The “Masters of Didactics” programme has been conducted in the JU Institute of Journalism Media and Social Communication since 2021. The programme is aimed to introduce in practice classes intended for exceptionally talented students at Polish universities, using a tutoring model developed for this purpose. The programme, implemented as part of the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development, co-financed from the European Social Fund, is supervised by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education / Ministry of Education and Science. The practical knowledge acquired during study visits abroad (training courses in the Centre for Educational Development, Aarhus University, Denmark) was used to implement advanced teaching methods, including the tutoring method. Selected students were invited to write their diploma theses as part of original projects proposed by their lecturers. The Masters of Didactics in Excellent Teaching programme in the approach to teaching and learning adopted by the Aarhus University is focused on top-quality teaching, active learning, didactics and tutoring (the master-student relationship aimed to develop academic, social and personal competences in the student or a group of students), on feedback (in various forms), and broadly understood entrepreneurship: “[…] to teach students how to realize their own potential, to understand their opportunities in relation to others, and how to examine and explore their everyday practices to create value that goes beyond the monetary to the social, environmental and human. The notion that universities should allow for unfettered exploration of knowledge by individuals who direct their own pathways and journeys may provide an opportunity to develop new knowledge rather than reproducing the knowledge we already have. In this way there is the potential to create something of value with others for others and for society as a whole” (‘Rethinking the Entrepreneurial University for the 21st Century’ Wesley Shumar, Sarah Robinson, 2018). The tutoring model was designed and implemented at the Jagiellonian University, in first-phase full-time courses of study in journalism and social communication, by combining and adapting the Danish approach with Polish experience and to the Polish teaching and learning context.
We shared our experience in programme implementation at the Ars Docendi conference – a workshop on good practices and inspiration from the Aarhus University (20-21 September 2021).
The project was also summarized in a publication: M. Czyżewska, O. Mastela, M. Winiarska-Brodowska (2022) W stronę refleksyjnej praktyki i dialogicznej informacji zwrotnej w synchronicznym i asynchronicznym nauczaniu (zdalnym). Inspiracje dydaktyczne z Aarhus University [in:] Dydaktyka akademicka – nowe konteksty, nowe doświadczenia, ed.: I. Maciejowska, A. Sajdak-Burska, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, p. 109-120.
A Masters of Didactics in Excellent Teaching project: Dr. Małgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska (supervisors: Annika Büchert Lindberg, Educational developer ● Jens Laurs Kærsgaard, Pedagogical consultant ● Sarah Robinson, Associate professor)