Visual Local Art

Mezinieku Primary School is an educational institution, founded by the Dobele County, which implements the basic training program for students of 6 to 16 years old. There are 119 students; some of them have different nationalities and 6 students are integrated there with special educational needs. Students with special educational needs receive special attention.
The mission of the school is to provide students with a supportive environment, where they can learn and grow into spiritual, creative, harmonious and independent personalities with high learning motivation and a sense of responsibility towards themselves and their families. The aim of school participation in the project is very close to the project’s idea, because the creative workshops, the seminars for teachers and the new educational material will improve the quality of education.
Despite the fact that art education is compulsory in Latvian schools, the lack of time, knowledge, appropriate space and resources are the key factors that inhibit its success. At school, there are three hobby groups: home economics, handicrafts and information, visual arts. The school is not located at the county centre, so students have fewer opportunities to attend art school and other activities taking place in the city centre.

The educational material, which will be designed during the project, will be implemented and evaluated into the school. After this, it will be disseminated among all the schools of the region, which are not involved in the project. During the project the Mezinieku Primary School:

• will evaluate the content of lessons and will find out the level of students’ knowledge about the history and cultural heritage;
• will motivate teachers to visit courses run by local artists and learn new drawing techniques;
• will take part in activities and workshops organized by the local History Museum in order to improve the knowledge of local heritage;
• will be participate in a painting competition, make a calendar, learn actively, and communicate with partners;
• will approbate new art education programs and educational materials;
• will explore and learn about the Greek experience in art education;
• will disseminate the experience of the international meetings;
• will promote and improve the cooperation between educational institutions and organizations which support education in Latvia and the partner country.