TWI for the Children's
Training Workshops  
in
Livno, Kozarac, Jajce  
Bosnia and Herzegovina

November 5 – November 11, 2006

The purpose of the Training seminars was to train instructors to help young people be adaptable lifetime learners as the world situation and the demands of the marketplace change. In the one-day workshop,  various teaching methods were used to introduce educators to new teaching skills.  Instruction  emphasized the importance of helping children learn through various modalities:  visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, including active learning methods. The instruction  stressed taking into account the individual differences and needs of students. Participants discussed in group study, ways to make schools into stimulating and caring centers of learning by transforming classroom and school climates and encouraged teachers to develop nurturing relationships with their students.  Seminar activities also provided information for handling children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. The program discussed how to identify these problems in children and techniques to help them become successful learners and confident students.  All sessions were focused on parent-teacher cooperation and how the family-school bond can be strengthened for the benefit of the student. 

Dates

Activity

Remarks

November 5, 2006 (Sunday)

• Arrive Sarajevo

Overnight Sarajevo

November 6, 2006 (Monday)

• Travel to Livno

 Overnight: Livno
 

Leaders of the Training Workshop:
> Bobby Houser - President of TWI for the Children, 
> Azra Saje - Coordinator, 
> Vjeko Saje - Interpreter/Coordinator, 
> Bonnie Miller - Trainer.

November 7, 2006 (Tuesday)

• Workshop in Livno

Overnight Livno

November 8, 2006 (Wednesday)

• Travel to Kozarac

November 9, 2006 (Thursday)

• Workshop in Kozarac  
  
• Travel to Jajce

On November 9, 2006, the team presented a similar workshop for 120 educators in Kozarac , Bosnia and Herzegovina at “Srcem do Mira”, an NGO headed by activist Emsuda Mugajic. This organization assists persons returning to this area of northern Bosnia and Herzegovina .  Despite Kozarac's horrific recent history during the Bosnian war, this seminar brought together Bosnian Serb and Muslim educators from formerly warring areas and tragic places like Trnopolje, Omarska and Prijedor to participate in activities aimed at helping the future generation. 

November 10,2006

(Friday)

• Workshop in Jajce  
  
• Travel to Sarajevo

Overnight Sarajevo

On November 10, 2006, the team presented their third seminar of the week in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovnia for 67 educators from all three ethnicities (Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, and Croats).  Materials (teacher manual, parent manual, guide and video on learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder) were distributed to participants to take back to their organizations for further use.  

Click Here to see additional photos of the seminars in Bosnia during November 2006.

November 11,2006

(Saturday)

• Results:

  The seminars  demonstrated that schools can be  primary sources of teaching emotional intelligence by building competencies in communication, stress management, conflict resolution, and problem-solving, skills that students will need in their adult lives. Evaluations from the three seminars were positive, with teachers reporting that they learned many practical techniques that can be used in their schools.