From August 19 to 28 the Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Social Work of Liepaja University (LiepU) Linda Pavītola and the Senior specialist of the International Relations Department Sintija Leigute went on Erasmus+ exchange to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa, in the frame of international Erasmus+ exchange programme project KA107, which since 2020 has been implemented jointly between LiepU and UKZN in the field of Pedagogy. During the visit, the dean Linda Pavītola gave lectures to teacher education students of the bachelor, master and doctoral study programmes about the work of various communities and educational research perspectives in the context of Latvia, as well as shared her experience of the teacher training and its challenges in LiepU and Latvia. Whereas Sintija Leigute introduced students and staff to Liepaja University and its internationalisation strategy, Erasmus+ exchange opportunities in cooperation with UKZN and LiepU full-time degree studies for foreign students.
During the week, the guests had a very intensive and rich working programme in the UKZN Faculty of Education, several productive meetings with the management team of the School of Education, administration, lecturers, researchers and International Relations Department to whom the cooperation in studies, science and international projects were discussed (for example, joint research, Erasmus+ students and exchange of academic staff, various partnership projects involving two other South African universities, creation of a summer school, etc.). Various levels of local private and public urban and rural schools in Durban and beyond were visited, community associations such as the 1000 Hills Community Helper's Centre and the Society for the Blind people, various events - Teacher conference attended by the best teachers from all the KwaZulu-Natal provincial schools, an international education conference together with UKZN's International Relations Department, the launch of a book and an exhibition on student activist protests and violence in South African universities, the launch of the "Woman Leader 2022" conference organized by UKZN and the University of Venda, with the participation of the Queen of the Zulu monarchy of KwaZulu-Natal.
Dean Linda Pavītola admitted about her mobility experience: "This was my first visit to South Africa, and I didn't know what to expect before I arrived. But the experience I gained exceeded my expectations on all levels - I met wonderful people, excellent professionals, and enjoyed culture and the nature. Even though we are so far from each other, it was surprising how much we could see in common in terms of historical aspects, beliefs and values that form the foundations of educational philosophy. It was great that we were able to come together and find the key points for discussion related to inclusive education, early childhood education, the importance of the teacher competence development and joint workshops on current issues, especially in the field of community engagement, music therapy methods in education and teacher education. We can learn a lot from each other and share experiences that open our thinking and expand the boundaries of knowledge and understanding.”
Sintija Leigute said that it was very interesting and useful to get to know the environment of the surrounding universities and schools, to understand from what kind of environment and conditions come the potential South African students and what are the cultural differences among students, as this is important in the work with admission of foreign students at LiepU: “I liked the excellently prepared visit programme from which a lot of lessons will be learnt at my work when welcoming foreign guests in the near future and that I could get to know how close is the cooperation of various communities with UKZN and compare it from the perspective of our university. We have a lot of common fields of study that we can jointly develop internationally to make education more inclusive and accessible to South African students as well. The most I am excited about the openness and hospitality of the people and the colorfulness of the culture, which never ceases to surprize."
The future cooperation is planned to be strengthened with the submission of a new Erasmus+ mobility project in 2023, in order to give LiepU and UKZN doctoral students and academic staff more opportunities to have regular visits between both universities in studies and reserach in the above-mentioned educational issues.
Some photos from the Erasmus+ mobility:
