Ukrainian Scientist have been Trained in Canada

23.3.2015

A Docent of the Department of Eastern Languages of LNU, Doctor of Pedagogic Sciences Anna Rzhevska completed education in Canada last year.

The Ukrainian scientist was attending the language courses for the teachers of English as the foreign language for several months, from October to December 2014. The education was organized by the city administrative educational institution Toronto Catholic District School Board at the premises of the adult school St. Leonard Adult Education Learning Centre.

The educational program included 200 hours of advanced language training, 10 hours of skill upgrading (specialized conferences and seminars, presentations of the representatives of Canada language centers and agencies, professional associations, etc.) and 25 hours of practice of teaching English at Canada state and private language educational establishments.

Approximately one-fifth of course educational materials was remote – the students studied the materials on the website; took part in online chat with the teachers; discussed and solved pedagogic questions on forums; jointly prepared and edited CVs; filled the forms and expressed the wishes for the future; commented the articles in specialized pedagogic editions; performed collective projects and so on.

“In Canada a skill of organizing online education is a permanent requirement for teacher candidate, – told Anna Rzhevska. – During the remote part of the course the students-teachers from different countries studied on their own, in groups, collectively and taught one another at the same time. Their teacher from Canada also was active participant of this transfer of Canada language, methodological, organizational and cultural knowledge”.

Besides, weekly trainings, presentations and online chat was visited by the director of the educational program, she personally communicated with the students. Also the director invited students to make with them an individual plan of professional development with the involvement of the resources of school, city and country and to check the implementation of this plan.

The teacher worked with the only group (12 persons) and that’s why the education was flexible – useful changes to its content and structure were made every week according to the results of collective discussion (questionnaire survey of the students, student discussions with the director and teachers, suggestions of the external participants of the educational process, etc).

According to Anna Rzhevska this was useful experience of education arrangement which could be implemented to the native higher school upon the condition of the decrease of academic load of the Ukrainian teacher.

Now Anna Rzhevska does practical training at the adult school St. Jane Frances Catholic School where basically works with the students for whom English is the native language. “These students for various reasons haven’t left the secondary school so they need basic knowledge in mathematics, biology, Canada constitution, English writing and so on. Such special courses of English are called Literacy and Basic Skills and they are very interesting”, – noted the scientist.