On May 13, the solemn graduation of the second cohort of the SSU Pedagogical Classroom took place.
On a warm day, schoolchildren and their parents gathered at the university. Pleasant music was playing in the 208 auditorium of the XI building of SSU before the start of the long-awaited and joyful meeting. Teachers and scientists of the university from different structural divisions of SSU took places in the honorary first row.
The program of the event consisted of three blocks – introductory and educational, game, as well as acquaintance with university teachers representing various specialized school subjects.
The meeting was opened by the curator of the project, Head of Priority Projects and Programmes of SSU Elena Yelina, ‘We are glad to welcome you to the university. We've been working virtually all year, seeing your faces on the screen and trying to make it interesting for you. During this year, you have completed a huge number of homework assignments, engaged in pedagogical tests, and shared with us your sincere thoughts and reactions during our lessons.’
Elena Genrikhovna noted that this academic year the Pedagogical Classroom had two interesting innovations. Volunteer students of the Faculty of Psychological, Pedagogical, and Special Needs Education, SSU, graduates of the first set of the Pedagogical Classroom acted as valuable assistants and organizers of meetings. In addition, every week groups of 25 people were invited to participate in face-to-face classes.
Elena Yelina expressed hope that acquaintance with university teachers who have already acted as lecturers of the Pedagogical Class will develop into a strong professional friendship.
The words of Elena Genrikhovna and each speaker on this day were met with stormy applause, which indicates the deep cohesion of the applicant community.
SSU Acting Rector, Vice-Rector for Research and Digital Development Aleksei Koronovskii greeted the audience, ‘Today at our university is a very important and interesting event – the second season of the SSU Pedagogical Classroom is ending. All the guys who are now with us at the closing are great fellows, parents can be proud of you. The University has attracted its best world-renowned teachers to classes in the Pedagogical Classroom. As you know, the best teachers do not give simple tasks at all. And you have successfully coped with them – this is a reason to sincerely praise you.’
‘You have a long and happy destiny ahead of you. For most of you, it will be associated with SSU. We are looking forward to seeing you among our students. We want to see those guys who are currently studying in the 10th grade in the third set of the Pedagogical Class. I hope that what you have met here will become a part of your life for many years to come,’ Aleksei Koronovskii said.
Throughout the day, words of sincere gratitude were also addressed to the head teacher of the Pedagogical Class of SSU, a specialist in educational and methodological work of the Centre for Support of Talented Children Olga Prozorova. And this is not surprising, because Olga Valerievna was actively involved in conducting classes, answered students' questions, checked homework and monitored attendance – she acted as a kind and sincere guide to the pedagogical life of schoolchildren.
‘I am very glad of the mutual return that I have received from you all this year. This applause is also addressed to our dear students. I am grateful that you did not forget our first meeting and immediately greeted me with a smile today – this is exactly what we told you about at our very first lesson. Almost everything depends on how the future teacher enters his class,’ Olga Prozorova shared.
At this time, the screen showed a number of photos from the classes of the Pedagogical Classroom under the lyrical musical series. Everyone in the audience could remember pleasant moments that are associated with classes in the Pedagogical Classroom.
Olga Valerievna told about what was really valuable during the meetings. ‘For two years of the Pedagogical Class, we have jointly deduced a real formula for teacher happiness. It is enclosed in three letters “c” – "one among his own". To implement such an approach is aerobatics for any teacher. It is important that this year you were able to decide on the choice of profession.’
Elena Yelina recalled other pedagogical projects of SSU aimed at increasing the interest of applicants in the teaching profession. In April, the first regional pedagogical olympiad for school students, Step into Teaching Profession, was held at SSU. Of the 25 winners and prize–winners, 23 people are students of the Pedagogical Class of SSU. Elena Genrikhovna recalled that last year, 98 out of 108 students of the Subclass entered the pedagogical areas of training at SSU.
In continuation of the first block, Kirill Zakharov, Professor of the Department of Literary Studies and Journalism, a finalist of the third season of the League of Lecturers competition, delivered a blitz lecture entitled Mass Culture: Teenagers’ Codes and Symbols.
Kirill Mikhailovich spoke about the connection between modern and ancient cultures, revealed the mechanisms and principles of new trends. As examples, K.M. Zakharov cited symbols and emblems, fashion items, fragments from music, frames from animation.
‘Many teachers say they don't want to understand youth cultures. But teachers, at least on a superficial level, should understand what their students are interested in. The teacher should be able to distinguish momentary hobbies from larger and more significant ones. We need to understand that classical achievements are eternal, and what seems incredible today will be forgotten after a while,’ K.M. Zakharov believes.
At the end of Kirill Mikhailovich's speech, the students of the Pedagogical Class asked him questions.
Then Sophia, a student of the Pedagogical Classroom, told about her impressions of the pedagogical tests, which immersed each student in the role of a future teacher. ‘Pedagogical Classroom is a completely new experience for me. No wonder I listened to my mom, who suggested that I sign up for classes. Now I know that such a chance happens only once!’
In the next game block, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy Natalia Kurchatova suggested that the participants of the Pedagogical Classroom be divided into 4 teams. The task of the students was that they, without interacting with each other, had to draw up a picture on a Watman. Each in turn could draw a line or a square in a limited amount of time. Then all the team members came up with a poem based on the resulting image. After that, the guys were able to present their stories on stage in the form of small acting performances. An exciting competition allowed the students to learn something new about themselves and their colleagues.
From tutors-psychologists who worked with each group of schoolchildren, in the course of completing the task, participants received a card with one or another color designation. In this regard, Natalia Kurchatova spoke about different types of leadership. And this or that color, as it turned out, was associated with this. It was about an emotional and executive leader, an organizational leader and a disorganizer, as well as an idea generator. This task and explanation helped the students to understand who they really are and how they seem to themselves.
After a short break with hot tea and delicious treats, the guys returned to the auditorium for the final block of the meeting – We are in the teachers' room.
The audience was addressed by Dean of the Faculty of Psychological, Pedagogical, and Special Needs Education Tatyana Firsova, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Language Teaching Methods Svetlana Shilova, Director of the Institute of Physics Sergei Venig, Chair of the Corporate Department of Russian Philology and Media Education, the Institute of Philology and Journalism, Olga Dmitriyeva, Senior Lecturer of the same department Marina Kabanova, Chair of the Department of Meteorology and Climatology, the Faculty of Geography, Maksim Chervyakov, as well as Associate Professors of the Department of National History and Historiography, the Institute of History and International Relations, Anton Luchnikov and Vladimir Khasin.
The university teaching staff presented various specialized subjects with which future teachers can connect their lives. These are elementary classes, foreign languages, physics, Russian language and literature, geography, history and many other fields of knowledge. After all, Saratov State University trains teachers in all subjects in the school schedule. The participants of the meeting were able to imagine what teachers who teach specialized subjects think and feel, thanks to colourful and exciting presentations by teachers and students.
Director of the Institute of Physics Sergei Venig spoke about the fascinating world of physics. ‘My subject is not only the science of fascinating and interesting things, but also the initial step towards engineering and research activities. This science instills a special type of thinking. Physics explains the picture of the world, as well as the features and mechanisms of a variety of phenomena. It is a great joy for a physics teacher when children begin to understand that amazing things have the simplest explanation.’ The students also took part in show presentations of various school subjects.
After the final block, the excellent students of the Pedagogical Classroom and volunteers were awarded on the stage in a solemn atmosphere.
The main surprise of the day is a musical gift from Olga Prozorova and student volunteers. Together on stage they performed the The Road of Good song. The holiday ended with a joint photo and the presentation of certificates of successful completion of the Pedagogical Classroom of SSU.
The project is implemented as part of the Priority 2030 programme.
