On August 20th, South Ural State University hosted the Second Forum of Regional Methodological Associations, “Unified Regional Methodological Support for the Current Content of School Education”.
Regional methodological associations have been established in all regions of Russia in accordance with a presidential decree. In the Chelyabinsk Region alone, these associations bring together around 1000 school teachers, librarians, and methodologists working across more than 20 subjects, including Physics, Mathematics, Visual Arts, History, and many others. The goal of these associations is to introduce educators to the latest teaching developments and methodologies. Each participant then returns to their school and shares this new knowledge with younger colleagues.
The forum was organized by the regional Ministry of Education and the Chelyabinsk Institute for Education Development, formerly known as the Institute for Teachers’ Professional Development. The forum is held annually. Last year, it had been hosted by Zlatoust, while throughout the rest of the year, communication among participants is maintained through the South Ural Pedagogical Assembly, which organizes online methodological webinars.
SUSU served not only as the venue for the second forum, but also involved its scientists as lecturers and tour guides. For example, Aleksei Popov, a staff member of the Department of Engineering Mechanics, introduced teachers to “hands-on physics”, explaining how a modular approach can help develop engineering thinking. Oleg Siverin, Head of the Industrial Robots Integration Office, spoke to technology teachers about real-world challenges and practical solutions accessible to secondary school students.
“This is a unique opportunity to truly bring together and integrate schools, universities, and industrial partners—and that is the main goal of today’s forum,” said Irina Potoroko, Director of the SUSU School of Medical Biology. “Today, school education must be aimed at helping students develop high-level professional competencies in the future. Our university is becoming a place for this kind of interaction. People have come here expecting concrete recommendations on how to organize close cooperation. The School Medical Biology is represented in two thematic sections. Together with our specialists, we cover Psychology, Biology, and Chemistry—the latter jointly with the Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. We will bring together different perspectives on projects involving school students, provide recommendations, and hear the requests that usually come from schools. This will create a unique format in which we can communicate face-to-face about our country’s strategic priorities and how they can be introduced from the earliest years of schooling through the “Step into the Future” initiative.”
While some groups of teachers discussed theoretical issues at their desks, others went on tours to explore practical applications. The forum organizers made an effort to offer each subject teacher an excursion tailored to their professional interests. Computer Science teachers learned about the Tornado supercomputer; Chemistry teachers saw unusual crystals at the Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre; and History teachers explored Bronze Age exhibits at the “The People and Technologies of the Urals University Museum”. Visual Arts teachers visited an exhibition at the Museum of Student Works at the university library. Meanwhile, teachers of the Russian Language and Literature went on a tour around the 10th “media floor”, where they visited a professional television studio and learned about the work of SUSU-TV.
“Today, we’ve seen how university science is developing, and in a week, on September 1st, we will tell our students about it,” said Mavlida Rakhmatullina, a teacher of the Russian Language and Literature at the Yaratkul Secondary School. “Students from our rural school are planning to apply to universities in Chelyabinsk, including SUSU. I feel proud that one of our girls plans to pursue a degree in Philology. Today, we’ve gained many fresh impressions, which we will try to share with our students as well.”
The heads of municipal methodological services also held a separate meeting to discuss the organization of methodological classes.
See photos from the event via this link
Read more in the SUSU channel on MAX