“It is going to be a good place and good time. We are a community of thought, we strive for change and development of a teacher,” Prof. Jolanta Sujecka-Zając said in her address given at the academic year opening ceremony at the PAFF and UW School of Education.
Forty future Polish, math, biology, and history teachers started their free postgraduate courses.
We strive for teacher and student development
School of Education Director Prof. Jolanta Sujecka-Zając noted that from now on each activity – taken by both the students and the school staff – will lead to development of self-awareness. “That is the most valuable element of professional progress, it is the kernel of a teaching job. And our students’ successes are the best determinants of it,” she added. She also said she was sure that the students would have great and creative 10 months in safe and friendly environment. And that both future teachers and the staff of the School of Education are focused on education and developmental needs.
Marianna Hajdukiewicz, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation Program Director emphasized that the School of Education is a very special program. ”We believe in its strength as education is a key area for us which we see in broad categories – both in its extracurricular and school dimension.” She noted that PAFF supports students and teachers from its very beginnings. “20 year ago it was the time of establishing junior high schools and deep changes of curricula. We got involved in that process because we wanted to foster equal educational opportunities, help in educating young people, support their civil activity, and teach them social responsibility. Now schools are going through other changes in educational system, and we keep accompanying students and teachers. Recent events – pandemic and the necessity to introduce distance teaching – have shown the big gap between what teachers are prepared to and what school reality is. Young teachers feel lonely at the start of their professional career. We have decided to fill in that gap. The School of Education offers not only substantive knowledge but first of all the deep thought on what role a teacher plays,” Marianna Hajdukiewicz said.
About the School of Education
The School of Education is a joint undertaking of Polish-American Freedom Foundation and University of Warsaw, and its program has been developed in cooperation with a prestigious teacher training institution – Columbia University Teachers College, New York. It is the only school in Poland that conducts full-time post-graduate teacher certificate studies. Currently the School is free of charge, and students may apply for a scholarship that will help them cover their costs of living, as well as get accommodation at the UW dormitory. The School is managed and developed by the Foundation for Quality Education, acting on behalf of PAFF.
