On June 24, two educational programs were completed at the «Mashuk» Knowledge Center, co-organized by the World Youth Festival Directorate. 150 teachers of Russian as a foreign language from more than 20 countries and young history teachers from Russia and Belarus took part in the training.
According to the organizers, the main goal of the programs is to develop common mechanisms for the development of educational and cultural ties, exchange the best russian practices at the international level, and preserve the historical truth about the events of the Great Patriotic War.
"The implemented educational programs have allowed not only to improve the qualifications of teachers, but also to create methodological materials that allow organizing the educational process for subjects in a modern format. The experience of foreign russian language teachers was of particular value: it allowed us to take a fresh look at the difficulties of teaching the discipline in different countries and jointly work out their solutions. The development of a series of online materials for history teachers and teachers of the russian language working outside of Russia will be of paramount importance. Discussions about modern approaches to teaching history proved to be no less productive. During the brainstorming sessions, native lesson formats dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War were born, which will help make classes more productive," said Dmitry Ivanov, Director General of the World Youth Festival Directorate.
During the four-day intensive, the participants of the program "Preservation of Historical Memory" developed effective formats for conducting history lessons with an emphasis on the common contribution of Russia and Belarus to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Teachers of the history of the Union State took part in the training. In total, 9 lessons were developed on the following topics: the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the siege of Leningrad, the Battle for Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of the Kursk Salient, Operation Bagration, the Partisan movement in Russia and Belarus, the liberation of Europe and Victory Day.
"The «Mashuk» Knowledge Center brought together 150 teachers from Russia and other countries in two programs linked by a single semantic context. In the face of modern challenges, we consider it important to raise issues related to the preservation of historical truth and its transmission to the next generations, teaching and popularizing the Russian language abroad, and exchanging the best Russian and international teaching practices. As a result of the intensive course, our participants managed to achieve significant results under the guidance of experienced experts. Young history teachers have jointly developed concepts for nine lessons that clearly show that Victory in the Great Patriotic War is part of a common and indivisible past that binds the peoples of Russia and Belarus. In turn, teachers of Russian as a foreign language have received unique skills and competencies that will contribute to the development of one of the youngest teaching professions. I am sure that such programs act as a guide to our multinational culture for foreign colleagues and provide an understanding of the Russian cultural code," said Anton Serikov, General Director of the Mashuk Knowledge Center, Deputy General Director of the Russian Society Znanie.
Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language has become the general partner of the program "Russian as a foreign language", which is focused on the exchange of experience, teaching modern methods of teaching Russian and promoting Russian culture abroad.
"Our program for foreign russian speakers is designed so that theory is immediately confirmed and consolidated by practice: participants themselves went through all the stages of training, and then created their own training materials. They have mastered the latest technologies that turn learning Russian into an exciting, lively, and communicative process. Thanks to the program, foreign teachers felt like they were part of a global global community of young russian teachers. The creative atmosphere of the classes had a great influence on the results," said Nikita Gusev, Rector of the Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language.
The program was attended by foreign specialists from 22 countries – Armenia, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Vietnam, Georgia, India, Iraq, China, Mali and others. During the educational event, the emphasis was placed on identifying the "problem field" of foreign teachers when teaching the discipline abroad and selecting tools to solve these difficulties. Following the results of the program, it was decided to start systematic work on the formation of a bank of methodological materials for teachers of russian as a foreign language and teacher support.
"The russian language is an opportunity. Thanks to it, I can work in different companies, despite the fact that I live in a different part of the world. On this program, it feels like I'm in the capital of the world. I met a lot of people from different countries here. It's very interesting to spend time with them, share opinions and knowledge," said Diego Armando, a participant in the Russian as a Foreign Language program Garita Fonseca from Costa Rica.
The arrival of foreign participants was organized within the framework of Rossotrudnichestvo's flagship program "New Generation".
Overview:
The World Youth Festival took place on March 1–7, 2024 in Sirius, according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation. The WYF-2024 brought together 20,000 young leaders from 190 countries.
On the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, the WYF will be held in Russia on a regular basis – once in six years. Also, every six years 10,000 young people from all over the world will get together at the World Youth Festival Forum, and in between, international themed assemblies for 2,000 participants will be held under the auspices of the WYF. The first Assembly is scheduled to take place in September 2025 in Nizhny Novgorod. Festival events of various formats will be held in Russia annually.
According to the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation on the preservation and development of the Festival legacy, the World Youth Festival Directorate continues the work aimed at strengthening international youth cooperation.
