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Four Norwegian students and two teachers from North-Trøndelag College in Levanger, Norway, arrived in Tallinn on March 6, 1998 and spent 10 days there as part of a larger plan to help promote the establishment of a Norwegian-Estonian pedagogical and cultural connection. The students were Berit Gujord, Siri Stiklestad, Liv Anne S. Vedum, and Oline Øyangen. They are all teacher training students, specializing in different subjects. The teachers who accompanied the students were Phoebe Nilsen, Lecturer in English, and Asbjørn Kolberg, Lecturer in Norwegian, group leader, and one of the project initiators.

The first steps in the initiation of this project and in establishing contact between North-Trøndelag College and TPU were taken in 1990, and between 1990 and 1993 contact was established between the Art and Norwegian departments. That connection has been maintained and strengthened by various cooperative projects and agreements since then, and the program was expanded to include the physical education departments at both institutions.

Last March Kalle Hallik from the physical education department at TPU, along with four students of music, art and Nordic languages from TPU, visited Levanger, and two physical education teachers from Levanger visited TPU in February of 1998. The Norwegian group which visited TPU in March hoped to complement what has already taken place and to contribute in a small way to the promotion and realization of the agreement outlined and set by both institutions. The overall aim is to develop the professional level of teaching and research and to increase cultural contact through cooperative research and the exchange of information, students, and staff members.

It was in this connection that Asbjørn Kolberg was invited to lecture at TPU on Norwegian folk ballads and modern Norwegian poetry for children, and Phoebe Nilsen held a workshop for English students at TPU on methods of teaching English as a second language, demonstrating twelve ways of working with a short text.

Since the main focus of the project is of a pedagogical nature, the group also visited three schools in Tallinn: Tallinna Inglise Kolledz, Tallinn International School, and Tallinna 21. Keskkool. The visits were very informative and the group appreciated the opportunity to observe classes and to participate by teaching the pupils simple Norwegian songs and dances and by answering questions about Norwegian culture. The visits led to a fair amount of reflection about contrasts between the Estonian and Norwegian systems of education.

These visits and reflections fostered the hope for further cooperation in the future, and there are tentative plans that future cooperation will allow Norwegian students to do part of their practice teaching in Tallinn and Estonian students to try practice teaching in Norway. Such cooperation would definitely help to strengthen the connection between the two countries and the two pedagogical institutions and would enhance the development of both systems.

But the delegation to Tallinn did not only spend its time in schools. Since an important part of the agreement is also cultural exchange, the group was privileged enough to be taken on sightseeing tours not only of Vana Tallinn, but also of Lahemaa National Park and various places of interest such as Kuremäe Monastery and Palmse Manor. Furthermore, the group was impressed by the Estonia Theatre and by the Estonian production and performance of Verdi's "La Traviata," and the "Romeo and Juliet" ballet. TPU's women's choir concert in Niguliste Church was equally delightful. Finally, one must mention that the group will never forget the Estonian sauna experience they had at Arbavare. It may not have been as artistically or intellectually enriching as some of the other activities mentioned, but it was certainly fun and equally memorable!

By the end of the ten days in Tallinnn, all felt enormously enriched and were grateful to Reet Kääni and her staff at TPU for planning such a varied educational and cultural program for the group. Each group member sincerely hopes that funding for this project will continue to be provided so that the cooperation and connection between these two Norwegian and Estonian institutions will be strengthened and the exchange program's common goals promoted.

Phoebe Nilsen

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