Projektine veikla skatinami pedagoginiai pokyčiai
Project Work Stimulates Changesin Pedagogical Practice

Summary/Abstract: In recent years, an increasing tendency to engage in project work that stimulates changes in pedagogical practice and presupposes monitoring of this practice has been witnessed in basic schools of Lithuania. During the period of 2002–2008, three projects promoting changes in education content were carried out. These were “Education Improvement Project” (2002–2006); “New Opportunities for the Development of Professional Competences of Vilnius Educators”; and “Networks of Learning Schools” (2006–2007). The monitoring outcomes of these projects serve as a basis for the present discussion of the features related to project work-induced changes in pedagogical practice. We also argue that these outcomes reveal potential directions in innovative thinking with regard to the aims and objectives of education oriented towards the development of the key competencies. Within this context, an innovative attitude towards education is regarded as learning to learn competence perceived as a major factor that can affect changes in the basic school. The article presents two theoretical models that serve as a basis for determining dimensions of competence- based education and for detecting manifestations of the learning to learn competence. Aspect analysis, based on these models, enabled us to combine reflection and determination of changes in pedagogical practice resulting from engagement in project work. This also led to the analysis of the prerequisites for the development of the learning to learn competence and to delineating trends of its manifestation. Research results of the projects discussed in the present analysis showed that these projects were intended to encourage the teaching staff to adopt innovative attitude about pedagogical practice. Teacher in-service training programs attempted to promote the training of metacognitive competences. All projects covered in the present paper were targeted on creating the conditions for the development of the learning to learn competence. The route to the realization of these objectives led from the explicitation of this concept to the determining of specific features and their actualization. The recommendations from research for those working on innovation stimulating projects aimed at promoting transition to competence-based teaching learning are as follows: • To focus the initial stages of the project work on the determination of the teachers’ attitude to the development of cognitive and metacognitive competences and to implement these results in the revision of the in-service training programs. • To apply the experience regarding the analyzed projects when planning monitoring. This is recommended in view of the fact that, in these projects innovations were implemented systematically. The implementation involved a combination of active learning / teaching methods, reflection and monitoring of pedagogical practice.

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