Russian language teachers around the world continue to gain knowledge at home
In May, St. Petersburg University together with the Russian Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo launched the ‘Gaining knowledge at home’ project in order to support teachers of Russian as a foreign language. The webinars provoked such great interest among the audience that it was decided to extend the series of online lectures until the end of August, as well as to include new directions in it.
The recordings of webinars on Russian as a foreign language are available to everyone for free on the website of the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University in a specially designed section.
In the beginning, the webinar cycle consisted of two units: classes devoted to Russian as a foreign language; and lectures on modern teaching methods and pedagogy. The speakers were experts from St Petersburg University, as well as authors of best-selling textbooks in this field. Elena Kazakova, Professor at the University and Director of the Institute of Pedagogy at St Petersburg University, was a moderator of this unit of webinars. In June, a new cycle of online classes was launched within the framework of the ‘Gaining knowledge at home’ project. They focused on modern methods for teaching various subjects, as well as current practices for working with talented children. At present, the webinars cover the issues in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, and foreign languages. Speakers include university professors, Honoured Teachers of Russia, directors and teachers of schools and lyceums. In their reports, they cover the most diverse aspects of the learning and teaching process: from forms of activating students during classes to the logic of designing subject courses. The speakers will also talk about working with gifted students as part of the school curriculum and in extracurricular activities, including distance learning. Moreover, they will share their teaching best practices. During the webinars, participants can ask experts their questions.
To participate in webinars, advance registration is required. The full schedule for July is published on the website.
The most popular webinars on Russian as a foreign language were among teachers from Russia, Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Turkey, Armenia, the USA, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Among the participants were not only teachers from Russian educational institutions and their colleagues from foreign countries, but also those who study Russian as a foreign language throughout the world. Given the diversity of the audience, webinars were held in both Russian and English. During this period, about 1,120 participants from 83 countries have registered for participation, and the number of participants of certain webinars exceeded 500 people.
The project of St Petersburg University has received wide media coverage. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Delovoy Peterburg and the information portal of the Russkiy Mir Foundation have written about the webinars of the ‘Gaining knowledge at home’ project. Announcements of online classes have also been published by the Russian centres of science and culture in Paris, Belgrade, Cairo, New York and many other cities throughout the world. Information about the opportunity to gain new knowledge in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language has also been published on the websites by the Embassies of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Latvia and in Australia.
The Russian Federation is currently carrying out large-scale work to support the countries affected by the pandemic. The participation of St Petersburg University in the development of the educational project ‘Gaining knowledge at home” is a continuation of this work.