From 18 to 20 November, a world-class professional trainer, candidate in pedagogical sciences and associate professor at the World Learning SIT Graduate Institute from Vermont, USA, Andriy Ruzhynskiy held a seminar at the International Language Training Center, ILTC.
Andriy’s professional background contains 27 years of teaching languages, countless listeners and students, around 30 courses held in many countries around the world ranging from those close to us such as Romania and Poland to the distant ones as United States, New Zealand, South Korea and Mauritania.
The excitement among the teachers at ILTC began long before the arrival of the venerable guest. This is not the first visit, that’s why the teaching staff was anticipating not only enjoyable but also beneficial communication.
Elena Antonova said: “It is an honor, when we have such gurus in teaching as Andriy Ruzhynskiy. He is a trainer of international level certificates such as SIT TESOL, CELTA, IHCTL. He possesses vast experience working at the Kharkiv National University and the International House language centers in Kharkov and Poltava. His seminars and classes are always fun, useful and provide much food for thought.
The seminar contained two stages. The one and a half days were dedicated to lesson observation which lead to additional topics for discussion. The actual seminar took place on the rest of the days. Despite the fact that the main part of the event was on the weekend, many ILTC teachers enjoyed participating at the seminar.
Anastasia Lyubitskaya mentioned: “The seminar was held on Saturday and Sunday, at a time when we are not busy at school. It may seem that the lack of some days off in our fairly busy schedule would make us feel some discomfort, but actually it was just the opposite! The pleasure and joy of communicating with a person of such a high level of professionalism, surpasses all the other feelings. And when your mind is clear, then you truly feel relaxed.
Indeed, such meetings are not only intended to communicate with a colleague, but also bring an opportunity to improve your own skills, to get answers to questions that arise in the working process.
Tatiana Chernyavskaya added: “Such seminars bring a very important component in our professional growth. Additionally, during his short visit Andriy managed to observe 20 classes of different teachers. Afterwards, he gave everyone an invaluable opportunity to hear his comments, suggestions, appraisals, and his famous phrase: "Teaching is an art."
It is a pity that the expression "true professional", "expert in his field," have become hackneyed cliches and lost their original meaning and force. And yet I dare to say that Andriy is a true professional and expert in his field. After all, these are the qualities most valued by the International Language Training Center, ILTC. Maybe this is the reason why the pleasure of the meeting was mutual.
Andriy Ruzhynskiy concluded: “I love ILTC. I believe that your center is just a wonderful combination of professionalism and friendly atmosphere where people support each other. There is the joy of communication and professional growth. I like to come here very much and be happy together with you. It’s a wonderful thing when there is an opportunity to share with you what I know and can do.
Nothing else remains to say apart from hoping that such workshops take place more frequently. After all, teaching is really an art.
