On July 5, trainings began as part of the «Teaching Excellence» project, implemented by the British Council in Ukraine in partnership with the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Advance HE (Great Britain) and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance.
The class, which lasted for 2.5 hours, was filled with various forms and methods of work within the framework of student-centered learning. The participants felt like real students and, at the same time, active participants in group discussions (breakout rooms) under the guidance of facilitators – participants of the previous stage of the Program.
Extremely relevant issues of modern higher education were present among the topics of the first meeting: traits of an effective teacher in online and offline learning, the influence of emotions on learning, the effectiveness of group/pair activities, motivation, self-regulation and learning, etc.. It is worth noting that the online meeting was preceded by thorough preparation of all participants: they were performing tasks on the Advance HE virtual platform.
First impressions of the participants:
Oksana Pochapska, Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism of the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology and Journalism: «The program provides an opportunity to not only improve one’s own teaching level, but also to practice English language skills. It is impossible to move forward in the world of the Internet, fast information flows and barrier-free interaction, which includes communicating with native speakers, specialists who have tremendous teaching experience, practicing the skills of high-quality online and offline learning».
Tetiana Storchova, Associate Professor of the English Language Department of the Faculty of Foreign Philology: «It is pleasant and at the same time extremely responsible to feel like a student again with more than 20 years of teaching experience at various levels of education. Preparation for classes requires a lot of time, because processing the proposed materials and communication on the Advance HE online platform requires thoroughness and high professionalism. Motivation is above anything else! I am glad to learn from best teachers and with best colleagues. It’s all for the sake of the wonderful students of K-PNU».
Natalia Mieliekiestseva, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and Methods of Primary Education, Faculty of Pedagogy: «Participation in the program is an opportunity to improve my professional skills and move to a qualitatively higher level of teaching. It is also an incredible opportunity to work in a team of associates from other Ukrainian HEI under the leadership of leading British teachers. It consists of interesting communication, interactive, new ideas and many, many reflections».
Andrii Khoptiar, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Tourism and Hotel and Restaurant Business of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Economics: «Training within the Teaching Excellence program is not only communication with native English speakers at a professional level, but also a unique opportunity to enhance your own teaching experience with new progressive techniques and methods».
Already from July 7, the Head of the Educational and methodological center for Quality Assurance of Education, PhD in Pedagogics, Hennadii Besarabchuk joins the trainings as a manager.
There are many classes, trainings, interactions, reflections, new ideas and changes ahead. Let’s go on working!
Project team, Office for International Cooperation