In April and May 2025, at the Faculty of Education, we welcomed several visitors who came to teach within the Erasmus+ KA171 programme, in simple terms ‘non-European’ Erasmus. These colleagues arrived from different parts of the world and their stays consisted of not only lectures and workshops, but also various formal and informal meetings, discussions, experience sharing with Czech colleagues and, of course, getting to know the city and its surroundings. Thanks to this, the global academic ties of our faculty are a bit stronger again.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
From April 22 to April 25, 2025, the Intitute of Education hosted colleagues from the University of Banja Luka. Mrs. Tanja Glišić from the Department of Early Childhood Education presented two lectures, Respecting the Child's Autonomy and Freedom: The Pikler Approach in Nursery Education and The Power of Children's Questions: Understanding the Functions and Importance of Questions in Early Development. Two colleagues came from the Department of Education: Mr. Draženko Jorgić, who gave a lecture on Personalized Learning and Adaptive Approaches in Adult Education and Developing Digital Literacy of Educators and its Importance in Early Childhood Education, and Mr. Slaviša Jenjić, who first gave a lecture on the Pedagogical Significance of Organizing Children's Visits and Field Trips. Prof. Jenjić also actively participated in the conference Elementary Mathematics Education EME2025, organized by our Department of Mathematics.
United States of America
At the turn of April and May, Mr. Ümüt Arslan from the University of Nebraska Kearney came to the Department of Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. As an expert in positive psychology and solution-focused therapy, he gave several presentations on the so-called SFBT model, which emphasizes the strengths of the client and provides effective strategies for facilitating change instead of focusing on the client's problems. Another topic presented by Dr. Arslan was the theoretical framework and basic techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Montenegro
Also in late April/May, colleagues Anton Djokaj, David Kalaij and Vladimir Jacimovic from the University of Montenegro in Podgorica came to the Department of Mathematics. Their visit was related to mathematical modelling and optimisation. The visiting professors focused on the importance of mathematics in modern algorithms and machine learning architectures in their lectures, which were primarily intended for Master and PhD students and selected staff of the Department of Mathematics.
Georgia
In the week of May 5, academics from Tbilisi State University visited the Institute of Special Education Studies. Mrs. Tamar Abashidze and Irina Zhvania had visited Olomouc earlier as part of the CISI (Curriculum Innovation for Social Inclusion) project. This year, they followed up on their successful cooperation and during several workshops for students and teachers, they presented the Georgian education system and shared their experiences in introducing innovations in the education of future teachers and special educators, and also in Georgian public education. As part of their programme, the colleagues visited Za sklem Olomouc, a non-profit organisation that supports people with autism spectrum disorder. They also took the opportunity to attend a theatre performance by second-year students of the Bachelor's degree programme in Special Education with a focus on expressive approaches, from which they took away an unusual experience, and it was confirmed that meanings can be conveyed even without knowledge of the language.
It should be added that within the Erasmus+ KA171 project, mobilities of our academic staff and students abroad were also realized. But more about that next time.