didactic materials and will allow the bidirectional communication didactical staff- students, as well as that of the students among themselves, and the management and academic evolution of students, as well. the professional conversion programs will be organized according to the following specialisations: 

Special attention will be paid for the implementation of the study programs in the best quality conditions, according to international standards for distance education, the aim being the highest satisfaction degree of the beneficiaries. 

The implementation strategy for the long-distance training programs and the evaluation and supervision methodology for the study programs represent the anticipated results of this project, the long term aim being the development of quality post-graduate continuous training programs.  

Another result of the project is the high education didactical staff training program, regarding the draw-up and implementation of study programs through distance education. The curricula, analytical projects, as well as the study materials for the five specific training modules will be drawn-up.    

IV.           ANTICIPATED RESULTS AND INDICATORS 

Þ               12 revised study- programs for professional conversion;   

Þ               15 revised manuals;

Þ               Study regarding continuous training tools for didactical staff used in countries from the European Union

Þ               1.000 didactical staff from secondary education, trained;

·        10% didactical staff at the start of their didactical career, aged under 35;  

·        70% women;

·        70% didactical staff working in rural areas;

Þ               100 didactical staff from higher education, trained;

·        80% lectors or assistants ;

Þ               1045 didactical staff who underwent the training programs and were certified;

Þ               A study program on ED technology drawn up, and addressed to the didactical staff from higher education; 

Þ               5 study modules drawn up on ED technology;

Þ               Long-distance educational platform;

Þ               155 manuals in Ed format loaded on the long-distance education platform;

Þ               Methodology to implement the training programs for professional conversion;

Þ               Evaluation and supervision method for the implementation of the training programs in ED format;   

Þ               Strategy to promote and disseminate the training programs and project results. 

V.               PARTNERS       

The partnership implementing this project has been developed based on the project’s activities where the organisations/ institutions that have the expertise, experience and resources needed to reach the project’s objectives in best conditions, have been selected.

The applicant, Management Unit of Externally Financed Projects  within the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports has a 12years’ experience in the field project management for education projects; between 1996-2008 it has implemented a number of 4 projects of total value : 248 million EURO, financed by international bodies, such as the European Union, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Development Bank of the European Council. We would  like to especially mention the Project for Rural Education, implemented by the applicant between 2003-2009, in which the professional conversion programs that are to be implemented, were developed. More than 3.000 didactical staff have been trained within this project.    

European Foundation for Quality in eLearning –EFQUEL is a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to increase the quality of the offer of educational programs based on the use of specific e-Learning methodologies in Europe. At present, EFQUEL has over 70 member in 20 European countries: universities, associations, training companies and institutions which share the same interest for eLearning quality. EFQUEL is involved in numerous international projects in the field of long distance education quality.   

The partners - universities, POLYTECHNICAL University of Bucharest, Technical Constructions University of Bucharest, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Petrol and Gas University of Ploieşti, Transilvania University of Braşov and University of Bucharest, are some of the most prestigious universities of Romania, of considerable renown for the study programs implemented and the scientific research area. These universities also have considerable experience in the implementation of ED-technology adapted study programs.  

       S.C. MILENIUM S.R.L. and S.C. CONTRAST ADVERTISING S.R.L are experienced companies in their activity field, and were included in the partnership for specific activities such as the editing and formatting of study materials in a format adapted for distance education or the draw-up of promotion materials and the organisation of events. 

IN CONCLUSION ...

Starting from the general objectives of the Lisbon Agenda, of which we mention that of having better-trained human resources to face present and future challenges in a knowledge society, the project develops a coherent professional training policy for the didactical staff in secondary education, thought professional conversion programs on a post-graduate level, with long-distance education characteristics. With the suggested theme, the project contributes not only to the increase of the training level of didactical staff, but also to the promotion of a responsible, pro-active attitude, which should generate a change in mentality, according to the requirements of a didactical career.