The European Innovative Teaching Award
The European Innovative Teaching Award The European Innovative Teaching Award is a new initiative introduced by the Council Resolution on a strategic framework for European co-operation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021–2030) The European Innovative Teaching Award aims to recognise the work of teachers and schools for their outstanding contribution to education through innovative practices in teaching and learning. The prize is built on the Erasmus+ programme that over more than 30 years has been a source of innovation through transnational co-operation projects. Teachers and schools from all 33 Erasmus+ programme countries will be awarded each year in four age-specific categories: early childhood education and care, primary education, secondary education and VET schools. Their outstanding projects will be selected and nominated by the Erasmus+ National Agencies. The first 2021 edition of the Award has a thematic focus on distance and blended learning which is enshrined in the European Education Area priorities and particularly relevant in the current disruptive pandemic context. The aim is to show among others, how the participation in the Erasmus+ programme has enabled teachers and schools to easier switch to virtual classrooms. According to the Award’s concept, innovative teaching and learning shifts educational processes towards collaborative, participatory and inclusive methods. There is indeed no innovation in education without inclusion. They put the student at the heart of the learning process and let him/her take responsibility for learning. In this sense it is an empowering process. Innovative teaching and learning means also a focus on competence based approach where developing knowledge, skills, attitudes and values go hand in hand. This requires new methods with a focus on learning from experience and real life application of multidisciplinary knowledge and makes education more meaningful for the student.
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