Are teachers necessary? No, if their only task is to “transfer knowledge”. A good and needed teacher develops sensitivity, builds relations, helps to name emotions, teaches critical thinking, awards the right to make a mistake – this description by a graduate shows what teachers educated by the PAFF and UW School of Education are like.
The School of Education community was joined by the next group of very well prepared in terms of knowledge and didactic methods teachers who in two months’ time will start to work at schools as Polish, math, history, or biology teachers. The graduates of the 7th round of the School of Education have just received their diplomas of completion of a post-graduate course. As always, all of them prepared a short presentation for the ceremony of closing the academic year where they summed up 10 months of studying and showed what they found most important.
History path graduate Kamil Hejman knows that each history and social science lesson shall be WRU. What does it mean? It must transfer civic Wisdom, make an opportunity to Reflection about present day, and be Useful.
Biology teacher Magda Massalska referred to the phenomenon of maturation, which in life sciences is always related to some kind of loss. But how is it in education? What is a mature teacher like? According to our graduate, he or she gives their students autonomy, is cogitative, really interested in their students and field of expertise, open to relations and patient – that is, he can wait long for results of his work.
The presentation by math teacher Liliia Bachyńska, who came to Poland from Lviv soon after the war broke out in 2022 was very touching. She had a first contact with the School of Education during her 3-month language and didactic course for Ukrainian teachers, and later she decided to start post-graduate studies. “In the beginning I felt as if I were on a swing. I had experience in work at school but I used to work with the Prussian method. I changed here, and you all helped me to do so,” she says. From September, Liliia Bachynska will teach math at one of schools in Kraków.
A year at the School of Education was excellently summed up by Polish teacher Anna Chmielewska, who asked a question: Are teachers necessary? If the only task of a teacher is to transfer knowledge, then I can just read the textbook at home. A good and needed teacher does a lot more. He or she develops sensitivity, builds relations, helps to name emotions, teaches critical thinking, awards the right to make a mistake,” said the Polish teacher.
In the end, Director of the School of Education Prof. Jolanta Sujecka-Zając and Polish-American Freedom Foundation Program Director Marianna Hajdukiewicz congratulated the graduates. She emphasized that PAFF monitors progress of the students over the whole year. “It is for us a time of learning, verifying our opinions and attitudes, asking questions, experiencing failures and successes, and first of all – making friends and establishing relationships. Just like students co-create your lessons, you co-create the School of Education. It is not the end of our shared adventure,” she said.
Almost all graduates from 2022/23 academic year have received offers of work at elementary or senior high schools all over Poland. Now they can participate in a 2-year support program. And the next group of future teachers is slowly preparing to start their studies in August. You still can join them! ENROLLMENT TO THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
