NEWS In collaboration with the University of Tartu, Oskar Gedda and Eva Svedmark from the Centre for Educational Development (UPL) have delivered a professional development programme for educational developers, educational leaders, and vice rectors in Estonia.
The programme is part of a three year EU funded project aimed at strengthening pedagogical expertise in higher education and contributing to the long term enhancement of educational quality within Estonian higher education.
Eva Svedmark, UPL and Oskar Gedda, UPL.
“For UPL, this assignment is a concrete expression of Umeå University's internationalisation ambitions. Not only participating in international contexts, but actively contributing to knowledge and capacity development among colleagues in other countries, is an important part of our mission,” says Eva.
During the spring, participants met for three residential workshops, where they deepened their understanding of current knowledge in higher education pedagogy, recent research on educational leadership, and strategic quality enhancement. A central component of the programme was participants' work on their own development projects, focusing on how educational development can be organised, led, and implemented in practice at their respective institutions.
The programme brought together around twenty participants from thirteen universities and higher education institutions across Estonia. It provided opportunities for participants to exchange experiences across institutional boundaries, develop shared perspectives on educational leadership, and identify concrete ways forward for strengthening educational quality throughout the country.
The collaboration with the University of Tartu has provided UPL with opportunities to gain new perspectives on educational development and to contribute to the advancement of higher education pedagogy in an international context.
“What happens in courses like this is truly remarkable. From a cautious beginning, with participants bringing very different experiences, a strong community gradually emerges, one that courageously and playfully discusses and shapes important questions concerning quality in higher education,” says Oskar.
The collaboration has helped strengthen relationships between UPL, the University of Tartu, and colleagues at other Estonian higher education institutions. UPL aims to further develop this type of initiative and undertake similar collaborations in the future.