The key to a good education is still a good teacher.

In framework of EU programme for education, training, youth and sport Erasmus+ project "Improvement of teacher`s planning skills in competency based education" (project ID No. 2017-1-LV01-KA219-035454_1), in cooperation between pedagogues from Latvia, Italy and Norway our aim was to strengthen teacher's skills to implement a competency-based education and to contribute to education quality of 21st century in general. This handbook offers a variety of approaches to thinking about the learning process, teaching specific skills, and different methods and examples for lesson planning.

Every education reform (changes) in a society comes with a series of publications, studies, recommendations on how a teacher should work. However, these reforms have little to no practical advice about how exactly to do that, which techniques and examples to work with. It was not clear what was valuable from the teacher's previous experience and what was altogether new. Practical examples on how to achieve the new objectives have been missing. Therefore, this was the aim of the handbook - to gather examples used in workshops, training, work, and to group them into an understandable system for teachers (this time according to Gagne's 9 Learning Events theory), thus providing the teacher with practical assistance in the preparation of lessons.

Practical advice for working with the handbook. In our view, the teacher is creative and flexible. Therefore, he/she will understand that the methods in the book are applicable in different parts of the lesson, not just in the ones shown in the book. Everything depends on experience, needs and creativity. May it be useful and successful for you!

For the work and time contributed to the book, THANK you very much to the teachers of Valmiera Pārgauja State gymnasium. Project coordinator Sanda Deisone. Arta Pūgule-Ignate for visual and technical assistance and supervising. The inspiring Ilva Lakuča, the school's educational specialist in content and difficult matters - Inese Vilciņa. Also, Nils Mosejonoks who, as an educational specialist, began collecting these ideas.

Educational specialists and group leaders in their respective fields Evita Kornete, Dzintara Kalniņa. Educational specialists as well as translators - Ilze Dukure, Dana Ukasa, the translator Karīna Dūne, and the school principal, Agita Zarina.

For the work and time contributed to the book, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO the director of Bjørnegård skole, Norway, Ola Schiager, an old friend of Pārgauja. Teachers Hanne Hertzenberg, Helene Cederstolpe Straith, Inga Bergseng, Linn Hovd Faye-Schjøll.

For the work and time contributed to the book, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO I.C.S Pian del Bruscolo school’s (Italy) teachers – for holding everything together - Margherita Campanella, teachers Bresca Elena, Cacioppa Cristiana, Comirato Cristina, Casadei Silva, Pieri Paola, Pierleoni Raffaella, principals Marcello Masci and Daniela Pasciuti.