Page 13 - Tallinn University

„tHE
TU is an educational innovator and the oldest educator of teachers in Estonia, providing teacher education since 1919.
RIGHt
UNIVERSIty INtHE RIGHtPlACE”
How loNG HAVE yoU BEEN CoNNECtED
wItH tAllINN UNIVERSIty?
Depends on what university we are talking about. In 1979, I came from Tartu to Tallinn and held the Chair of Pedagogy and Psychology of Tallinn Pedagogical Institute. I have survived all the changes since then, during which the university became Tallinn Pedagogical University
and then finally became Tallinn University. So I have spent the majority of my life in Tallinn University and it can be said that I have taught thousands of students.
I have worked at the university in very different positions, most recently as a director of the Centre for Innovation in Education. The vision of the centre is to incorporate new ideas and approaches from all over the world into Estonian teacher training and the whole spectrum of Esto- nian educational life. The centre has become a test laboratory for new methods of learning and teaching where researchers, practitioners and developers of educational politics meet.
IS It tRUE tHAt tHE AVERAGE AGE of StUDENtS IS INCREASING AND tHAt tHE NUmBER of mAtURE PEoPlE CommENCING StUDIES IS AlSo INCREASING?
Yes it is. A typical master’s student is experienced, has a family and is employed. It is good to teach these students who provide the catalyst for broader discussions and comparisons of their experience. Also, bach- elor’s study is becoming more diverse, both in the sense of age as well as nationality and cultural background. This is the mirror of modern life.
“I have spent about a hundred years of my life in Tallinn University,” grins MaTI HEIdMETs, an educational researcher and professor of social psychology who has worked at the university as a lecturer, associate professor, vice-rector, professor and rector.
eDuCaTiOnal innOvaTiOn