Erasmus+ course – Zadar, Croatia 14 – 19/8/2023
A team of creative teachers from different European countries spent six days in Zadar to learn about art and creativity. The Erasmus+ course for teachers was led by Igor, Lana and Pina – the team of educators from InNature Academy.
The first day was spent with introductory activities and getting to know the educators and participants. There were teachers from Slovakia, Spain, Poland and Romania. Later, we all headed together to the historic center.
Luca, a tourist guide, gave us a very interesting introduction to the old town of Zadar. We learned a lot about the history of the city in an attractive and entertaining way. Greeting to the Sun was our last point, after which we enjoyed one of the most beautiful sunsets in Croatia.
Outdoor games and artistic activities in nature were the theme of the day. Although we started with a series of lectures on creativity and art in the classroom, we continued our social gathering after the break in the forest park Vruljica, where we played various child-friendly games in nature. In a cozy atmosphere we made a dream catcher from natural materials and a colorful friendship bracelet. Everything we do is connected with nature. Nature becomes our classroom and teacher.
On the third day we hosted the teachers of the Waldorf Zadar initiative. Impact of creativity in everyday teaching and How to lower stress in your classroom and Burnout prevention through mindfulness, art and nature were the topics of the third day. With numerous examples and techniques, we also learned to understand the Fight/Flight response. We relaxed with clay modeling and breathing techniques. We made a fractal drawing, drew a mandala and other anti-stress techniques through art.
In the Museum of Ancient Glass we had the opportunity to see numerous glass flasks and vessels found in the area of Zadar during the ancient times. We were introduced to the art of making glass jewelry and the art of glass blowing in workshops by artists: glassblower Antonija Gospić and glassblower Marko Štefanac. We were impressed by everything we experienced and had a lot of fun playing board games with glass beads at the end.
Inspired by art, we continued clay modeling techniques in our classroom. We made dishes, jewelry and decorative items by printing different materials from nature.
Friday was the Burnout prevention through mindfulness day where we learned more about Access Bars techniques and classroom activities that are good for stress relief. We finished the clay works and added a little color to them. They really turned out very nice.
The participants presented their cities, schools and countries. We also tasted various delicacies from Spain, Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Croatia. We rewarded hard-working and relaxed participants with certificates signed by InNature Acadamy.
On the sixth day of the course, we traveled by boat to the island of Ugljan. Our captain Predrag first took us on his boat to the smallest inhabited island in Croatia – the island of Ošljak. The participants had the opportunity to get to know Dalmatian plants through a mini-workshop of medicinal plants. We toured part of the island and had fun playing balote – a famous Dalmatian game with stone balls. In Preko on the island of Ugljan, we had enough time to relax and swim. We even swam to the small island of Galevac, with a monastery in the center.
I think that the most beautiful part of the trip for everyone was in a beautiful bay near the town of Ugljan, where we swam and dived in the turquoise sea, meditated a little while trying out the techniques of awareness that we had learned. Bathed in the sun and the sea, we returned to the beautiful city of Zadar.
Thanks to everyone who joined us on our six-day trip.
