Creativity and IP Teaching 101: WIPO Academy Trains Schoolteachers in Albania and Romania
December 12, 2023
The WIPO Academy supported Albania and Romania with national seminars for schoolteachers on introducing creativity, innovation, and intellectual property (IP) teaching in their existing curricula.
The seminars were organized in collaboration with the Albanian General Directorate of Intellectual Property (GDIP), the Copyright Office of Romania (ORDA), the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of Romania (OSIM), and with special high-level guests from the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) of the Republic of Moldova, who also took part in the training.
Over 90 teachers benefited from tailored training programs on how to teach IP to the youth, and the creative ways of integrating examples of national inventions, authors, and works into classrooms.
(photo: WIPO/Aji)
Romanian schoolteachers working on a group exercise about copyright during a national seminar on IP teaching, which was held in Bucharest, Romania from October 31 to November 1, 2023.
(photo: WIPO/Aji)
A group of Albanian schoolteachers working on a theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) exercise during a national seminar on IP teaching in Tirana, Albania from November 13 to 16, 2023.
The seminars offered the teachers a unique opportunity to network, learn from leading IP and innovation experts, and practice their new skills through hands-on exercises and group work. At the end of the seminars, each teacher left with a tailor-made lesson plan on IP, inventiveness, and creativity which they can directly use in their classrooms.
Romanian Social Sciences Teachers to Introduce Creativity and IP in Classrooms
Romania is one of the unique countries that has nationally approved the teaching of IP and creativity in school curricula as an elective. The new policy means Romanian teachers need continuous training on IP and creativity. To support teachers in meeting this new need, the Romanian Ministries of Education and Culture, WIPO Academy, ORDA and OSIM teamed up to provide annual trainings for teachers focused on teaching the youth at formative stages about the link between IP, and innovation and creativity.
Sixty secondary school teachers specializing in social sciences and humanities from all regions of Romania took part in a WIPO Academy IP4Teachers National Seminar from October 31 to November 1, 2023 in Bucharest, Romania. The teachers got to learn about creative teaching methods such as the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ).
(photo: ORDA /Florescu)
Sixty Romanian schoolteachers at the two-day national seminar on IP teaching which took place in Bucharest, Romania from October 31 to November 1, 2023.
Teachers were invited to the in-person seminar as the second phase of a blended learning program, which started with a customized version of the WIPO Academy's General Distance Learning Course on Intellectual Property (DL-101) in Romanian.
(photo: ORDA/Florescu)
The National Seminar in Bucharest exceeded my expectations mainly because of the pedagogical insight on intellectual property. The seminar was an eye-opening experience due to the connection between creativity and copyright. Generating original ideas and innovation comes with the need to understand the nature of your product and how it can benefit you and your community. Students see they have a choice and a right. Enhancing creativity creates protected value and prosperity.
Mădălina Arta Ionescu, Romanian Schoolteacher
(photo: ORDA/Florescu)
As a philosophy and history teacher I plan to introduce innovation with its strong link to an individual's economic and moral aspirations through intellectual property in my classes. Intellectual property helps society to evolve by remunerating innovation and creativity. I want to develop a lesson plan on IP and philosophy for my students, with a focus on Romanian civilization.
Gicu-Valentin Dogaru, Romanian Schoolteacher
Preparing Albanian Schoolteachers for a National Curriculum on Creativity and IP
The 2023 edition of the annual IP Impact Certificate Course (IPCC) on IP Teaching was held in Tirana, Albania from November 13 to 16, 2023. The IPCC was organized as in-person national seminar with the General Directorate of Intellectual Property (GDIP) of Albania, and the support of the Korean Intellectual Property Office through the Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust for IP Education. Thirty-five Albanian primary and secondary schoolteachers benefitted from the national seminar.
(photo: GDIP)
Thirty-five Albanian schoolteachers participated in a four-day seminar on IP teaching in Tirana, Albania from November 13 to 16, 2023.
After completing the four-day seminar, the teachers were equipped with the tools and skills needed to develop lesson plans on IP, which they could later use in their classrooms. The seminar is part of the WIPO Academy's support for the GDIP and Albania's Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-university Education's efforts to introduce an IP module in the national curriculum of Albania.
(photo: WIPO/Aji)
The information I had about intellectual property before this seminar was shallow, so it goes without saying that this seminar served me a lot. I learned that in addition to encouraging creativity and innovation in young people, we should also tell them about IP and important information about it, to better prepare them for the challenges they may encounter in life. We Albanians have an expression: "work done with heart" and the organization of this seminar, was an example of that. Very precise and beautiful.
Shpresa Gorana, Albanian Schoolteacher
(photo: WIPO/Aji)
You learn a lot, not only about the topic of intellectual property (IP), but also how to apply it to yourself and your students, and particularly how to adapt it to the subject you teach in school. In addition, it teaches you about different interactive methods that can make a lesson on IP beautiful, understandable and above all desirable for students.
Vera Prendi, Albanian Schoolteacher
IP4Youth&Teachers
The support offered by the WIPO Academy falls under the framework of the IP4Youth&Teachers service, which assists IP offices, ministries of education and youth-based institutions with their efforts to invigorate creativity and IP by adapting WIPO’s course content to the cultural heritage and linguistic preferences of their countries. The IP4Youth&Teachers service includes the selection of IP Youth Ambassadors, teachers’ training, curricula development, and a forum for policy dialogue among educators.
