Center for Innovative Education

Center for Innovative Education (CIE) was established in April 2000, as a continuer to the international educational program “Step by Step”. The implementation of this Program in Lithuania started in 1994 as an educational project of the Open Society Fund – Lithuania. The main goal of the establishment of the CIE was to create a nongovernmental organization actively promoting values of open society and equal access to a quality education for all children in Lithuania.

The main advantage of CIE is that it’s activities cover the educational system in full as it promotes child-centred methodologies in nurseries, preschools, primary and secondary schools, and to the pedagogical community in the form of courses delivered to the three pedagogical universities in Vilnius, Klaipe da and Siauliai.

The mission of the Center for Innovative Education is to support and to affect the change process in education in the effort to ensure high quality of child teaching and learning that corresponds to the requirements of an open and democratic society.

CIE facilitates recognition of democratic values and behavioural norms. It offers high quality of teaching and learning and for success assists social and ethnic minorities to integrate into the Lithuanian society, it also spreads the idea of tolerance towards every member of the community.

CIE objectives:

• Spread ideas and provide practical skills on child-centred education for each level of the educational system.
• Organise professional training to educators and disseminate information on the innovative child-centred methodology.
• Initiate and implement different educational projects including those that promotes equal opportunities for minorities, Roma and disabled children and encourages tolerance and respect for diversity.
• Publish books and other teaching materials.

Center for Innovative Education provides more than 60 trainings through nine CIE training centers each year. More and more teachers are implementing child-centered methods in their classrooms. Between 1994 and 2003 the “Step by Step” program in Lithuania grew from being implemented in 10 classrooms to over 1000 classrooms.

The centre focuses on major trends of the educational reform in Lithuania. The Step by Step program is officially recognized by the Ministry of Education and Science. The government approves CIE teacher training programs, the centre is granted the permission to issue certificates of accomplishment, and may officially participate in professional teacher training.

CIE closely co-operates with the Ministry of Education, divisions for education of municipalities, universities, higher pedagogical schools, institutes for professional training, educational centres and non-governmental organisations.