The conference participants were welcomed by Sylwia Żmijewska-Kwiręg of the Center for Citizenship Education Foundation, Prof. Jolanta Sujecka-Zając of PAFF and UW School of Education, and Marianna Hajdukiewicz of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. They pointed to the biggest significance of early school education and the role of teachers of 1st – 3rd year of school in children and youth education.

The conference started with plenary session and lectures on the impact of teacher and student and parents relations on effectiveness of learning.  Joanna Białobrzeska, an author of manuals to integrated education, spoke about the role of space in the learning process. She presented how to entwine various fields of science to make learning a process of joyful discovering the world. Danuta Sterna, an expert in formative assessment, presented some ideas of assisting development of self-reliance and responsibility in children. Her lecture opened the debate on how to form internal motivation for learning in students.

An important element of the First Class Teacher project is sharing experiences by teachers, therefore the organizers planned also sufficient time for the participants to meet and share their inspirations. In informal atmosphere they could learn about activities of the Center for Citizenship Education Foundation, School with Class Foundation, Egmont Publishing House, and other organizations active in the area of early school education.  

The final part of the conference consisted of methodological workshops conducted by teachers with practice. Traditionally there were many math, reading and film inspirations geared to developing curiosity and willingness to learn in the youngest pupils.

The conference was organized as part of the “Learning Schools” (LES) Program run by the Center for Citizenship Education Foundation in cooperation with the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.