Case Study Examples of good practices on innovative education and teaching delivery in 5 ESIN countries
Ireland The flexible models being used for the secondary schools on the following islands show a possible way forward of capitalising on the strengths of a small island community and the desire to educate young people in an island setting while at the same time acknowledging the need to establish strong ties with mainland facilities which can provide additional courses, opportunities which would otherwise be unavailable on the island. Vocational Education Second Level School on Inis Meáin Currently the school has 10 pupils. 7 of them are on a scholarship to the Island which is funded by the Co-operative. They have 2 full-time teachers and 2 other teachers come in on a part-time basis. The school is a special initiative as they are part of a mainland school. The children travel to the mainland school on a Friday to participate in Games, Art etc or to take up a subject which is not taught on the island. The school is still in a pilot phase. Many parents still send their children to the mainland for 2nd level education. It takes a number of years before parents have full confidence in the system. They like to see results over a number of years first. It is hoped this will change over time. Vocational Education Second level School on Inis Mór Currently the school has 60 pupils. They have 9.5 teachers. They are entitled to 3.49 teachers according to Departmental Rules but also they have 1 extra teacher because it is a Gaeltacht School (Irish language school). Vocational Education Second Level School on Inis Oírr, Aran Islands 25 students and 8 teachers. 4 children from the mainland participate in the transition year similar to Inis Meáin on Scolarships for the year. At times, leaving cert students travel to the mainland to participate in classes that are not provided for on the island. Secondary schools on an experiment There are only four secondary schools located on Irish islands, three of these on the Aran islands in County Galway(Inis Meain, Inis Oirr and Inis Mor) and Arran Mor in County Donegal. Inis Mor and Arran Mor have populations of approximately 900 and 700 respectively. The other two Aran islands have much smaller populations, below 300, and their secondary schools have been established as part of a pilot scheme and are still quite experimental. The secondary schools are administered by the County Vocational Education Committees (VECs). There are VECs in every county in the country and, while falling under the rubric of the Department of Education, they are considerably more independent in initiating educational schemes, usually to do with Adult and Continuing Education. It is interesting to note that the island secondary schools, especially the schools on Inis Meain and Inis Oirr on the Aran islands are still regarded as „experimental‟ and do not enjoy the full support of island parents. Many believe that sending their children away to the mainland secondary school is the best option, due to the wider range of both educational and social opportunities available on the mainland. There is also the opinion (though, generally it is still a minority opinion) who feel that more flexible models of second level education, involving distance learning, strong partnerships with mainland
schools and the attraction of mainland students to island schools offers a very positive alternative to the traditional arrangements. 5.2 Scotland Argyll & Bute Council is committed to making full use of modern technology to reduce the disadvantage of isolation sometimes found in the region‟s schools. Every school has Apple Macintosh computer systems and many have video conferencing equipment. To overcome the isolation of the rural environment school co-operatives have been created, with co-ordinators employed to develop this structure within specific geographical areas. This allows groups of schools to join forces to share curriculum and staff development, resources, excursions and other activities. To address the shortage of secondary teachers in schools throughout the Highlands and Islands, some regions have recently gone into partnership with Aberdeen University to offer a teacher training course that is part-time and done by distance learning. It is hoped that this will attract people already living and working in the area to train as teachers and stay on to work in the area once they are qualified. The first pilot course for primary teachers was completed this summer and the first intake of students for secondary teacher training started in September this year. See annex 4 for information on and introduction to Small Isles Learning Network, Scotland 5.3 Sweden Nature Walks/Hikes on the island of Vinö The island Vinö is the biggest island of the lake Hjälmaren in mid Sweden. The idea behind the walks is Learning by Senses – meaning that children learn by being actively involved in their own senses. Not only learning about nature but in generel learn in a better way if their senses are being used during teaching. At Vinö the island as a whole is used together with the lake, the history and the specific nature of the island. The school on the island closed down a few years back. The teacher innovated the Nature Walks following this. The targetgroup are pupils from the mainland schools not too far from the island. The actual programme is developed together with the mainland teacher. Often the walk will be based on a certain theme. The childen are involved directly from the island as they receive letteres and information before coming to island. Islanders are also actively involved in the work. Cameras are intensively used during the island visit making it possible for the children to bring the island environment back to their own school. For the elder children competitions might be part of the visit. During the walks there are different kind of activities where they are using the nature of the island. The children obtain an intelligence of nature based on their senses. For more information on Vinö: www.vinon.se SRF has also taken an initiative to support teachers in small schools in the archipelago area. Inspired by our Danish sister organisation “Sammenslutningen af Danske Småøer”, the Leader+ program “Kustlandet” on the Swedish east coast is trying to improve the teacher situation by starting up a network for them so they can exchange experiences
between similar schools. SRF has also inspired the National Agency for School Development to work with this idea and hope that networks can be built in all Swedish archipelago areas. 5.4 France College des Iles de Ponants. 7 small island schools are headed by one headmaster both educational wise and administratively. The teachers develop a joint teaching among the islands – according to grades and level. The pupils are involved in this collaboration by proposing subjects and ways of cooperation. All the island schools are small schools. During the same heading they can develop the teaching – both for the benefit of the pupils and for making it more interesting for the teachers to be employed at the island schools. For more information: www.iles-du-ponant.com 5.5 Finland On the island of Velkua South East of mainland Finland, the school has been using video teaching and conferencing during the last 10 years. The saying is: Seas are connecting people. Teachers from mainland schools are teaching by means of video. The subjects are mainly language traning. Typically video teaching is being used on subjects where either only a few pupils are to be taught or in more specialized subjects where the islands cannot have these specilized teachers employed. One to approximately four pupils can be taught in one subject at a time. The school at Velkua has built up a very good experience on the video teaching and conferencing. Information on Velkua: www.velkua.fi Another island teaching method is The Archipelago Skills Days. The children are taugth subjects within the old skills of woodcarving, handling of food, fishing and agriculture of the islands. The idea is to keep the old skills and culture alive among the children.