Prof. Anna Fornalczyk and Rector Krzysztof Pawłowski have visited the PAFF and UW School of Education, where they took part in inspiring workshops and meetings with teachers.
It is already for 9 years that the School of Education has been running the only in Poland free of charge full-time postgraduate courses for the future teachers. It has also been carrying out numerous research projects, cooperating with schools, and training their teachers.
Several years ago, the School of Education initiated the Thinking Class project, implementing and popularizing the teaching method created by Prof. Peter Liljedahl of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. In cooperation with that Canadian academic, the School of Education staff has adapted the method to meet the needs of Polish education. It started with math classes, and now the method is applied also at biology, history, and Polish classes. The School of Education has trained over 1,500 teachers all over Poland interested in implementing that innovative method at their lessons.
Prof. Anna Fornalczyk and Rector Krzysztof Pawłowski took part in Thinking Class workshops with a group of 25 math teachers from Warsaw and various small towns and villages such, as Skarbimierz, Jaktorowo, and Kamień. It made an opportunity not only to learn the new teaching method, but also to listen to opinions of teachers ready to modify their work methods.
‘It is extremely valuable that the School of Education not only trains the future teachers but also supports those already working with children and young people. This allows the SE experience and proposed teaching methods to have extensive impact on Polish schools. Today I can see how big the interest in the offer of the School of Education is. And it is the source of great hope for the future,’ Prof. Anna Fornalczyk said.
During the visit, the guests not only participated in the workshops but also had a meeting with the School of Education staff. The main topics of their discussion were issues related to the ongoing enrollment of students for the next academic year, as well as directions of development of the School, and new ideas of supporting active teachers by offering them a new postgraduate PAFF and UW Education Champions course of studies to be launched in new academic year.
