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Cieszyn, 2003
Kosice, 2003


Report of Meeting no 1
Kraków, Saturday 7 December 2002
Over 20 people attended the meeting.
We were fortunate in having four guests from ASSA (Autorska Szkoła Samorozwoju); Ula Krzewska-Horbowy, Krzysztok Mojzych, Małgosia Lubańska and Łukasz Siczek. John Huckaby representing the Slovakian teachers organizations SATE/SAUA also joined us.

The meeting began with Sylwia Macura giving an account of her experiences as a language learner (in the past and currently) and how she came to an autonomous teaching approach.

Marta Bujakowska described her experience teaching a group of beginners in a car factory. These are adults with a strong motivation to learn (they are frequently visited by English-speaking superiors), a relatively low level of formal education and little or no experience of language learning. Marta has had to adapt her methods to their needs and the particular characteristics of the group.

David French talked about the difficulties adapting to state-school teaching after several years of teaching motivated adults in a private language school, who attend voluntarily and by personal choice and are not graded. He described the steep learning curve he is on.

The teachers from ASSA talked at length about their school, which differs radically from anything else on offer in Poland at the present time. Respect for the individual and their freedom to create their own path of personal and educational development is paramount. The individual's autonomy is defended. Teachers, who act as guides, consultants, and sometimes counsellors are there to create the environment for students to pursue their interests and fulfil their educational goals. This is a high school with no bells, formal lessons or grading system. Students attempt to gain credits for subjects at the end of the year.
The discussion was stimulating and there was no shortage of questions for our guests.

On-going SIG issues were also dealt with.

For more information about Szczyrk and Cieszyn please contact Marta Bujakowska.

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