For 5 days, two teachers from "George Voevidca" Secondary School attended the mobility meeting at Gymnázium Duhovka in Prague. Teachers Lăcrămioara Băcanu, Headmistress of the above mentioned school, and Oltea Nistor went through a highly valuable pedagogical and formative experience, by attending training courses in the field of Montessori education and by direct observation of how lessons are designed.

1. "Erdkinder – Montessori for Adolescents", Erasmus + project at „George Voevidca” in
Câmpulung Moldovenesc
Between 03-07 December 2018, in Prague, the Czech Republic, took place the fourth
training session of teaching staff within the framework of the project "Edrkinder–Montessori
for Adolescents", carried out with the financial support of the European Commission under
the Erasmus + programme, the KA2 Action – strategic partnerships in the educational field,
with reference number 2017-1-PL01-KA219-038429_5. The project was designed to run for a
period of two years, until August 2019.
The project partners are: CDBWMS Children's House Sp. Z o. O. (Ltd.), Warsaw,
Poland; Montessori-Initiative Vienna, Austria; "George Voevidca" Secondary School in
Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania; Mesleki Teknik Ortaöğretim, Nevşehir, Turkey; Plato
M.E.P.E., Ganochora, Greece and Gymnázium Duhovka s.r.o., Prague, Czech Republic. Of
all these institutions, the schools in Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic operate according
to the principles of Montessori pedagogy, whereas the schools in Romania, Greece and
Turkey operate according to the national education system.
For 5 days, two teachers from "George Voevidca" Secondary School attended the
mobility meeting at Gymnázium Duhovka in Prague. Teachers Lăcrămioara Băcanu,
Headmistress of the above mentioned school, and Oltea Nistor went through a highly valuable
pedagogical and formative experience, by attending training courses in the field of Montessori
education and by direct observation of how lessons are designed. It should be said that
Gymnázium Duhovka is recognized as a deep-rooted educational model in the Montessori
philosophy, becoming a living, effervescent community that respects both children and adults,
inspiring teachers and providing support to families as a foundation of the Czech society.
Educated students thus become followers of logic and principles, not accepting dogmas or
ideologies, realise that society is constantly changing and that they need to adapt to different
contexts. Students' education is based on understanding phenomena, which is why their
thinking is free, not dominated by formulas or theories taught by adults. Mistakes are seen as
an integral part of the learning process and better ideas are always accepted by the others, who
do not consider their vanity injured for this reason, because they accept that personal
development is closely linked to the evolution of the group they are a part of. Education is
interconnected with practical life, and students work a lot independently, gather information
and document, with the support of a learning guide, which the teacher devises.
In Montessori education, teamwork makes it easier to express the thoughts and
emotions of educators, who support each other in fulfilling their work tasks. Nothing seems to
be required, learning becoming a natural process, which the pupil assumes. This is a
consequence of the fact that, on the one hand, each individual's skills and talents are exploited
(through group activities, international projects, trans-curricular projects, School Club, free-
time activities, etc.) and, on the other hand, the physical space of the school is extremely
familial, tailored to the pupils' educational needs, but also to their needs for relaxation and
psychic comfort.

2. The first day of the mobility visit started with a tour of the school, followed by
teachers’ participation in a training course provided by Mrs. Ludmila Klejchovacu on the
graphic organizer, one of the methods of learning often used in the Montessori educational
system. Discussions and exchanges of best practices between meeting participants and
practical approaches made by learners for the disciplines taught by each of them came after
that.
The second day was extremely interesting to us, because we had the opportunity to
attend lessons and to observe first-hand different aspects, from learning and evaluation, to the
inter-human relationships that are created at the school group level, between pupils and
teachers. The training course provided by Mrs. Bara Glaserová, Deputy Headmistress,
focused on the importance of personal reflection, another important component of Montessori
philosophy. Both pupils and teachers spend about 20-30 minutes a day doing various relaxing
activities, from reading or colouring to listening to soothing music, or actually relaxing on a
sofa. The aim is to disconnect for some time from the educational activities and maintain
one’s psychic balance.
The third day of the project raised the idea of Community meetings, i.e. the joint
weekly meetings that take place in the school, where certain aspects of the school
community's life are discussed. Next, we observed the teaching of lessons and then took part
in another training course on specific methods, provided by Mr. Petr Hopfinger, Headmaster
of the school. He explained to us how to conceive a study guide and how students develop
their teamwork skills, but also their individual study skills by completing this useful work
tool. We also witnessed the way in which students and teachers celebrate St. Nicholas (Saint
Mikulas) as an original exercise of culture blend.
The first part of the fourth day of the project was devoted to a documentary visit to
Vyšehrad (in Czech, that means the Upper Castle), a true lesson of history and culture
stretched over several centuries, followed by the already usual observation of classes and
related discussions. The activities carried out in the partner schools were uploaded on the
eTwinning project page and some issues related to future meetings were discussed.
The last day was that of conclusions and regrets that time went away too fast and that
we still had a lot to discover about the Montessori education system. What we have all learned
is that the world of tomorrow cannot exist without a healthy education and that young people
prove cooperation, tolerance, creativity, the desire for knowledge and self-overcoming if the
school, and implicitly the society, provide them with a good environment in this respect.
The two participants in he mobility visit will disseminate information at local, county
and national level and will implement the methods learned in these training courses at the
level of "George Voevidca" Secondary School, fully convinced of their effectiveness and of
the fact that change can start with us.
Lăcrămioara Băcanu, Headmistress
Oltea Nistor, Teacher