C1 Austria - a Host

Marion Guerrero reports on her expierence in our C1 meeting in Vienna:

My participation in the I-Improve – LIfe-long learning project was a very positive experience. It was very interesting to familiarize myself with a new concept of learning that went beyond my original understanding of the term. I came to understand the links between learning and personal development, and especially enjoyed the exchange with other organizations on how to include life-long learning concepts into daily processes and teaching routines, and how to pass on our new knowledge to co-workers and clients.

One of my favorite experiences was the visit of Laimikis from Vilnius in Vienna, and the sessions we had with life-long learning trainer Avril. It was great to „think about thinking“, reflect our own perceptions and cognitions and re-evaluate what it means to expand and constantly change one’s knowledge and experience (rather than merely add to it). It made me deliberate about my own pre-formed opinions and concepts, and led me to become and (hopefully) stay more open towards new forms of knowledge generation, including non-verbal forms of learning, as well as perceiving new experiences (and old experiences, as well) with all senses and from a multitude of different perspectives.

I especially remember taking a walk through Vienna with Jekaterina, Julius and Avril and showing them both the sites for the project we were planning in Vienna, as well as some of my favourite spots in the city, and perceiving details I had not noticed before, which led to new thoughts, ideas and creative notions.

Finally, I enjoyed that we were presented by Avril with a non-restrictive structure to organize our experiences and thoughts, also in order to implement life-long learning and creative learning processes within our organisation, and to help us re-create the experience with other people, as well. It was a very fruitful and enriching experience which helped our organisation to develop our teaching tools, and gave me personally a lot of impulses for future teaching projects. I also feel that it contributed to my personal growth, both as a teacher and a co-worker.

Written by Marion Guerrero

Wiener SPÖ-Bildung

C1-Lithuania visiting Austria