This feature is the fifth article in a series that celebrates the accomplishments of National Affiliates of the International Development in Europe Committee (IDEC) of the International Reading Association (IRA). Their member organizations’ activity reports are compiled twice a year (in January and July), and we have summarized excerpts from these reports. Visit
www.literacyeurope.org for more information and a list of national websites.
Romania
The Romanian Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Association (RO RWCT), or AsociaŃia Lectura şi Scrierea pentru Dezvoltarea Gândirii Critice România, is working on a lot of strategic directions, included developing the LLPKA2 languages multilateral project Assessment and Evaluation in CLIL (www.aeclil.eu). The project included implementation, assessment, and evaluation of CLIL modules in primary school and secondary school, with the in-service teacher-training curriculum “Training CLIL through CLIL.” Their other projects include are the reaccreditation of the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking teacher training programme and developing the LLP Grundtvig multilateral project “Create—Motivate—Learn” under the umbrella of the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking International Consortium (
www.cremole.eu). They advocate for the provision of mentoring support for disenfranchised young scholars within the Scholarship for Roma Highschool Students project (conference and publication) and for the introduction of critical thinking skills in the school curricula of Malawi and Zambia (done by three members of the organization). Members of the RO RWCT Association contributed to the Diagnosis Study: Factors with influence on the development of children’s literacy competences in Romanian primary education developed in a partnership led by the Romanian Ministry of Education. Visit
www.alsdgc.ro for more information.
Russia
Reading Association of Russia (RAR) is continuing its successful national project “National Programme for Reading Promotion and Development in Russia” project, now in its fifth year, as well as developing project SWLT and the research project “Reading from Print and Screen.” They participated in the methodological seminar about the “PISA 2009 Results: Reading and Literacy Problems and Perspectives in Russia” in association with Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Education in Moscow in February 2011 and held a round table with the theme “Innovations in Reading Promotion” in association with The Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications in Moscow in March 2011. Their annual conference was be held in March 2011, and they held a conference entitled “Family Reading Past and Future” in April 2011, both in Moscow. Their conference with the theme “Reading in Education and Culture” will be held on November 22 and 23, 2011, in Moscow. The began a new Scientific Board on Reading in association with Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Education, Pedagogical Library, and they are on their fifth issue of their publication, Homo Legens. For more information, visit
http://www.rusreadorg.ru.
Slovenia BRALNO DRUŠTVO SLOVENIJE, the Slovenian Reading Association, organized a seminar and a round table on September 8, 2011, with the theme “Razmerje med besednimi in slikovnimi sporočili (Relation between textual and visual communication)” and will also published collection of scientific papers. The members of the Slovenian Reading Association collaborate with The Ministry of Education on reading promotion. The members of the Association's branches organized meetings for promotion of Slovenian writers and to promote reading on educational programs on local TV.