The long-term goal of the Goethe Centre JU (GC USB) is to make the instruction of German in schools in South Bohemia more attractive. However, the target group is not only pupils but also teachers of German who want to further their education and develop their know-how in light of rapidly changing trends and needs in education. Within the framework of the Further Education of Teaching Staff programme, representatives of the USB Goethe Centre took part in the first of two international excursions together with German teachers working in various schools in the South Bohemian Region – this year the participants were exclusively women.
Since the beginning of the school year 2022/2023, the USB Goethe Centre has been offering two special courses that are accredited by the FETS programme of the Ministry of Education. The thematic areas are, of course, the German language and its teaching. In the winter semester 2022/2023, a course called Vademecum II Sprachkurs für Fortgeschrittene, which is primarily aimed at qualified German language teachers who want to further improve their conversational skills, are interested in current topics of general interest and seek to establish further contacts and cooperation with Lower Bavarian or Upper Austrian educational institutions and other cooperating bodies, was successfully launched.
Two excursions are also an integral part of the regular conversation meetings, the first of which the course visitors took part in on Thursday, 1 December 2022. With regard to most, the highlight of the programme was a visit to the Bundeshandelsakademie und Bundeshandelsschule Perg, a secondary school of economics in Perg, where the excursion participants were welcomed by the headmistress Gabriela Teubenbacher together with the education and youth work advisor Edith Kern-Klambauer. ‘We were able to see the school together, talk to the pupils, visit the library and learn about the operation of the pupils' fictitious companies, which perfectly simulate the environment of the real market,’ adds the head of the USB Goethe Centre Mgr. Lucie Trnková. Thanks to the opportunity to meet in person, exchange experiences and establish personal relationships, it will be easier to establish further cooperation between the schools involved in the future.
Another equally interesting place was the ancient town of Enns, which is linked to the original settlement of Roman soldiers and where even today there is a unit of the Austrian Army Bundesheer with its own non-commissioned officers' academy. Not far from Enns, you can also visit the Mauthausen Memorial. Right in Linz, the excursion members visited the ‘museum of the future’ Ars electronica center, which focuses on new technologies and their role in everyday life and education. The museum, which is commonly referred to as the ‘School of the Future’, offers a varied programme for all generations, as well as educational workshops and seminars for teachers, also in Czech as required. ‘All the ideas we have picked up along the way can be passed on to the teachers in their schools and used to make the instruction – and not just that of German – more attractive,’ explains the head of the USB Goethe Centre. At the end of the excursion, the participants visited a Christmas market offering local products and tasting original Linz specialities.
‘We would like to thank HAK u. HAS Perg, Oberösterreich Tourismus and the South Bohemian Region for their cooperation on this extraordinary trip,’ adds Master Trnková.
USB GOETHE CENTRUM
Krajinská 2
370 01 České Budějovice
Tel.: 724 503 704
www.goethecentrum.cz
