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The following is a partial list of areas abroad that use VTS in their educational programming:
Spain
Eastern Europe
Primary School #66, St Petersburg, Russia 2006
VTS was first implemented outside the U.S. in 1994.Under the sponsorship of the Open Society Institute, VUE conducted a pilot project and research study with elementary schools in St. Petersburg, Russia. This experience not only proved the cross-cultural applicability of VTS, but also demonstrated the degree to which VTS corresponded to Russia’s educational reform needs for new curricula and student-centered methods. Faced with the task of preparing children to operate in a transitional society, Russian educators recognized the need to arm students with the appropriate tools and sense of moral values. VTS provided this instruction. Its emphasis on students’ developing abilities and interests, group discovery process, and supporting individual point of view overlapped with Russia’s goals to instill "humanistic" and democratic values into post-Soviet classrooms.
The three-month pilot was met with such enthusiasm that VUE continued working with St. Petersburg educators and teachers over the next three years (1994-96). In this time, VUE made significant developments in the VTS curriculum and training model, all the while training new teachers annually. Lesson plans were written for younger grades (K-3). One-third of the images was replaced by those from Russian museum collections. Perhaps the aspect of VTS most affected by implementing the program abroad was VTS training. VUE staff soon realized that due to the language and distance barriers it could not provide the same ongoing support to teachers in Russia as it did in its U.S. programs. Furthermore, specific criteria had to be met in order for any new program to be introduced into the Russian educational system. VUE knew that it needed the experience and expertise of local education administrators to continue VTS on any significant level. For these reasons, VUE redesigned its professional development program to prepare a group of Russian educators–teacher trainers, museum educators, educational psychologists–to become VTS trainers while simultaneously training teachers. This model has now been incorporated into all VTS training in the U.S. and abroad.
Other sites in the Open Society Institute network soon became interested in VTS, having heard about the St. Petersburg project. In 1995, VUE began a pilot project and research study in Almaty, Kazakstan. A former Soviet republic, Kazakstan faced similar issues in its education reform process as Russia, and yet its specific economic and political conditions and cultural heritage added new dimensions to implementing VTS. Once again, VTS proved its effectiveness despite constraints such as periodic electric outages throughout the city, unpaid teachers, bilingual schools (Russian and Kazak), and an even more deeply rooted disposition toward authority than in Russian culture.
It became clear, however, that expanding the program to more sites abroad necessitated a training strategy that could accommodate many sites at once while maintaining the long-term effectiveness of the program. VUE developed such a large-scale training and implementation model, and in 1997, VTS was launched in six countries: Kazakstan; Kyrgyzstan; Ukraine; Lithuania; Estonia; and Macedonia. VUE and Russian VTS staff jointly conducted workshops, training a total of approximately 200 teachers (grades 1-3) in 60 schools in the first year of this three-year project. In each subsequent year, more schools and teachers were added.
Today, the VTS programs in each of these countries operate independently. The Ministries of Education in each of the seven countries abroad (including Russia) have approved the program, establishing VTS as a legitimate curriculum that can be taught in all primary grade schools. The program has expanded significantly throughout each of the countries; new coordinators and teachers in various cities are continuously being trained. VTS has been translated into local languages, including those of ethnic minorities. Even after OSI financial support ended in 1999, VTS coordinators in each site have been able to raise funds from other sources to keep VTS operating and growing, despite the difficult economic conditions in this part of the world.
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PART TWO
