Pedagogical Clinic opens at St Petersburg University

The mission of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor is the recognition of a special status of educators, including those performing mentoring activities. The activities of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor will be aimed at increasing the prestige of the teaching profession.

The Pedagogical Clinic is a new division of the University. It will accumulate innovative pedagogical experience and provide opportunities for students to improve their professional skills by implementing real-life projects under the guidance of their teachers. The staff of St Petersburg University’s Institute of Pedagogy has extensive experience in working with Russia’s leading educational centres. These include: Sirius Educational Centre; SberClass (Contribution to the Future Foundation); School League (Rosnano); centres for identifying and supporting gifted youth in various regions (St Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, Khanty-Mansiysk and so on); the project titled "Preparing Parents for Their Child’s School Years"; and many others.

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities at St Petersburg University, delivered a welcoming address. She noted that opening clinics within the framework of the Labour Forum had already become a tradition. 'Clinics open up new prospects for students and benefit society,’ emphasised Marina Lavrikova.

Today we are opening the Pedagogical Clinic. The meaning and essence of it are in the fact that the University, as always, provides its capabilities to the outer world by performing socially significant tasks.

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, St Petersburg University

Professor Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy at St Petersburg University, recalled that the Clinic, together with its partner, the "School League" autonomous non-commercial educational organisation, was already holding the All-Russian School Week of High Technologies and participating in the implementation of other project and research initiatives involving almost 500,000 school students from all over Russia.

We are very happy that those who started this process and those who will continue it are here today. For the Institute of Pedagogy at St Petersburg University, this is very valuable.

Professor Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy, St Petersburg University

Maiia Rusakova is Head of the working group on the development of content and methodological approaches to the organisation of clinic-based practical training at St Petersburg University. She also mentioned the importance of opening University clinics within the framework of the Labour Forum. ’Our main objective is communication with the employer. Today at the Forum, there are employers all around us. They are representatives of commercial and non-profit organisations, and public services. We need our students to participate in this process from the very start of their training. There are students of all levels here, from first-year bachelor’s to master’s and doctoral students. Here, they can demonstrate their skills and directly communicate with employers,’ Maiia Rusakova added. In addition, she thanked Professor Kazakova for her contribution to the opening of a new division and to the development of new pedagogical approaches and their effective implementation not only within the framework of the Institute of Pedagogy, but throughout the University.

Mariia Dorokhina, Head of the Placement and Career Services of St Petersburg University and Head of the St Petersburg University Career Centre, also congratulated the participants on the launch of the new clinic. According to her, the clinic-based approach enables students to enter the labour market with true practical experience and a portfolio. That increases their competitiveness in their profession.

The main forms of clinic-based practical training for students will be: pedagogical consulting; conducting training events; creating educational content, including digital content; and expert analyses.

School experience and memories of teachers are shared by almost all people. Irina Pisarenko, Head of the Clinic for Digital Support of Educational Projects, highlighted that in her speech. ’We want teachers to be modern-minded, advanced and following the trends of the 21st century. Our clinic will become a community of those who are interested in trying new things in real projects. We hope that pedagogy will unite all our divisions and those projects that are related to children, their development and education,’ she said, inviting everyone to cooperate.

Anton Alekseev, Director General of the ’School League’ autonomous non-commercial educational organisation, spoke on behalf of the partners of the Pedagogical Clinic. He noted that he was a ’triple’ graduate of the University, in particular in the main field of study "Pedagogy". ’As a representative of an organisation that pays great attention in its work to young professionals and their involvement in education, I consider the opening of the Pedagogical Clinic a significant event. It is a community of like-minded people and a place for those who share our common interests and approaches,’ commented Anton Alekseev. He thanked his alma mater for cooperation and active involvement of students in joint initiatives.