2nd International Partners Day

Conference report

On January 21, 2022, the second edition of the International Partners Day, titled “Working as an Academic during the Pandemic,” took place. It was organised by the UG Foreign Language Centre in association with Pearson and Macmillan Publishing, the UG Cooperation and International Relations Office, and the SEA-EU - European University of the Seas’  Project Office. The event took place online via the MS Teams platform, and the language of the conference was English.

In total, 100 guests from 15 countries representing 33 Polish and foreign universities participated in the conference. Among foreign participants were about 20 representants from Erasmus + partner universities, such as Dublin College of Advanced Studies, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, as well as 3 representatives from universities which are part of SEA-EU (University of Malta, University of Split and University of Cadiz). Professor Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, a UG Vice-Rector for Cooperation and International Relations, officially opened the conference. The event was further honoured by the presence of the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, Professor Piotr Stepnowski.

The main topic of the conference was the experience gained by the academic teachers in teaching foreign languages during the pandemic: the conclusions we drew from it, the challenges we had to face, and the practical solutions we developed throughout months of remote work.
Presenters from the Center for Foreign Languages, Director Alina Swebocka, MA, and Deputy Director for Academic Affairs and Student Support Agnieszka Błaszkowska, MA, introduced participants to the conference theme, highlighting the benefits of remote teaching as well as the challenges it posed. A similar topic, based on research conducted among language teachers and students at UG, was presented by Dr. Anna Dulska and Piotr Andrzejewski, MA, lecturers at the Center.

Speakers from the Foreign Language Centre: FLC’s Director mgr, Alina Swebocka, Deputy Director for Didactic and Students’ Affairs mgr, Agnieszka Błaszkowska, introduced participants to the conference’s topic, which concentrates on the values drawn from remote teaching, and at the same time, pointing to the difficulties resulting from it. Based on the research conducted on the group of language teachers and students from UG, a similar subject was discussed by dr Anna Dulska and mgr Piotr Andrzejewski, FLC’s lecturers. Deputy Director for Education and Development mgr Emilia Krzywańska-Frankowska discussed the effects of fostered cooperation between the organization and economic operators  – Amazon and Alexander Mann Solutions, which hold the training courses in foreign languages, highlighting requirements and expectations of the modern job market, to the students.

Thanks to the cooperation with Macmillan Publishing, the practical methodological session, which analysed the didactic materials and the methods of their practical implementation in remote teaching, was presented by Jon Hird ( Macmillan Publishing, Oxford University), the renowned author of many coursebooks for English language learning, an expert in the English grammar field.
The plenary session was concluded with a presentation by Mr Bartłomiej Janiak, an Anglicist and trainer affiliated with Pearson Publishing, who conducted a workshop presenting various practical solutions for lecturers struggling during the pandemic.
In the afternoon part of the conference, during the two simultaneous sessions, polish and international speakers shared their observations from the last two years, referring to difficulties associated with the transition to the new working mode, the methodological changes arising from that, as well as experiences of particular universities, which will surely prove useful in the future.

The event was highly appreciated by participants, pointing first and foremost to the relevance of the subject, diversity, and practical aspects of the presentations. The Second International Partners Day was another occasion to meet and exchange experiences with existing University of Gdańsk partners and to form new and promising relations, which will for sure result in future joint projects and initiatives, connecting institutions around the world.
Participants highly appreciated the event, emphasising in their feedback the relevance of the topic, the diversity of presentations, and the practical value of the content delivered. The Second International Partners Day was another opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with the University of Gdańsk’s existing partners and to establish new, promising relationships that are expected to lead to further joint projects and initiatives connecting academic centres across many countries.

Compiled by: mgr Monika Mechlińska-Pauli , Conference Coordinator