Adult Education Institution Dante is an adult education provider specialized in teaching foreign languages. It was founded in 1991 as Dante Language School and was the first acknowledged language school in the city of Rijeka, Croatia.

With its population of 150.000 and its 44 square kilometers, Rijeka is the third largest town in the Republic of Croatia, and is the main town in Primorsko-Goranska County, a region which is an incredible combination of sea and mountains. Because of its openness towards the outside world the city is known for its hospitality.

At the beginning, the Language School Dante was specialized in teaching Italian language. Through the years other languages were also introduced. Due to its long experience and tradition in teaching adults and organizing foreign language courses, it has become a place of referenceand excellence when it comes to theforeign language schools in Rijeka. At the moment, we are teaching English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish, and also Croatian for foreigners. We have about 250 students participating in 33 courses. There are also 7 courses for children. The school staff includes 21 people and the courses are led by a team of experienced teachers, mainly native speakers, who pay a great dealof attention to their professional development, taking part in seminars in Croatia and abroad. Our approach to teaching is interactive and we are looking forward to developing new and interesting

methods, which would give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a practical way, through simulation.

Dante is a member of Foreign Language Association, HGK – a non profit association, founded in order to raise the quality of language services, lessons and translations, and adapt them to European standards. Schools that are members of Foreign Language Association have accepted the ethical codes of PRIMA, which is an associate member of EQUALS (the European Association for Quality Language Services)

We organize special and constant in-service meetings and training for our teaching staff and for teachers who work in elementary and secondary schools or adult education institutions. Related to in-service teacher training, the Institution is the first Croatian institution that has been given the green light to organize in-service training and contact seminars for European candidates, starting from 2011. One of our seminars is included in Comenius – Grundtvig Training Database.

Our mission is the constant improvement and introduction of contemporary work methods, which are in line with the lifelong learning guidelines of the European Union, all this in order to offer the best possible service to our students. In order toaccomplish this, we have participated in the creation of IPA projects, Grundtvig partnership and Multilateral Projects. Our teachers take part in in-service training,

while the other employees attend contact seminars where they have the opportunity to meet colleagues from the EU countries, as well as find partners for different projects.

Recently we have received a special recognition from the Croatian National Agency for Mobility for a ‘’Special contri-bution to the raising of foreign language communication competence’’, related to the projects developed as part of the Lifelong Learning Program.

As an accession country, Croatia is making a great effort to raise awareness about the European Union values in general, as well as the importance of the Lifelong Learning Program. According to the state guidelines, we have decided to promote the importance of adult learning and that has become one of our most important missions. We are the first foreign language school and institution for adult education in the region to be involved in the EU Grundtvig Learning Partnership project dedicated to teaching language with the help of the ICT technology.

Along with the language activity, another important activity is the presentation and promotion of Croatia as one of the candi-date countries for EU accession. Croatia has a very rich heritage, which is relatively unknown to the majority of people living outside of Croatia. This is why we believe that it is necessary to share it with other European citizens.

We are at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. From as far as we can remember the years at the beginning and the end of a century were considered to be the transitional years and were “special and particular” ones. The human subconsciousness explained that these were the times when the civilization was ready for important changes in terms of development and progress. Just think about the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1492), the French Revolution (1789), and the October Revolution (1917). What about the Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)?! These are events that had a big and important influence on the history of the civilization and happened in these transitional years.

We are living in a world of changes and in a world that is constantly changing. We are also living in a world of big challenges that sometimes seem to be imposed, but they are necessary for the development of our society.

Are we ready to react in a creative and constructive way to all this changes? Are we ready to make changes starting from ourselves, then our family, then our professional environment and in the end, the place we live in? If everybody were ready to change themselves first, this would be a sure sign that the wider community is also ready to change.

What kind of people do we have to be

to be able to accept and respond to this challenge in a proper way? What are the skills, the competences that the modern man has to have to be ready to react, search and find the correct answer to the changes?

Inspired with this question, a group of open minded and motivated teachers Ustanove za obrazovanje odraslih Dante - Adult Education Institution Dante, started to create the course seminar Learning and Teaching: Interaction Through Senses in winter 2010.

In the past, teachers and educators were more concentrated on teaching, we were all focused on how we teach. In the

ABOUT THE COURSE‘’LEARNING AND TEACHING: INTERACTION THROUGH SENSES’’

ABOUT US

Moto of the course

The goal of the course

Objectives

Methodology

Key words

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. - William Blake

The main goal of the course is to offer the participants tools necessary for the development and use of basic competences through different educational areas reflecting on using the senses.

- to raise awareness in teachers in order for them to encourage the development of student’s competences in a natural way, through the subjects they teach; - to point out the importance of introducing senses in the teaching process; - to learn how to use and rely on the senses while learning, teaching and developing skills;- to develop and express identity, attitudes, critical thinking with the help of the senses;- to improve the development of didactic and methodological approach of the teaching based on perception.- to point out the role of the senses in the development of basic competences and to develop the teaching ability based on the perception of the sensory stimulus.

modern pedagogy and andragogy, and in the modern didactical approaches, a good teacher has to be focused on learning. We, as teachers must think how pupils, students, learners learn and then plan our teaching. This is an assumption of the mother pedagogy. This is a general assumption, equally valid for primary, secondary school and adult education. This is why we used the word INTERACTION.

But we don’t just want to be focused on this interaction; there is a lot of interaction going on in this magical world of teaching. We want to focus on SENSES! Why senses? Because we think that today, in modern society, people don’t use the senses in

a proper way, we are not able to use our senses any more, and senses are a very strong weapon in education and learning. Aside from that, we truly believe that if somebody is able to use the senses in a proper way he/she can discover the world in a better and a more complete way.

We will not present and give you a prescription and we don’t believe we are magicians. We just think that we are teachers believing in and loving what we are doing: teaching. We will present and suggest you some activities and … the most important thing: we will search and learn with you hoping that at the end of

the course we will be richer for one more experience. We will also try to combine and create new teaching activities for our learners, hoping that we will become stronger and more powerful as teachers / trainers, really believing in the power of teaching, ready to empower our learners.

This course is also the result of our aims to reflect, search, plan and find new ways of teaching, based on the intention and willingness to make the lessons more interesting, motivating and efficient for our learners.

1) Theoretical background (interactive lectures)2) Development of competences (interactive lectures, workshops, discussions, reflection, evaluation)3) Development of new strategies and approaches to learning and teaching (interactive lectures, workshops, plenum, discussions, reflection, evaluation) 4) Use of the acquired strategies and competences in a specific working en-vironment i.e. field work

Each day is envisaged as a single didactic unit which will be carried out in line with the principle of experiential learning: planning-action-evaluation-reflection.

- sensation: experience caused by the activity of the physical process on the senses- sense: one of the five innate abilities that a man has in order to physically connect with the environment: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste- to feel: to react to a stimulus either spiritually or physically, to experience something in a certain way, to be in a certain psychophysical state- sensory: with the help of the senses - perception: a process of creating images based on the senses and impressions; noticing, understanding - to perceive: to receive; to recieve impressions; observe, notice

ABOUT THE TRAINERSANDREJ MARUŠIĆ- course manager -

Was born in Rijeka on 23 May 1979. Since his student days he has been recognized as a very active, dynamic and joyful young man.

During the secondary school, he didn’t have problems combining studying and organizing class activities and excursions for his friends and teachers. This was also why some tourist agencies offered him a job as a tourist guide. After he succesfully worked as a tourist guide, in the 2007 he founded his own tourist agency.

As he had finished medical secondary school, he successfully worked as a manager in the Pharmaceutical coorporation ‘’Olival’’ for five years.

His curiosity and willingness to go further and discover new worlds and experiences led him to take on the responsibility of managing the Language School Dante in 2007. After tourism and medicine he decided to accept the challenge of discovering the world of adult education and in 2009 he transformed the Language School Dante into the Adult Education Institution Dante.

He has started a very successful collaboration with the Croatian National Agency for Mobility and European Projects.

He is happily married and is a proud father of two children.

LUCILLA MICHELI MARUŠIĆ- teacher trainer -

Was born in Rijeka, 5 August 1967. Since 1991 she has been working as an art teacher in primary school in Rijeka, and has started working as an art history teacher in secondary school from 2009. She is working as an Italian teacher in Dante.

In 1982 she finished Italian primary school, and in 1986 Italian secondary school in Rijeka. In 1991 she graduated History of Art and Graphic Art under the mentorship of professor Butković in Rijeka. In 2001 she graduated from Geography in Literature University in Trieste, Faculty of Geography.

During her lifetime she has had eight solo art exhibitions, and twenty group exhibitions.She has also received 18 Awards in the art field.

She likes teaching very much, especially working with little children and high school children. She loves art, painting, music, theatre and film.

She is married and she has two children, Andor 7 and Greta 5.

BOJANA VIGNJEVIĆ - language assistant -

Was born in Zagreb on 27 November 1985. She went to language grammar school and then studied English language and pedagogy at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka.

During her student years she tried different jobs like babysitting, team leader for distribution of newspapers, receptionist and she also did some volunteering in kindergartens and primary schools in Rijeka.

After finishing her studies, she shortly worked as a pedagogue in a student dorm and soon after that got a job as an English teacher at the Adult education institution ‘’Dante’’. She has been working in Dante for a year and a half now, teaching general and business English to adults. She likes travelling and she has had the opportunity to do that, especially since she has been working in ‘’Dante’’. She is keen on permanent education and improvement and therefore uses every opportunity for professional development. She enjoys music, film, dancing and reading. She is very sociable and communicative.

INES HORVAT - yoga instructor -

Was born in Rijeka on 15 March 1983. She finished Grammar school and studied Management at Faculty of Economics in Rijeka.

She did a wide range of different jobs, from catering, marketing and administraton to volunteering in NGOs. She loves dynamics and diversity and loves to work with people. She has been a part of «Dante team» since September 2011, working as an administrator.

She is also a Certified Yoga Instructor of the system called «Yoga in Daily Life» and has been practicing yoga for more than ten years. She is striving to use every oportunity for additional education and improvement so she regulary participates in international seminars and trainings.

MARIJETA MAŠIĆ- teacher trainer -

Was born on 30 June 1979 in Bosanski Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the age of thirteen she moved with her family to Rijeka, Croatia, where she finished primary and then secondary medical school. In 1998 she enrolled the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka and graduated in Croatian language and literature and Ger-man language and literature. Due to her merits and success in the final year, the dean awarded her one-year scholarship. She graduated with honors.

In 2005 she began working as a German teacher in primary school in Rijeka, teaching students aged 6-14. She worked there until 2007 when she transferred to maritime sec-ondary school and was a German and Croatian language teacher. From 2008 to 2011 aside from teaching, she worked as a test coordinator for the state graduation exams. In 2009 she started working in Adult Education Institution Dante as a German teacher. In 2011 she started editing school paper ‘Estudiante’, trying to cover all the activities happening during the year.

In 2010 she was appointed head of the professional regional council for German teach-ers. She is responsible for informing and training approximately 40 German teachers of the region.She is a communicative, trustworthy, responsible and ambitious person and is an excel-lent team player. Her professional goal is continuous improvement and advancement in her work.

She enjoys good literature, likes spending time with people, laughing and traveling. She was always guided by her passion for knowledge, new ideas and interesting people.

PATRIZIA PITACCO - course trainer and director -

Was born on 24 April 1961 in Rijeka; the town where she lives and works. After the secondary school in 1981 she first graduated from the University of Pula as primary education teacher and later, in 1991 from the University of Zagreb – Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation as a teacher of special education. In 1999 she is specialized as an adviser for psychodynamic-psychosocial disorders of children and young people at Croatian Association for Infants, Children and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Since 1981, she was teaching in a Primary school for 11 years and was a primary school principal until 2007. After that she left the school and got employed in the Education and Teacher Training Agency as a teacher adviser.

As an Italian native speaker she has been involved in teaching Italian language in Croatia for over more than 20 years. She has started to collaborate with the Adult Education Institution Dante as teacher adviser and Italian language teacher.

She likes travelling, theatre and enjoys classical music. She can talk a lot and because she doesn’t see things in “black and white”, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to convince you that there are a lot of grey areas to think about. But she also likes to stay calm and alone, reflecting and observing in silence, focusing on the furthest point on the horizon imagining her future ...

«LEARNING AND TEACHING: INTERACTION THROUGH SENSES»

Activities program – day by dayArrival Day Sunday 8th July 2012

18.30 – 21.30 Rijeka, port terminal: ‘’Molo Longo’’ The opening of the course Warm up activities & interactive introduction “Let’s get know each other through senses” Exploring and discovering Rijeka and its surroundings – a guided tour of the town

21.30 ... Formal dinner for the opening of the course

Day 2 Monday 9th July 2012

Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih Dante Adult Education Institution DantePomerio 23, Rijeka

08.30 – 09.30 Yoga session – Let’s relax and awaken our senses

09.30 – 10.00 I’m feeling and enjoying the smells and the sounds of the day

10.00 – 12.30 Morning plenary introduction and sensory workshop “Learning and Teaching: interaction through senses” LucillaMicheliMarušić

Sensory workshop I “Senses and Learning Models” Patrizia Pitacco

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 Sensory workshop II “Senses and Learning Models” MarijetaMašić

15,00 – 16,15 Reflection on the activities Applicability of the activities

Day 3 Tuesday 10th July 2012

Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih DanteAdult Education Institution DantePomerio 23, Rijeka

08.30 – 09.30 Yoga session – Let’s relax and awaken our senses

09.30 – 10.00 I’m feeling and enjoying the smells and the sounds of the day

10.00 – 12.30 Morning plenary introduction and sensory workshop “The Masks” LucillaMicheliMarušić

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30 Afternoon plenary introduction and sensory workshop “Forgotten Experiences” MarijetaMašić

15.30 – 16.15 Reflection on the activities Applicability of the activities

Day 4 Wednesday 11th July 2012

Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih DanteAdult Education Institution DantePomerio 23, Rijeka

08.30 – 09.30 Yoga session – Let’s relax and awaken our senses

09.30 – 10.00 I’m feeling and enjoying the smells and the sounds of the day

10.00 – 12.30 Morning plenary introduction and sensory workshop “Enjoy and Discover Science Through Senses” Patrizia Pitacco12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30 Afternoon plenary introduction and sensory workshop “Abstraction” LucillaMicheliMarušić

15.30 – 16.15 Reflection on the activities Applicability of the activities

Day 5 Thursday 12th July 2012

Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih DanteAdult Education Institution DantePomerio 23, Rijeka

08.30 – 09.30 Yoga session – Let’s relax and awaken our senses

09.30 – 10.00 I’m feeling and enjoying the smells and the sounds of the day

10.00 – 11.30 Morning plenary introduction and sensory workshop “An Introduction to the Glagolitic Script” MarijetaMašić

11.30 – 13.00 “Exploring the Glagolitic Alphabet – A Different Way of Writing” LucillaMicheliMarušić

12,30 – 14,00 Lunch

14,00 – 15,30 Presentation of the countries and participants’ home institutions

15,30 – 16,15 Reflection and applicability of the activities

Day 6 Friday 13th July 2012

08.00 ... Outdoor session

The boat tour of the islands of Krk & Cres

Final evaluation of the course and lunch on the boat

Departure Day Saturday 14th July 2012 Deparature of the participants

YOGATo live in harmony with oneself and

the environment is the wish of every human. However, in modern times greater physical and emotional demands are constantly placed upon many areas of life. The result: more and more people suffer from physical and mental tension such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, and there is an imbalance in physical activity and proper exercise. This is why methods and techniques for the attainment and improvement of health, as well as physical, mental and spiritual harmony, are of great importance, and it is exactly in this respect that “Yoga in Daily Life” comprehensively offers an aid to help one’s self.

The system of “Yoga in Daily Life” is systematic and graduated, integrating all areas of life and offering something valuable for each phase of life. Regardless of age or physical constitution, this system opens the classical path of Yoga to all. This system is developed to accommodate the needs of today ̀ s people, much consideration was given to the conditions within modern society, without losing the originality and effect of the ancient teachings.

The word “Yoga” originates from Sanskrit and means “to join, to unite”. Yoga exercises have a holistic effect and bring body, mind, consciousness and soul into balance. In this way Yoga assist us in coping everyday demands, problems and worries. Yoga gave us valuable,

practical instructions for the body, breath, concentration, relaxation and medita-tion. The practices that Yoga offers have therefore already proven themselves over thousands of years and have been found to be helpful by millions of people.

The system “Yoga in Daily Life” is taught worldwide in Yoga Centers, Adult Education Centers, Health Institutions, Fitness and Sport Clubs, Rehabilitation Centers and Health Resorts. It is suitable for all age groups – in requires no “acrobatic” skills and also provides the unfit, as well as handicapped, ill and convalescent people, the possibility of practicing Yoga. The name itself indicates that Yoga can be and should be used “in Daily Life”.

The health of the body is of fundamental importance in life. As the Swiss-born Physician, Paracelsus, very correctly said: “Health isn’t everything, but without health everything is nothing.” To preserve and restore health there are physical exercises (Asanas), breath exercises (Pranayama) and relaxation techniques.

“Asana” is the Sanskrit word for a physical posture. Expressed in general terms sana denotes a specific position which can be held in a relaxed and comfortable manner for a long period of time. sanas are beneficial for the muscles, joints, cardiovascular system, nervous system and lymphatic system, as well as mind and psyche. They are psychosomatic exercises, and the effects are a sense of

contentment, clarity of mind, relaxation and a feeling of inner freedom and peace. The breath plays an important role in the sanas. With coordination of breath and movement, the Yoga practice becomes harmonious, the breath deepens of its own accord and the body’s circulation and metabolism are stimulated. Use of the breath greatly enhances muscle relaxation by concentrating on tense areas of the body and consciously relaxing those parts with each exhalation. Most people are in the habit of breathing quite shallow, inadequately filling the lungs. Correct breathing is fundamental for the body’s optimum metabolic function. With regular practice, the Full Yoga Breath becomes the habitual and natural way of breathing. Slower and deeper breaths improve circulation, nerve function and one`s whole physical condition. It also develops a calm, clear mind.

Pranayama is the conscious and deliberate control and regulation of the breath (Pr na means breath, ayam means to control, to regulate). The conscious guidance of Pr na in the body gives rise to an increase in vitality, physical detoxification and improved immunity, as well as the attainment of inner peace, relaxation and mental clarity.

To achieve the full benefit of the exercises, it is necessary to learn how to relax correctly before the Yoga practice and between the individual exercises.

http://www.yogaindailylife.org/

ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES

SESSION & WORKSHOP

“Learning and Teaching: Interaction Through Senses” –LucillaMicheliMarušić

“Senses & Learning Models” – Patrizia Pitacco

What we have to know about…The intention of this session and

workshop is to reflect on the influence that the senses have on learning and competences development. We will mainly be focused on the competences of the learners, but at the end of this course we will also think about the competences of teachers/tutors/adult educators.

In order to plan the classes and teach in the best possible way, it is very useful to be able to observe and discover which type of learners are the students whom we teach. Concerning that, since the end of the 20th century, the acronym VARK has become very popular in pedagogy and methodology.

VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinesthetic sensory modalities that are used for learning information. Fleming and Mills (1992) suggested four modalities that seemed to reflect the experiences of the students and teachers. Although there is some overlap between them they are defined as follows.

Visual (V): This preference includes the depiction of information in maps, spider diagrams, charts, graphs, flow charts, la-belled diagrams, and all the symbolic ar-

rows, circles, hierarchies and other devices, that people use to represent what could have been presented in words. This mode could have been called Graphic (G) as that better explains what it covers. It does NOT include still pictures or photographs of reality, movies, videos or PowerPoint. It does include designs, whitespace, patterns, shapes and the different formats that are used to highlight and convey information. It also includes using a whiteboard to draw a diagram with meaningful symbols for the relationship between different things that will be helpful for those with a Visual preference. It must be more than mere words in boxes that would be helpful to those who have a Read/write preference.

Aural / Auditory (A): This perceptual mode describes a preference for information that is “heard or spoken.” Learners who have this as their main preference report that they learn best from lectures, group discussion, radio, email, using mobile phones, speaking, web-chat and talking things through. Email is included here because; although it is text and could be included in the Read/write category (below), it is often written in chat-style with abbreviations, colloquial terms, slang and non-formal language. The Aural preference includes talking out loud as well as talking

to oneself. Often people with this preference want to sort things out by speaking first, rather than sorting out their ideas and then speaking. They may say again what has already been said, or ask an obvious and previously answered question. They have a need to say it themselves and they learn through saying it - their way.

Read/write (R): This preference is for information displayed as words. Not surprisingly, many teachers and students have a strong preference for this mode. Being able to write well and read widely are attributes sought by employers of graduates. This preference emphasizes text-based input and output - reading and writing in all its forms but especially manuals, reports, essays and assignments. People who prefer this modality are often addicted to PowerPoint, the Internet, lists, diaries, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations and words, words, words... Note that most PowerPoint presentations and the Internet, GOOGLE and Wikipedia are essentially suited to those with this preference as there is seldom an auditory channel or a presentation that uses Visual symbols.

Kinesthetic (K): By definition, this modality refers to the “perceptual preference rela-ted to the use of experience and practice

(simulated or real).” Although such an experience may invoke other modalities, the key is that people who prefer this mode are connected to reality, “either through concrete personal experiences, exam-ples, practice or simulation” [See Fleming & Mills, 1992, pp. 140-141]. It includes demonstrations, simulations, videos and movies of “real” things, as well as case studies, practice and applications. The key is the reality or concrete nature of the example. If it can be grasped, held, tasted, or felt it will probably be included. People with this as a strong preference learn from the experience of doing something and they value their own background of experiences and less so, the experiences of others. It is possible to write or speak kinesthetically if the topic is strongly based on reality. An assignment that requires the details of who will do what and when is suited to those with this preference, as is a case study or a working example of what is intended or proposed.

What about Mixtures? Multimodality (MM): Life is multimodal. There are seldom instances where one mode is used, or is sufficient, so that is why there is a four-part VARK profile. That is why the VARK questionnaire provides four scores and also why there are mixtures of those four modes. Those who do not have a standout mode with one preference score well above other scores are defined as multimodal.

They are of two types. There are those who are flexible in their communication preferences and who switch from mode to mode depending on what they are work-ing with. They are context specific. They choose a single mode to suit the occasion

or situation. If they have to deal with legali-ties they will apply their Read/write prefer-ence. If they are to watch the demonstra-tion of a technique they will be expressing their Kinesthetic preference. They are described as VARK Type One in our data-base and they may have two, three or four almost-equal preferences in their VARK scores. There are others who are not sat-isfied until they have had input (or output) in all of their preferred modes. They take longer to gather information from each mode and, as a result, they often have a deeper and broader understanding. They may be seen as procrastinators or slow-deliverers but some may be merely gathering all the information before act-ing - and their decision making and learn-ing may be better because of that breadth of understanding. They are described as VARK Type Two in our database.

Description of the activityThe activity will be based on the recognition of some elements that will remind the participants of the 4 learning styles. As for example• VISUAL (a copy of my notes)• AUDITORY (a video clip of a learning discussion, music)• READ/WRITE (a book)• KINESTHETIC (a photo of an interactive activity)

During the discussion the participants will reflect about the type of learner they are, and about the type of their learners.After this reflection they will be put into the situation in which they need to try do something new and to discover how to do it. Everybody will have to learn how to ap-ply and reflect on the learning styles they

have used. The activity will be organized in pairs. Meaning, one person will be the actor and the second one the observer.At the end of the activity, the observer will explain to the “actor” how she was solving the exercise trying to describe all the details.

Main activity - workshop: Working in pairs or a group of 3-4 members, the participants will have to plan a lesson according to the following learning situations: Each group will pick out the type of learners • The group has to plan a teaching / learning activity for their type of learners• The group can use another sense and choose between the sense of smell or taste• The group has to make a poster and a presentation of the activity to the plenary session• they have to present the activity as if we were read/write types of learners • the learning situations

Learning situation 1)You are trainers for a group of young en-trepreneurs who are learning how to initi-ate/start the activities. You have a lesson about marketing. Learning situation 2)You are trainers for a group of young peo-ple who are getting their second degree qualification. You have a history lesson: the Discovery of the American continent.Learning situation 3)You are teachers in a center for adult edu-cation. You are teaching foreign languag-es – English A1 level. For today you have planned to introduce the Past tens.

“Senses & Learning Models” Workshop II –MarijetaMašić

The name of the game is „Orange“.

RULES:

The most important thing in this game is that there is no talking. Each of you will get an orange. Hold your orange, use all your senses and pay attention to the way it looks, smells, to its shape, size and texture. Do not comment anything aloud!

After that, slowly peel the orange and focus on the process itself. After you have peeled it, you can do whatever you like with it; you can eat it alone, share it with someone, feed someone or save it for later.

DISCUSSION:

1) How did you feel doing the activity in

silence?2) Did something surprise you an did you do what you usually do when you eat an orange?

The second game is called „Let´s move“.

RULES:

Each one of you will take one piece of paper and read what it says to yourselves, not aloud and then start walking. Try to guess how other people are walking.

The papers say:1) Walk as a worried person2) Walk as a business person3) Walk as a cowboy4) Walk as a queen5) Walk as a person whose shoes are falling off

6) Walk as a person with a broken leg7) Walk through mud8) Walk on hot asphalt 9) Walk as a scared person10) Walk as a happy person11) Walk as a drunk person

DISCUSSION:

1) Tell me what were your impressions on the game? 2) How do you think you look when you walk? 3) What type of walk seems especially interesting or especially hard?

The third game is called „Panto Pletikosa”. RULES:

One of you will stay in the classroom while others go outside the classroom. Tell the person who is staying in the class-room: “Read the story to yourself and later on you will retell it to the first person that comes into the classroom.”

STORY:

In the waiting room of the Medical Center in Copa Cabana there were eighteen people. On the door of the room in front of which most people were sitting there was the plaque that said “Dr. Panto Pletikosa, Psychiatrist; Pavica Marić, nurse”. In there waiting room there were a general withouthis uniform, a man in black shoes, a Caucasian woman with a three-year old black boy, woman with curlers in her hair, a few girls and boys and a man with a big nose. Suddenly, there was a sharp sound of fast footsteps in the corridor; a good-looking 40-year old woman walked in the waiting room followed by a hefty man who was frowning. The woman was sniveling. They entered the doctor’s office without knocking. There were sounds of cars and howling of the wind coming from the outside. It was autumn. General without his uniform had just coughed loudly when one of the boys in waiting room thought

that he heard a gunshot. Red-haired 40-year old woman furiously got out of the doctor´s office followed by doctor Pletikosa holding his head. The little black boy started to cry.Each person that enters the room needs to retell the story they hear to the other person.

DISCUSSION:

1) Which pieces of information were left out by the end of the activity and what do you think why exactly these information? 2) Were some details added? 3) Were some details changed? 4) To what extent do we really listen to each other? 5) What are the main reasons of misun-derstandings? The goal of the activity was to show which senses you used in each game. We also wanted to determine which game was the best for you in terms of how you felt and which game was the easiest and the hardest for you. Each game was focusing on one of the senses and depending on the type of person you are, some games might have been more difficult and some easier. Therefore, you can conclude which type of learner you are, but to be even surer, you

should fill in the VARK questionnaire and find out your results.Working with the senses can help you better understand the processes of contact with the outside world. It’s not hard to become aware of your senses. You just need to focus your attention on a particular sense. When you include activities based on using your body and senses in group work, you lift the atmos-phere because these types of activities are challenging, intriguing and revealing. Also, if you solve a problem on a physical level, changes may happen on other levels. This is the goal of games that include using the senses. This workshop was meant to show which style best suits you. That’s why the games were presented in a way in which each game focused on different senses: ‘’orange’’ was based on touch and indirectly on scent and taste, ‘’let’s move’’ on body movement and visual perception and ‘’Panto Pletikosa’’ on listening.A good teacher needs to know his/her own learning style before recognizing his/her students’ learning styles. At last, a teacher is a permanent student and it is essential that you know yourself in order to get to know others better.

“The Masks”

–LucillaMicheliMarušić

“Forgotten Experiences”–MarijetaMašić

“Enjoy and Discover Science through Senses”

– Patrizia Pitacco

What we have to know about it?The aim of this session and workshop is to travel in a virtual way, to perceive the sense of space and time and to try to understand how the perception of senses had changed through the evolution and how the progress and technology influence the use of the senses.We will put this idea in connection with the mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology: MC is the ability to develop and apply mathematical thinking in order to solve a range of problems in everyday situations, with the emphasis being placed on process, activity and knowledge. Basic C in science and technology refer to the mastery, use and application of knowledge and meth-odologies which explain the natural world. These involve an understanding of the changes that happened due to human activity and the responsibility of each individual as a citizen.

The session will start with a question:What is science? What do scientists do?• Science is trying to explain and simplify the world. It seems to be something complicated but the main aim is to simplify the world• In science we have to observe, explain, search, simplify, resolve the problem

During and through the conversation we will go through the idea that the first hominidae had very sensitive senses.

Conclusion:- the senses have influenced the development of the language,- in line with the development of the language, the development of a group culture begins- having contacts with each other and other groups they became able to socialize - they became social beings - the human became a being able to

communicate – to think – to plan – to do things – to reflect- the human has the memory, and is able to remember and to retell the past and imagine the future. He can do some things, actions that are planned and imagined.- the human, is able to use the hands and in this way he can construct and build, tools and machines. This is the beginning of technology- when the human is making his tools he is thinking, with thinking he is developing his brain and his language

The human became able to retell the pass and to imagine and plan the future. One of the main thoughts was: “How can I simplify my life?” – One of the aims of science

There are three revolutionary inventions that made a big change in the human life: the wheel, the steam engine, the computerCan we imagine the level of revolution that was the wheel, and the steam engine for people then?! And what about the computer – why is it so revolutionary? Because it is a “machine” able to regulate the language, it is considered the “brain machine”, it can create and re-create messages. It can create the senses. This is why many people don’t accept the com-puter … is it maybe because they don’t want to be imprisoned by the computer?The real danger and challenge is that the machine could control the human, and not the opposite.

A lot of changes and everything starts from the senses!

Activity n. 1)• the participants have to make a wheel using only newspapers and pencils,• each participant will make her/his proper wheel consulting each other in pairs

• they can choose their own pair• evaluation of the “wheels”: each participant will put on his blindfold and touch the wheels deciding on the best one. • they take the blindfold off and decide which is the best wheel using only the sense of sight and “how it looks like”• testing the wheel.

Activity n. 2)problem solving – action research

Initial situation:

Each participant is the head of the family in the city board of the village. The village is very small and the number of the families depends on the number of the participants. The main activity is agriculture and the village is very rich, but they have a problem.The participants have- to present their family: members, number of animals, cars ……

- to define the problem that must be technological (because the aim of the activity is to plan a machine that will solve the problem- to vote on the main problem

After the definition of the priority problem, they will be divided in two groups and have to discuss how to resolve the problem. The solution must be the construction of a machine that will solve the problem - at the end, the machine will be described to the other group that has to understand and draw the machine- compare their own picture and the

original picture

As a conclusion of the session the participants have to understand that during this activity they have applied the technique related to action research where in case of solving the problem we have to follow the “action research spiral or circle”. The elements of this are

plan – act – evaluate – reflect Before approaching the “circle” we have to become conscious of the problem, and then we must be able to observe, search, analyze, describe, explain and precisely interpret the problem.

“Abstraction”

–LucillaMicheliMarušić

“An Introduction to the Glagolitic Script”

–MarijetaMašić

Glagolitic script• ancient Slavic script • middle of the 9th century• Croatia: until the 19th century • early 16th century → Latin script

The author• Byzantine monk from Thessaloniki (Salonika)• Cyril (real name: Constantine) • from Macedonian Slavs in the vicinity of Thessaloniki• translated religious books

Name• glagolati which means “to speak” • Glagolitic priest • Glagolitic from the 16th century

Script forms• rounded • angular • Croatian Glagolitic script → angular

The most famous monuments• Baška stone tablet• dating from the year 1100• the island of Krk (Jurandvor near Baška) King Zvonimir’s deed of donation (land for the church construction )• from the 12th century, it’s most common in the coastal areas • it is also present in other Croatian re-gions

The first printed book• Missal According to the Law of the Roman Court (Missale Romanum Glagolitice) from 1483.• Kiev Folia• the late 9th or early 10th century • sacramentary fragment • kept in Kiev in Ukraine

Angular Glagolitic script

“Reflection and Applicability of the activites”

– all the trainers

From Monday to Thursday, at the end of each day, the last hour of the afternoon session will be focused on the analysis of what the participants had done that day. Particular attention will be paid to reflection and the applicability of the activities in the teaching situations of the participants’ schools and classes.The participants have to answer the question: How can I use what I have done?

Planning this activity we reflected on the meaning of the name of the days in the week. Every day in the week takes his name after a planet, and we know that each planet has its color. This is why we decided to have a poster in different color each day depending on the colors of the planets. Monday: Moon, milky white Tuesday: Mars, bright red Wednesday: Mercury, pear green Thursday: Jupiter, yellow Friday: Venus, radiant white Saturday: Saturn, black or blue Sunday: Sun, gold and brown

The activities will be defined on the poster. The participants will have to choose the paper with the symbol of a sense they used the most during each activity. After that they have to write how they can apply the activity in their class and put the paper on the poster and then explain what they have written.

Outdoor session – A boat tour - Krk & Cres

The day before the last day of the course, on 13 July 2012 the participants and their mentors had a field trip. We had an unforgettable experience on the islands of Krk and Cres where all the senses joined and mixed together. We started our tour in Lovran where we embarked on a boat which took us to the island of Cres to the little town called Beli. After taking a short tour around Beli we continued our journey to the island of Krk where we

visited a small but very nice tourist resort Njivice and relaxed and enyojed in the sun and the sea on one of the beautiful beaches. The group enjoyed the ride on the boat and the traditional flavors of Adriatic cuisine. This extremely stimulating and relaxing atmosphere was the perfect spot to do the evaluation of the course and to conclude our last day together.

ABOUT THE TRAINERS OF THE COURSE

NAME

Ines Horvat

Andrej Marušić

Marijeta Mašić

Lucilla Micheli Marušić

Patrizia Pitacco

Bojana Vignjević

CONTACT

ines@dante-ri.hr

andrej@dante-ri.hr

marijeta.masic@skole.hr

lucilla@dante-ri.hr

patrizia.pitacco1@ri.t-com.hr

biba277@yahoo.co.uk

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE COURSE

PARTICIPANT

Ayşe Ay Yiğit

Rebeca Del Pilar Ruso

Àngels Oliete Burillo

Dijana Toljanić

Rebeca Urtiaga Ruiz

Esther Villar

HOME INSTITUTION

85th Year Anatolian High SchoolCamlic District, Street 841, Number: 2Buca/IzmirTurkey

C.R.A. EntreviñasC/El Remedio S/NSan Vicente de la Sonsierra26338 La Rioja

Organismo Autonomo Programas Educativos Europeos. APEEMinisterio de Educacion, cultura y deporteGabierno de España

OŠ “Podmurvice”Podmurvice 6, RijekaCroatia

Cra Valle Oja TirónC/Miguel Villanueva 3926240 Castañares de RojaSpain

C.E.I.P. CasalarreinaLas Escuales Street

Casalarreina, P.C. 26230La Rioja, Spain

CONTACT

ayseay_yigit@hotmail.com

msbecky@hotmail.comcra.sanvicente@larioja.org

eteilo_a@hotmail.com

dijanatoljanic@yahoo.com

rebecaurtiaga@hotmail.com

esther_villar@hotmail.com

ONE OF THE PARTICIPANT’S EXPERIENCE

It is well documented that it is through our years as children that humans undertake the fastest, highest levels of learning. Somehow though, as we grow towards our adolescence and into our adulthood, our focus is repositioned not so much on learning, but onto issues of responsibi-lity. This in most cases meansintellectual (or mind only) learning and as adult learners we seem to pay lessattending to how we have learnt as children through and the phenomenal difference it made in terms of speed and dept of understanding.

For most adults then, although we continue to learn, our methods, the speed and level of enjoyment we get from learning is greatly reduced in comparison to what we experienced as children.

As a tutor of adults I am always looking for new and refreshing ways to help the adults I work with get the most of the training I provide. Most of my training is centred around management and leadership, coaching and soft skills development. My sessions are known for being interactive and mentally, professionally and personally challenging. It is with this in mind, that I was drawn to the workshop on learning through senses advertised by Dante.

MyvisittoDanteinRijekawasmyfirstvisit to Croatia and that was the start of a week of learning that took place for me, on every level. As a teaching rganization what I was most struck by was that there is within Dante an ethos of learning – everyone there wanted to learn too.

Dante uses both traditional and modern methods of teaching to engage their adult language learners, however by using the approach of engaging the senses Dante has brought a new dimension to the expe-rience of the rganization, its tutors and its learners.

I, like many others would admit to promising myself that I will do more creative things, such as painting, writing, getting out into the open air and reconnecting with nature. However the truth is that we

never seem to make enough time to do these things and I would say we loose out on the real magic of life.

It is through the Dante workshop that I have been able to reconnect with the simple awareness’s that listening to the voice of the senses provides: the inspiration,motivation, relaxation and de-stressing gifts that are on offer when we connect here.

The Dante workshop was structured from the very beginning through to its end, to take us on a journey of the senses. A journey which would reconnect all of us, not only with the depth of knowing the voice of our senses, but with our childhood and the joy of learning we experienced then.

At the introduction session to the week long programme we began by using our senses of sound and touch by using the sound made by instruments to demonstrate how easily we could connect and make music together – something children do without thinking about who the other players may be. The focus of the child is on the sound and possibly the instrument, not necessarily whose making it.

This was then combined by the sense of taste as we were introduced to some of the foods traditionally associated with the Carnival in Rijeka. For me both these experiences refocus my mind onto the positive experience brought up by using my sense and not the uncertain of being in a new place with complete strangers. This made it much easier to introduceourselves to each other.

During the week we engaged in a variety of activities such as writing poetry to describe and recall distant memories which helped us connect our present learning with past learning, thus reinforcing both.

A couple of my favorite activities were our lessons with Lucilla Micheli Marusic who was our art tutor. Lucilla dealt with sound and touch in her sessions. Through her explanations,forthefirsttimeIunderstoodAbstract art, what it is about, how and

why it is produced. I think that for me, this was learning and understanding took place so specifically because of the engagement of our senses. For example following on from the theory of abstrac-tion and abstract art we were taken to another room and encouraged to paint an abstract picture, based entirely on our emotional response to a piece of music. The results were amazing for all of us. We then carried out a group review on our achievements, interpretations and assessment, thus validating our views jointly.

My other favorite session was again using the sense of touch, when we created masks by using only ourinterpretation of the feel, the touch the texture of the natural materials we were using to create something that was unique to us; an expression of the union between artist and natural material, in this case clay.

There was so much more that time and space would not allow detail description: the learning about Glagolitic script, the look and feel of the images that make up this alphabet, its history and origins. Then there was the food, culture and history of Croatia. The site visits to the towns of Rijeka, Hum, Pula, and Istra with the most knowledgeable and passionate tour guide Sandra that I have ever met. And part of the program arranged to help learners use their sense to create a deeper longer lasting learning experience.

I have leant things about myself, the Dante School, its tutors, Rijeka and Croatia that I will never forget and the experience will I am sure bring me back to all soon. Thank you all for an experience I will not forget.

Sandra PollockCMgr MIC, MCMI, DipM MCIPDDirector

MEMORIES