1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Azra Bičo, Senior Assistant, Department of Economics, International University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
To gain new expertise, to create the link between two universities engaged in the exchange, and to initiate possible corporation on research between academic members of the two universities.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
This mobility was enriching in terms of both teaching, a remarkable feedback was given on it, as well as on research and possible future research with academic staff from KUL.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I would highly recommend it since it is a very welcoming environment first of all, and since University’s staff is highly opened for the future collaborations.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Peter Plenta, Head of Department- lecturer, International Relations, International University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3. Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
Erasmus+ programme provides opportunity for new experiences and contacts with partner universities. It is also good chance to present ideas in front of different group of students and to receive different feedback. Of course, Erasmus+ is also a very good opportunity for traveling and to know hosting country better.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
It was a very good opportunity for networking, meeting new people and to evaluate our cooperation with KUL, which will be not only continue but we will try to spread it into other areas. I got a new experience and several ideas for further cooperation and for my research.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
It was just my second visit to Poland and first visit to Lublin and I was positively surprised by kindness of people, nice environment, university and the city as well as organization of my stay.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university;
teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Radoslaw Malinowski, Lecturer, Church History Department, Tangaza University (Kenya)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
To enhance my teaching skills, to share my knowledge about African Church with polish students and lecturers, to learn about church history department at KUL. Since we are trying to create a similar department at Tangaza, Erasmus+ gave us unique opportunity to see how the departments operates.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
I learned a lot from the way lectures are structured. I was also able to share my experience and knowledge to students at KUL. I could see a different learning methods and from the interactions a different perspectives of students on several matters. KUL’s Church History Department is much bigger than what we have in Tangaza and it was very interesting to see how it operates.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
Participation in exchange changes perspective of both teachers and students. I was able to share my knowledge with the polish students and it open them up on several issues. Participant is able to gain from the program as he/she is exposed to new teaching environment, new methods and new perspectives.
1. Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Ludmila Coada, the Department of International Relations, Political Science and History / Free International University of Moldova (ULIM)
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations, Political Science and History / Free International University of Moldova (ULIM). I teach courses on World and Regional Politics, and History (EU Foreign Policy; European Union Enlargement and Neighbourhood, and Comparative Politics of the Post-Soviet States, among others). My areas of interest and expertise include post-Soviet history and politics, Republic of Moldova' s foreign policy, and Eastern Partnership.
2. Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3. Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
Erasmus+ programme offers a great opportunity to teaching staff to:
- share their own knowledge and skills with students and teaching/research staff, and get feedback from them in terms of both content and teaching methods;
- internationalize the content of the studies that own university offers;
- learn from good practice abroad and get to understand host university’s system;
- build up new professional contacts, consolidate existent connections and extend cooperation with the partner university;
- project future activities in the field of education and research;
- develop own knowledge and understanding of culture and society of the host university’s country (Poland in this case).
4. Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
At KUL I have offered my knowledge to students. It was great to test new innovative teaching methods in an international classroom environment and share own teaching experience. Ay the same time, I learn many things at KUL and will implement some in my classroom. Together with colleagues from KUL, we have reinforced cooperation and discussed plans for future common activities.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
Erasmus + Mobility actions improve professional competences and quality of work; increase both motivation in work and opportunities for career development; reinforce cooperation with European partners; make possible to share best practices with peers; and thus contribute to modernization and internationalization of higher education.
I express my gratitude to all KUL representatives who supported ULIM’s staff and students’ mobility during the 2017 spring semester. Special thanks to Tomasz Kostecki (Head of International Relations Office); Dr. Hab. Tomasz Stępniewski (Head of Department of Eastern Studies; Faculty of Social Sciences/ Institute of Political Science and International Affairs); Dr. Bartosz Jóźwik (Department of International Economic Relations); Dr. Andrzej Szabaciuk (Department of Eastern Studies), and Magdalena Kiczuk (International Relations Office) who made my stay at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin a great experience.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Oksana Babelyuk, dr hab., prof., Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University (Ukraine)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
The proposed mobility for teaching programme is really a good chance for me to share my professional knowledge, to learn more about educational process in European universities in general, and in one of the leading universities in Poland, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, to become a part of the international teaching cooperation, which is very important for both: the university sending a teacher and the university receiving him/her.
Besides, I hope to improve my professional skills in Poetics and Literary Text Interpretation and widen my scientific interests and contacts. The investigation of the poetical aspect of postmodern texts of different genres is relatively new in modern Linguistics in Ukraine/ That’s why the importance of gained results is undoubtful as they contribute to the Text Analysis Studies in general, and postmodern texts in particular. The exploration of basic categories of a literary text through the prism of postmodern poetics during the suggested classes is an important task for modern linguistic researches throughout the world and will for sure be useful for those, who are interested in the complexity of postmodern texts (prose and poetic), their compositional and genre transformations.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
As to me personal experience, I must admit that the educational aim of my programme has been achieved. Namely, its main results are:
1) the students’ ability to understand the theoretical basis of the system of images in a literary text;
2) their competence in using suggested terminology;
3) their gaining new practical skills of text analysis through the prism of character drawing;
4) their ability to define types of images in a literary text;
5) their ability to determine types of characterization in a literary text.
It proves the necessaty of enlarging the amount of lectures in Stylistics in the curriculum – as a major educational subject or as an optional course, a course of Postmodern Poetics. Besides, the circle of professional and personal contacts has been rather extended.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
Gaining practical experience in the field of postmodern Poetics and Literary Text Interpretation at the European educational establishments is a great chance for a young scholar to learn more in this aspect, to find modern theoretical saucers on the problem, to present the collected material to a new European audience. Besides, being assisted by the Erasmus+ mobility for teaching programme, gives the opportunity to gain new knowledge as a teacher, a lecturer, a linguist and a scholar.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Alevtyna Morenko, Professor, Head of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European National University (Ukraine)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
I decided to apply in the Erasmus+ programme because it is the great opportunity to develop my own competences in the field of biotechnology and to increase my job satisfaction. It helped me building up new contacts and expanding my professional network. My participation in this programme let me share my own knowledge and skills with students. On the other side, it could increase the quality and quantity of student and staff mobility to and from our university. I hope that my applying in this programme will help me increase my future employment and career opportunities, improve my foreign language skills.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
My participating in Erasmus+ programme let me try and develop new learning practices or teaching methods as well as reinforce the cooperation with the partner institution. What is more, I have increased my linguistic and cultural competences. In general I have gained the satisfaction of my work there and of the participating in this programme.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I will recommend the participating in the Erasmus+ programme for colleagues and students of our university, because it is a good practice abroad as well as a good chance to develop professional competences and skills.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Uliana Nikitchuk, Ph.D. on Psychology, Senior Lecturer of Psychology and Pedagogics Department, The National University of Ostroh Academy (Ukraine)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
My aim was to exchange experience with polish students and colleagues with regard to different aspects of reintegration and psychological rehabilitation of people who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I also aspired to establish international collaboration in research of these important to any society issues.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
I appreciate this possibility to introduce what Ukrainian psychologists have acquired in the topic and also to discuss current problems with specialists, scientists, educators from Poland (and as it turned out to happen – from many countries: Israel, Bosnia, Georgia, the USA). I also consider acquaintance with history and culture of Lublin, trip to Majdanek and Kazimierz Dolny to be extremely important and valuable within this mobility programme. For sure, I gained both professional and personal development thanks to it. New ideas and projects are now in my mind, new important contacts are now in my address book. I appreciate this.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I would definitely recommend it to others because of excellent organization, worthy financial support, lots of meetings, possibility to grow as a professional and to enrich worldview.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university;
teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Ana Solano-Campos, Sociolinguistics; Teacher Education, University of Massachusetts-Boston (USA)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
I decided to apply to the Erasmus+ programme because it was a unique opportunity to strengthen the collaboration between KUL and UMass. In addition, it would allow me to expand potential research avenues.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
This experience was unforgettable. I was able to interact with local professors and students in both professional and social settings, and our conversations provided me with a first-hand perspective on the possibilities and challenges of education in Poland, and how those possibilities and challenges connect to those of other countries around the world and to my research specifically. In addition, I was able to contribute to students and professors’ knowledge about social and linguistic dynamics at play in U.S. schools.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I would highly recommend others to pursue an Erasmus+ staff mobility agreement at KUL. The faculty, staff, and students were professional and welcoming. The academic and cultural activities in which I participated were enriching and contributed to expand my understanding of issues of education and solidarity in a global scale. Being an Erasmus+ fellow at KUL provides a wonderful opportunity for much needed cultural exchange and collaboration among institutions.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Gerardo Blanco Ramirez, Assistant professor, Department of Leadership in education, University of Massachusetts Boston (USA)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
Erasmus+ is one of the most prestigious mobility programs in the world. As a scholar of International Education, I value the opportunity of learning from different national and academic cultures.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
This mobility program helped me learn a great deal about structures of academic organization, how the study of different disciplines and academic programs is organized in Europe. It also exposed me to Polish culture, which I have enjoyed greatly. I learned about academic work in Poland and had the opportunity teach local students. Altogether, this experience has been nothing less than remarkable and extremely positive.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I would recommend to others without any hesitation because this experience exemplifies experiential/transformational learning for academics.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Giorgi Gobronidze, visiting professor at faculty of humanitarian and social sciences at Sulkhan – Saba Orbeliani Teaching University (Georgia)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
I decided to apply Erasmus + program, to enhance my professional capacity as a teacher, build professional network, enhance cooperation between home and partner universities.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
The mobility program had positive influence on enhancement of my professional skills as a teacher, I had an opportunity to meet European colleagues, get acquainted with their practice and share experience.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I would recommend it to others as far as it represents a great opportunity to get new experience, contacts and share ideas.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Ilana Levenberg, PhD, Mathematics Education, Head of Master of Education Program, Gordon College of Education (Israel)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3. Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
The main reason for my desire to participate in the Erasmus +program is my passion in sharing ideas and knowledge, especially in an international setting. I believe that only a visit can generate deep professional connections.
4. Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
From this mobility I met peers, exchange ideas, acquire new perspectives, and achieve professional synergy. In KUL I met new partners for future, long-lasting, research collaboration and joint publications.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
It's a great way to teach other students and to learn about other culture.
I found new colleagues for research collaboration. The only wish at this point is that the program would include more than a single event.
1. Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Prof. Eliezer Yariv, school psychologist, lecture at Gordon College of Education in Haifa (Israel)
2. Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3. Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
An excellent opportunity to learn more about other cultures and educational system, to gain personal contact that may enable me to develop research projects together.
4. Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
We, as a team of lecturers, had wonderful experience - the warm welcome, excellent organization, opportunities to get to know other colleagues, and the fruitful discussion we ad at the faculty of education at KUL.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I have begun already to recommend the mobility project to my colleagues at our college. In one word: Thank you.
1.Your personal data (students: name, surname/field of study/ home university; teaching/training staff: name, surname/ position/ department/ home university)
Leehu Zysberg, Associate Professor, Gordon College of Education (Israel)
2.Which activity did you participate in (student mobility for studies, staff mobility for teaching, staff mobility for training)?
staff mobility for teaching
3.Why did you decide to apply in the Erasmus+ programme?
A great opportunity to learn best practices and share ideas with colleagues and learn from the experience of a long-standing prestigious institute.
4.Your personal experience/what did you like about your mobility/what did you gain thanks to it?
General experiences VERY POSITIVE thanks to a very organized, responsive staff and welcoming faculty who did go out of their way to make our visit fruitful and fun.
For me the main benefits are both first ideas for collaborative research with a few faculty members, a visit to a local school to learn about the reality of teachers in the education system and teaching at the Institute of Pedagogy.
5. Why would you recommend it to others?
I believe this is a great opportunity for learning, collaborating and exchanging ideas about the common challenges of our academic work. Would highly recommend it to any faculty wishing to broaden their horizons and gain new perspectives on their work.
