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Insights into the 2022 Ambassador Professional Development Workshop

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Insights into the 2022 Ambassador Professional Development Workshop

The Ambassador Professional Development Workshop, or PDW, takes place every year to empower the role models in the eTwinning community, the Ambassadors. From 5–7 October, Ambassadors heard keynotes and participated in workshops on topics ranging from having a good outreach strategy to creating active learning spaces.
Ambassador PDW

Day 1

 

Assi Honkanen, eTwinning Communications Coordinator, kicked off this year’s PDW by reminding attendees that eTwinning is an online community that takes place everywhere; in schools, on social media, in on-site sessions, and many more places. Honkanen urged experienced eTwinners to think about how eTwinning is implemented in their schools and local communities and what their ideal eTwinning community looks like.

 

Marta Giuliani, eTwinning Community Coordinator, moderated the panel discussion on Day 1, which focused on promoting and disseminating eTwinning projects in communities. Participants on the panel were asked how they promote eTwinning within their schools and at community level, what challenges they have faced, and what positive changes eTwinning has made in their schools and communities.

 

Anamaria Dorgo, Head of Butter Community and founder of L&D Shakers, delivered the first keynote with a focus on fostering and nurturing online communities. Dorgo combined her degrees in psychology and human resources to work as a learning and building manager, specifically working on learning experience design and community building. Dorgo outlined the importance of online community members collaborating and contributing to foster confidence and a feeling of impact. In particular for eTwinning, the keynote covered how peer and social learning communities can experiment to provide transformative learning experiences for their members. 

 

Day 2

 

Keynote speaker Rebecca StonePrincipal Senior Planner and Engagement Specialist, opened the second day of the event. Stone, an award-winning community planner and instigator, spoke to Ambassadors about how to improve their communication and outreach by aiming to connect with those they want to reach. The keynote stressed the importance of showing their faces and telling the stories behind the project; she urged Ambassadors to focus on the ‘who’, not just why or how.

 

After the opening keynote, participants went on to participate in two workshops. The workshops covered a variety of topics such as working with the community, facilitation for connection, how to run a successful eTwinning project according to the established Quality Label framework, and prioritising emotional well-being through inclusion strategies.

 

Day 3

 

The final day of the event was initiated by a fellow eTwinning AmbassadorRonan O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan, a Mathematics professor at Davis College Mallow in Ireland, talked to Ambassadors about the importance of good listening for good communication. He urged them to, ‘wait for the question to be posed before answering’. He reminded them of the importance of a clear communication style, which should be completeconcise, and timely.

After O’Sullivan’s keynote, participants participated in another set of workshops that covered topics such as teaching sustainability for action and active learning strategies.

 

One of the final activities of the event was the practice sharing discussion. eTwinning Ambassadors from six different educational levels gave a presentation on what eTwinning projects look like at their educational level. Ambassadors gave participants some practical ideas about how they can improve communication and community building at their educational level.

Additional information

  • Education type:
    Early Childhood Education and Care
    School Education
    Vocational Education and Training
  • Target audience:
    Head Teacher / Principal
    Student Teacher
    Teacher
    Teacher Educator
  • Target audience ISCED:
    Early childhood education (ISCED 0)
    Primary education (ISCED 1)
    Lower secondary education (ISCED 2)
    Upper secondary education (ISCED 3)

Tags

eTwinning community