Aktualności zakładu

INSTYTUT GEOGRAFII UMK

ul. Gagarina 9, 87-100 Toruń

ZAKŁAD GEOGRAFII KRAJOBRAZU

             Between the 4th and 8th of February Toruń was visited by guests from the University of Liverpool, among whom there were two university professors David Cumberland and Helen Gadsby and nine students (Graham Jones, Jennifer Owen, Kathryn McGrath, John Quinn, Andrew Biggins, Claire Read, Fiona McAleer, Abaigail Walker, Donna McNally, Donna McNeil & Stephen Siddall. The visit was well-planned and coordinated by dr Przemysław Charzyński with great help from Head of Didactical Laboratory of Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences dr hab. Zbigniew Podgórski and from students connected with geography teaching at the Nicolaus Copernicus University.

             There were four main reasons for which aforementioned guests came to our town. First of all, English students wanted to learn about the realities in Polish schools. To accomplish this plan they visited several schools, such as, High School no.3, High School no.5, High School no.10 and Academic Gymnasium & Lyceum, where they could watch geography class and also tried to teach Polish students. Lessons with the participation of our guests were not only very well-prepared but also interesting, since both groups of English and Polish students may learn about new teaching methods . Some of the topics presented were directly connected with British culture and the history of Liverpool when others were simply geography lessons. It is worth mentioning that during the time spent in the schools Polish students showed that they really like English language as they spoke with their new friends with no barriers.

             Second part of the visit was based on English students’ presentations especially prepared at the Polish students’ requests. The Presentations concerned main problems of teaching geography in England, such as, using interactive white board, teachers employability and salary, English pupils’ behavior, fieldwork. And gave Polish students useful information and international perspective to be included in their M.A. thesis. At the and of the presentations there was a discussion of which participants compared English and Polish views on Geography as a whole and on geography teaching issues.

             Third part was discussion panel, which take place under the Aegida of Herodot network. Polish and English students was discussing issues connected with objectives of network TP2 and TP4 Thematic Pillars – Employability and status of Geography in 21st century, as well as communicating Geography into society and ways and tools of improving awareness of geography. 

             Finally, the last reason why this journey took place was for English guests to become acquainted with Polish culture, cuisine, cities and people. On Sunday, thanks to street maps prepared by two Polish students Emilia Karłowska and Magdalena Rolf, they may sightsee the old part of our town with such monuments like, i.e. the Old Town Hall, the Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, the Flisak Fountain, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Ghost and SS. Johns, the Copernicus Museum and the Leaning Tower. Our guests from England were delighted with town. During the next days, in the evenings Polish and English students met in pubs in Toruń, where they made friends and talked about theirs countries. What is more, they also watched football match between teams of Liverpool and Barcelona. The meeting was for some Polish students the first occasion to speak English with people from the United Kingdom as well as for the  English students to learn some Polish words, such as, Dzień dobry! (Good morning!), Mam na imię.. (My name is..), or Jak się masz? (How are you?). On Wednesday there was a farewell party in which both students and professors participated. On Thursday English guests accompanied by two students Natalia Ogonowska and Agnieszka Nawrocka as a guides have whole day fieldtrip (on the way to Gdańsk Airport) and visited Gniew and Malbork Gothic Castles and Gdańsk Old Town.

             To sum up, the five-day visit of English guests combined business with pleasure. It was not only a valuable experience for the future geography teachers but also a chance to sightsee a new country. There is nothing left for us but believe that thanks to this visit the future geography teachers will be more willing to talk their pupils about Poland.

                                               P. Charzyński

Visited by guests from the University of Liverpool