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Kunratice Primary School

Project

This school has been involved in the project since the 2010/11 school year and has eleven affiliated schools.

Experience of the teaching team at the project school

A force for change

The project has brought change to Kunratice Primary School: a driving force which has enabled teachers to think differently and more deeply about their work, teaching and students. They then also started offering something more than just frontal teaching and textbooks in their classes.

At our school, reading workshops, writing workshops, literacy, critical thinking and more have become parts of the regular curriculum.  In addition, the project brought numerous experts into our school to help us on our journey and show us new paths. They brought inspiration from other schools and abroad, but in a very sensitive and non-intrusive way. They did not dictate what should be done and changed, but they showed us what was possible. And they started connecting our teachers with each other, building a community.

Respect for a craft which needs to be polished

The project at our school fostered teachers’ respect for each other and the teaching craft itself, in part by ensuring teachers are adequately rewarded financially for any extra work they do.

Since teaching is viewed under the project as a craft which needs to be developed, refined and learnt over and over again, endless learning opportunities such as writing, English, summer schools, and experiential and disciplinary reading are offered. Teachers also get the opportunity to meet during open school sessions. Through this, they become aware of each other, forge collaborations across the country and create a real community.

Learning to teach better

During the project, teachers have learnt to think more about teaching and as a result, fundamentally changed how they go about it – for the better, we think. They now always start with the students and their needs. They think about how to make every lesson really benefit everyone.

Our school is also much more open now – teachers work in pairs and invite project consultants and colleagues from other schools into their lessons. They do see this not as a threat but as a tool to help each other and move forward.

Our pupils are changing in tandem with this. They are becoming thoughtful and avid readers, people who can articulate their opinions and are not afraid to speak up.

And that is the greatest reward for us as teachers.

Project consultants

Project consultants have an irreplaceable role at the school and have definitely had a major impact on the process of transformation. They support teachers as they develop their work, offer collaborative lesson planning (both one-off and long-term), teaching assessments and evaluations of the impact on students. They connect teachers at the school with each other and teachers from other schools. They show teachers new paths which can be taken – new teaching ideas, training courses, interesting and stimulating texts, books, etc. The teachers appreciate that collaboration is always voluntary and safe. Project consultants are their guides and helpers on their journey.

Vít Beran

Head Teacher, Kunratice Primary School