Melanie Ungaro, head of Immaculate Conception Secondary School, Tarxien, and Enid Bonello, assistant head and Erasmusplus projects coordinator at the school, recently took part in a professional development course in Helsinki, Finland.

The training was designed to support the senior management team members to understand, explore and be inspired by new and varied technologies and methodologies to foster innovation in school leadership. The main objectives were to focus on cooperative and blended learning, to try and encourage other educators to make use of different teaching methods to engage students in the classroom in a more holistic way. This would provide a sound foundation to start the process of changing the vision at the school in the coming years.

The teachers had the opportunity to network with educators from all over Europe; they discussed their respective school systems, difficulties they encounter and what they are trying to do to improve in their practice, especially regarding investment in technology.

Participants also discussed problem analysis, project design and management, and gained an over­view of the logical frame­work approach for problem-solving. They had practical workshops and experienced innovation through non-formal education and outdoor learning.

The participants now look forward to more networking experiences.