TEACHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SZÉCHENYI SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCES AT A PROFESSIONAL DAY

The faculty members of the Ferenc Deák Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Széchenyi István University recently shared their pedagogical and methodological experiences at a unique professional day. The programme was part of a European Union project aimed at strengthening the links between education and economic needs, as well as educational innovation.

In 2022, Széchenyi István University launched a programme funded by the European Union's Instrument for Recovery and Resilience and the national central budget, which, among other things, raises the practical orientation and international competitiveness of the institution to an even higher level. One of the objectives of the project RRF-2.1.2-21-2022-00028, "Infrastructure and skills development of practice-oriented training at Széchenyi István University" is to develop key competences and practical skills of students and teachers. The focus will be on extending the project-based learning and experiential pedagogy already implemented in several training areas. As part of this, the institution will provide, among other things, professional training for its staff until May 2026 to ensure that methodological good practices are introduced and digital competences are enhanced.

Lecturers from the Ferenc Deák Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Széchenyi István University exchanged experiences at a day-long professional event (Photo: András Adorján)

Within the framework of the programme, for the first time after the professional programmes of the Apáczai Csere János Faculty of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, the teachers of the Deák Ferenc Faculty of Law and Political Sciences participated in an innovative professional day, where they could share their experiences with each other. „Our strategic goal is to continuously improve our training and to produce better professionals. This requires the design of courses and curricula to meet the needs of the labour market, as well as the high quality of pedagogical methodologies used in the classroom. This event was an excellent opportunity to share our good and effective practices with our colleagues and to give and receive feedback."– stressed Prof. Dr. Péter Smuk, Dean of the Faculty of Law.

The professional leader of the project, Dr. Botond Bertók, presented the objectives of the programme in his welcome speech (Photo: András Adorján)

"The focus of the four-year programme is on economic success, international competitiveness and excellence, to which the institution is committed through complex activities. One of these is the education management related to the professional day, which means training, infrastructure and professional development. To this end, in addition to optimising the model curricula, we also consider it important to collect and apply pedagogical practices that have been proven successful based on student feedback."– underlined the professional leader of the project, Dr. Botond Bertók. The university also supports trainers with a newly published methodology book, which provides support in the pedagogical methodology of online and face-to-face training using the digital toolkit.

In her speech, the Director General of the Directorate General of Methodology, Digital and Teacher Training of Széchenyi István University, Dr. Viktória Gősi Kövecsesné emphasized the support of teachers and the importance of up-to-date methodological knowledge. (Photo by András Adorján)

"Our main task is to support our teaching colleagues in methodological, pedagogical and psychological issues, which requires us to identify current challenges and difficulties. One of today's most pressing issues is the use of interactive, collaborative methods to teach the digital generation. In this context, we have developed a system of  futher training for teachers, with four types of training according to needs: our colleagues can participate in MOOC courses focusing on technological skills, various teaching methodologies such as cooperative learning, project teaching, developmental assessment, discipline-specific training and training to support the personality of teachers and trainers. These and the professional days are great opportunities for learning in an open, supportive environment– said Dr. Viktória Kövecsesné Gősi, Associate Professor and Director General of the Directorate of Methodology, Digital and Teacher Training at the University.