Dear Harmony Academy supporters, we have already informed you in our blog about courses in foreign languages, but also that not only language courses and students are our target group. Right now, we bring you information about the LCA course that the teachers of the Primary School, Bystrická cesta, the elocated workplace of Dončova in Ružomberok went through. They were accompanied by our excellent lecturers and faces of Harmony Academy, Prof. PhDr. Gabriela Lojová, PhD., who has been cooperating with us for a long time and is engaged in the training of our lecturers, and Mgr. Soňa Petrášová, Trainer corporate English language courses.
Between 24 September 2022 and 26 November 2022 , twelve teachers of this primary school attended an LCA course, which is an approach focused on the needs of the pupil. This approach is the alpha and omega at Harmony Academy in any implemented course and all our Trainers they apply it to their lessons.
The first and last meetings took place in person at the aforementioned primary school, the other meetings were presented online. The course took place in response to last year's training, which took place at the Catholic University in Ružomberok. It was because of its positive response that the management and teachers of the first and second grades of the aforementioned primary school in Ružomberok decided to take this course, at the end of which they received a certificate.
"The aim of the course is to spread philosophy in the spirit of humanizing education precisely through a pupil-centred approach," says G. Lojová, adding, " first, the participating teachers acquired theoretical knowledge and gradually translated this into practical skills within their teaching subjects". This approach is intended to enable teachers to make teaching more effective and to guide pupils' learning so that their potential can be fully developed in a positive and supportive learning atmosphere.
"The forms of cooperation of the participants of the course were really varied and varied, from individual, couple, group to creative," says S. Petrášová and continues, "fortunately, even an online course at this time can already create conditions in which teachers worked in different groups, so the course went as if it were face-to-face."
The end of the course was reserved for the practical outputs of the participating educators in the form of PowerPoint presentations. Their task was to describe the specific problem they encountered in their classes and to propose possible solutions based on the principles of a student-centered approach. This triggered a tremendously lively debate, opened the door to further stimuli, " I can say for myself that the final presentations were very beneficial for all of us and we experienced an exceptional atmosphere", says S. Petrášová. "We were very pleased that our courses include teachers with a natural interest in the pupil and an effort to further develop and improve their pedagogical work. Only such teachers can gradually eradicate the traditional approaches that still often dominate our schools," adds G. Lojová.
A learner-centred approach should become a basic way of thinking and feeling of every teacher in any school. "The traditional approach to date hinders our children, so it is essential for teachers to "untie" the children's hands", says S. Petrášová, and "we need to support pupils' self-confidence, creativity, enable them to express and develop their potential so that they grow into independent-thinking and autonomous pupils", adds G. Lojová.
We are very pleased to be able to inform you about events in which Harmony Academy is fully involved. Initially, this course was carried out only within our company, we managed to transfer it to another school and we plan to look for projects and support this idea within other schools and projects at the international level.
