Research fellow György JAKAB of our Institute visited Transylvanian partners in Oradea (Nagyvárad) and Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) between the 21st and 24th January 2014.
The study visit was an integral part of the Intercultural Pedagogical Workshop of the Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development, and is part of a broader objective of building closer links both with stakeholders of Hungarian minority education in our neighbouring countries, and with the general education research institutes of these countries. The main point of this visit was to revitalise partnerships, and exchange information about recent changes and the current situation of Romanian education and Hungarian education in Romania, and on the other hand, to provide authentic information about the same in the Hungarian education system (including the new national core curriculum, the implementation process of framework curricula, the reform of teacher education and the new system of developing study materials and that of professional advisors). Discussions took place in schools, including alternative ones (Montessori, Waldorf). A particular focus of the meetings was the situation of small schools in villages in both countries. Mr. Jakab was mapping possibilities for cooperation for the HIERD. Another highlighted point was the situation of Hungarian schools in Romanian areas with only a scarce Hungarian population. Special educational methods are necessary in these schools, since the number of Hungarian students is very low, thus the size of Hungarian classes is very small, and the potential support that the HIERD could provide for these schools was discussed. While consulting at universities (the Partium Christian University and the Babeş-Bolyai University) specific agreements were made to conduct some joint analysis of textbooks, development of study materials and the possibility of dual degrees in teacher education in the near future.
