TA Group

16/08/2022

TA Teachers 2022 Conference materials are available!
‍We are glad to let you know that we have published all the presentations prepared for the TA Teachers 2022 Conference Towards Thinking Curriculum. All speakers have prepared online boards that include the video of their talk, various support materials and tasks for the participants. There are 11 presentations available in the English track, and 17 in the Russian track. You can choose to follow either one or both of them.

If you haven't registered for the conference yet, you still have time to do it!

The English track includes 11 presentations. Each presenter has shared their presentation and supporting materials on a specially designed padlet board. All the participants are welcome to access the boards from 15 to 29 August, ask questions

13/02/2022

Continuous Professional Learning Methodology

In November 2021, TA Group signed an agreement with UNICEF Tajikistan on the technical support for an education reform project implemented in the country. The main focus of our activities is the development of an in-classroom support system for teachers.

We are currently developing a methodology for supporting teacher continuous professional learning. The Methodology is being co-developed with colleagues from the Republican Teaching and Methodological Centre and will be tested in the 30 pilot schools of the project. We expect to present the first draft of the methodology in the summer 2022.

The project team is ready to share the results with colleagues who would like to test the Methodology in their context. From summer 2022, we are also available for a training course based on the Methodology that can be delivered in a face-to-face or blended mode. You can contact us for additional information.

13/02/2022

Life Skills through Project Work - Possibilities for collaboration

Since November 2021, Dr. Alexander Sokol has been working with colleagues in Abkhazia on a model for a project-based approach to developing 21 century skills in a school context.

While there have been many initiatives related to project-based learning around the world, there are a few examples when the real world understanding of project retained its key features when entering the formal system of school education. This is especially so when the project work is truly inclusive rather than dealing with pre-selected groups of more talented and motivated learners.

The project plans to develop an inclusive model of real-world type project work in the school context and test it in 13 pilot schools. The first results of the project will be available in summer 2022. We would be interested in collaboration with colleagues who have had similar experience in different parts of the world or those who would like to test the developed model in their context. You can contact us for additional information.

13/02/2022

Would you like to join one of our courses for teachers?

If you are based in a country that takes part in Erasmus+ programme for schools, please ask if your school has already obtained a grant for teacher professional development. If they haven't, the next deadline for applications is Feb 23. There are quite a few professional development options we offer and it will be a pleasure to see you as one of our participants.

You can find more information in our Call for Partners. And do let us know if there are questions.

Erasmus+ programme of the European Union offers a number of new opportunities for professional development in the field of education. The new programm...

13/02/2022

Join us for TA Teachers conference 2022 online or in person in Riga!
The sixth TA Teachers Conference "Towards Thinking Curriculum" will take place in a blended format in August - September 2022.
Follow the link to register your interest in the conference or to complete a full registration form!

The sixth TA Teachers Conference Towards Thinking Curriculum will take place in a mixed face-to-face and virtual format in August and September 2022. Since 2012, when the first TA Teachers conference was organised, thinking has

29/03/2021

Call for Partners (Erasmus+ Funding for Staff Training)
Follow the link to find out more!

Erasmus+ programme of the European Union offers a number of new opportunities for professional development in the field of education. The new programm...

13/09/2020

Learning through texts - looking for teachers to pilot the approach

Dr. Alexander Sokol is working on a new TA technology for dealing with texts. The technology aims to improve how much we learn from our interaction with texts. It will help you organise learners' research based on texts they read by proposing a system of tasks that can be used for various texts. Follow the link below to watch a video where Alexander briefly presents the technology at a conference for teachers of English in Latvia.
Alexander is looking for teachers working with learners at the level of B1 and higher who are interested in piloting the new materials. In exchange, he proposes free support workshops throughout this academic year. Please let us know if you are interested.

Would it be useful if we had a set of tasks we could use with any text, film or talk? Would it help if learners could work with more meaningful texts and par...

13/09/2020

The fifth TA Teachers Conference Assessment for Teaching Thinking took place in the virtual format on 27-29 August 2020.
If you have missed the conference and would like to see recordings of the sessions, it is possible to purchase access to either a track in a particular language or all the materials. Follow the link below to know more and read conference report.

The fifth TA Teachers Conference, Assessment for Teaching Thinking  took place in the virtual format on 27-29 August, 2020. The conference was supported by the European Union Erasmus+ Programme and the University of Lincoln. This was

19/05/2020

The International Conference Assessment for Teaching Thinking will take place virtually on 28-29 August 2020.

Although the virtual format may limit some of the aspects of our usual face-to-face conferences, we believe it also offers new opportunities we can all benefit from.

Follow the link to find out more about the programme and the registration procedure.

The International Conference Assessment for Teaching Thinking will take place virtually on 28-29 August 2020. Although the virtual format may limit s...

01/02/2020

11/01/2020

Join us for the fifth TA Teachers Conference Assessment for Teaching Thinking that will take place in Riga (Latvia) on 28-29 August 2020.
Follow the link below to find our more and register for the event!

The fifth TA Teachers Conference Assessment for Teaching Thinking will take place in Riga on 28-29 August 2020. More and more teachers around the world embed the development of thinking skills in their lessons. We tend to believe that it is

12/12/2019

Call for Organisations Interested in Obtaining Erasmus+ Funding for Staff Training
TA Group is offering a series of professional development training events in various locations across Europe from July 2020. From now on your organisation can register the interest in attending these events with EU funding support. Follow the link below to find out more!

Erasmus+ programme of the European Union offers a number of new opportunities for professional development in the field of education. Organisations in...

19/10/2019

From 29 Sept to 5 October, we ran a week long residential course Bringing Creativity and Thinking Skills into the Educational Process in Cantalupa, Italy. The group comprised participants from Bulgaria, Hungary and Latvia. We continued working according to a completely new programme where participants are designing thinking units for teaching their subjects.
Let us know if you would like to participate in our future courses and feel free to share your feedback !

From 29 Sept to 5 October, Dr. Alexander Sokol ran a week long residential course Bringing Creativity and Thinking Skills into the Educational Process...

19/10/2019

On 28 July - 3 August, we ran a week long residential course Bringing Creativity and Thinking Skills into the Educational Process in Riga, Latvia. The group comprised participants from Spain, Portugal and Germany.
This year we continued working according to a completely new programme where participants are designing thinking units for teaching their subjects.
Let us know if you would like to participate in our future courses and feel free to share your feedback !

On 28 July - 3 August, Dr. Alexander Sokol ran a week long residential course Bringing Creativity and Thinking Skills into the Educational Process in...

19/05/2019

Are you involved in competence-based education? Do you want to know more about the stages a learner should go through in the process of becoming more competent? If yes, then check our new video where Dr Sokol shares a practical model that guides the learner and the teacher on the way to competence.

13/09/2018

Learning to Teach Thinking - a fourth international conference in Riga!
The programme of the fourth international TA Teachers Conference is now available online. The title of the conference is Learning to Teach Thinking and the programme comprises 9 talks and 10 workshops by education professionals from 8 countries, as well as an interactive presentation of study materials and learners' works by 15 teachers of thinking from Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Friday, 21 September09:00 - 12:00  Pre-conference tutorials (separate registration required)Tutorial 1. How does it feel to be a learner in the thinking classroom? Dr. Alexander Sokol, TA Group, Latvia.Tutorial 2.ACTS: How to

13/09/2018

SMART Learning Project - new TA materials for various subjects!
SMART Learning (Study MAterials as Resources for Thinking-based Learning) is a project involving five organisations from Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. The project is aimed at easing the process of embedding systematic development of thinking skills into the primary and secondary instruction.
We developed over 30 worksheets for various subjects. All of them can be freely downloaded from the corresponding section of the TA Teachers website (we recommend logging in and seeing the latest materials added to the site).

13/09/2018

Professional development course on the assessment of thinking skills!
In the framework of the ACTS project supported by the European Union, TA Group is going to run a professional development course on the assessment of thinking skills for teachers. The course will be offered to teachers of various subjects during face-to-face sessions in Latvia and as an online webinar based course to language teachers from anywhere in the world. See the preliminary programme of the course and book a place for your participation.

In the framework of the ACTS project supported by the European Union, TA Group is going to run a professional development course on the assessment of...