#HERITAGETEACHERS // Adriana Bujag: “Heritage offers opportunities and experiences that form students as global citizens”
Adriana Bujag is a primary school teacher at Heritage International School. She graduated from the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, specialized in “Pedagogy and methodology of primary education” at the “Alecu Russo” State University of Bălţi. Adriana Bujag has a first teaching degree, she is a national trainer at the Institute of Educational Sciences, has a certification in “Introduction to Cambridge Primary” and a master’s degree in Educational Sciences. In the current edition of the national “eTwinning Annual Conference”, Adriana Bujag won the first prize in the “Primary” category, for her hard work and dedication in carrying out the project “The Book of Four Seasons” together with her students. Heritage International School attracted me with its novelty and uniqueness. The challenge of discovering a really special school in the Republic of Moldova convinced me to join the Heritage team.
I was part of the team that in 2017 opened the doors of Heritage for the first time and we celebrated that victory with great joy.
In my teaching career, I had the opportunity to be part of the General Association of Teachers AGIRoMD, where I have had trainings, meetings, congresses, which have helped me keep up with the challenges and innovations in the field of education. Another major step in my development as a teacher was the chance to become a trainer for the implementation of criterion evaluation through descriptors.
At Heritage, I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the administration. We are constantly encouraged to improve our professional skills and we are provided with opportunities to expand our horizons, which is not only useful, but I would say it’s a must for a teacher.
Participating in the introduction of the optional course “Media Education”, and being part of the first group of teachers trained by the Center for Independent Journalism, helped to expand my teaching experience.
As a result of this course, I went to Sweden to learn and test in real time how to achieve a quality media education in school. Then, returning to Heritage, I organized for our students meetings with journalists, trips to TV channels, training classes and presentations to provide them with knowledge and skills so that they can objectively discern information content and use new media.
The most recent professional achievement that makes me proud are the eTwinning projects, which I have been carrying out together with my students for 3 years now. I discovered these eTwinning projects thanks to my colleagues at Heritage, who already had experience in such initiatives and introduced me to this universe of international projects. The Quality Certificates obtained are a proof that we can successfully implement international projects in the primary school as well.
Heritage classes provide all necessary conditions to make connections with students. In class, I always try to convey my support to them, to assure them that I am there for them, that we play and learn together.
To engage students, I like to combine various activities, to use informal ways of recreation, to keep the energy of the class at a high level by telling jokes, reciting poems and playing.
When my teacher barometer tells me that students are either tired or unable to concentrate, I try to take breaks, during which we take imaginary trips along with their favourite fairy tales characters, or we tell stories from our beloved readings; this way their attention returns to class.
I like to listen to children telling stories, sharing their reading impressions, or giving advice from the stories they read. To this end, I ask children for reading recommendations for the weekend and I, in return, study and recommend something that would be interesting for them to read.
The credo that I repeat every day to children is that they come to school not only to gather information from teachers, but also to learn from their colleagues, and to share with others what they know best.
Our most recent achievement was holding online meetings with students from other schools, from other countries, within the “Climate Action” international project. Discussions with students from India and Romania and the excitement of this project were truly memorable for the little ones.
We also focus on the use of technological devices in the classroom. For example, together with the students, we decided that Friday will be our “Gadget Day”, when we integrate digital tools and platforms to make the lessons more exciting and interactive for students. I think that digital skills are very useful for children, especially in these times, when using technology is a vital ability.
I often tell students that in addition to theoretical knowledge, Heritage also offers them a multitude of opportunities and experiences that shape them as global citizens.
I wish we could speed up the process of personalized selection of subjects studied in school, following the model of the Scandinavian countries. Children should have the opportunity to choose their favourite subjects, at a certain level, without being overloaded with a general curriculum. I am confident that this will increase the quality and relevance of education.
We can already see the influence of mixed education on the modernization of the system. As we move towards, we will discover more and more innovations in the field of education, which will call for accelerate training for teachers and parents.
With the modernization of education, the role of the teacher will increase. We have all noticed during 2020 how important it is to have good and involved teachers, who can establish emotional connections with students, even through electronic devices and despite masks.
Get to know all our amazing Heritage teachers here.