This spring the
new office in Nitra was officially opened. It is within the newly renamed Constantine the
Philosopher University in Nitra. The office will house four staff members including Dr.
Mary Melvin and Dr. Sally Beach (see profiles in this issue.) Mary is from the University
of Miami, Ohio, and Sally from the University of Oklahoma. They will direct the Nitra
office along with the executive assistant there, Anka Pokorna.
The Nitra office represents the expansion of the project provided
for by funds received from USAID in September 1996. These funds enabled the project to
virtually double in size. Collaboration of the kind, underway for more than three years
now with Comenius University, will be sought in Nitra. Several faculty wide meetings have
been held there. Gauging from interest expressed by faculty and administrators, extensive
collaboration is expected.
The counterpart coordinator of project activities at the university in Nitra is Vice
Rector Kozik. When collaboration first began he was Dean of the Pedagogical Faculty. He
has since been promoted to Vice Rector and continues his direct involvement and support
for the project. Vice Rector Kozik spoke at the ceremony opening
the office. He described the importance to the university of their collaboration and
indicated that he considers this cooperation to be one of the most significant
developments for the university.
He expressed great hope that the relationship between the two institutions would be
lasting and productive. Kozik shared his appreciation of Dean Switzer and the UNI College
of Education for supporting the project and bringing it to Nitra. He expressed his
pleasure with having worked with Switzer early in the collaborative process. Rector Liba
also spoke, stressing his belief that change is best and most lasting when it is done
within a collaborative context. He suggested that there is much we can learn from one
another, and that building bridges is one of the most important things we can do. He then
spoke of the growing importance of bringing change to his university. Liba acknowledged
the high quality of staff, but shared his desire to bring the university new ideas and
ways of thinking that would better serve today’s student needs in the ever changing
environment of Slovakia.
The new office is located in a newly renovated building next to student dorms in a
quiet and lovely area of Nitra. It is on the second floor of the building next to the
student communications balcony with a beautiful view of the mountain. Newly arriving staff
were greeted by a fully equipped and functioning facility. New IBM PC 100s for everyone
have been provided by the grant. E-mail connections are in place through EUnet services.
The opening of this office was especially exciting as it represents just how far the
project has come since its beginnings. Many will remember that the
first office for the project was a small room in a ramshackle home in Bratislava. It was
equipped with a phone, Macintosh lap top, small dining room table and book case. Opening
the fully equipped Nitra office with a formal ceremony and holding the reception in the
spacious facility was quite a sign of growth. Even before the office was opened, UNI
faculty and staff were hard at work there. Last fall several in-service programs were
offered. Several more have been provided this spring. UNI pioneers in Nitra include Matt
Kollasch, Barb Safford, and Greg Stefanich. With new staff in place, collaboration can now
be intensified. It is anticipated that Nitra will become as busy an office as Bratislava
and Dolny Kubin.
Comenius University Opens Educational Leadership Department
In April the Ministry of Education of Slovakia gave final approval to
Comenius University to establish an educational leadership department within the
Pedagogical Faculty. This represents the culmination of a lengthy application process that
began over two years ago.
The program of study approved by the ministry is the program being
delivered by the Orava Project. It is an eleven course program jointly designed by faculty
from UNI education leaders from the UNI community, and participants in the educational
leadership component of the project.
Comenius University has appointed faculty to direct the newly founded
department. The department head will be Dr. Obdrzalek, a long standing and well respected
faculty member within the pedagogical faculty. He is quite pleased by this development and
has begun to assemble others to teach within the program. The timeline for startup of the
program is quite soon. We will work with Dr. Obdrzalek to establish mechanisms for
delivery of the program of study and to define our continuing role. Plans call for the
first courses to be offered in the fall of 1997, so there is much to accomplish between
now and then. The Orava Project will continue to assist with delivery of course content,
but the program is now in the hands of Comenius University.
Slovak instructors for the program of study will come from among the
participants in the present Orava Project program. It is likely that Boris Sodoma, whom
many met while he was in Iowa, will be the lead faculty member within the department.
Boris is presently a school director in Bratislava and is completing his doctoral studies
at Comenius. He will be assisted in the department by many other participants including
two Comenius faculty from other departments.
This development is important to the final success of the Orava Project.
For the project to be successful, it must have a legacy which extends beyond the present
funding term. To have a legacy, project activities must be institutionalized within
Slovakia. Establishment of this new department will ensure that the democratic management
practices taught through this program will continue well into the future. It is also
important that this department be founded within Comenius University. Comenius University
was an original partner in the Orava Project. There is now a long standing and positive
relationship between Comenius and UNI. It is fitting that the first fully approved and
functioning educational leadership program in Slovakia be founded there in cooperation
with UNI and the Orava Project.
Participant Reflections and Memories of Slovakia
Following are personal reflections of a few individuals who have taught courses or
workshops in Slovakia:
Maribelle H. Betterton – “The journey was wonderful.
Academically it was stimulating. Emotionally it was breathtaking. This entire experience,
particularly the people, have touched my head and my heart. I shan’t ever forget
them. I thank God for this event in my life.”
Rick Traw – “We had so much fun, saw so many things, met so
many people. Mostly though, we were inspired by the work of our new-found friends in the
Educational Leadership group. They will change their schools, and thereby change their
worlds. At the end of our workshop, we lit candles to our friendship and the common ideals
we professed. The candles are still burning.” Richard
Doyle – “It has been a growing and learning experience for me as I
engage in in-depth work in a culture quite different from ours. Teaching through
interpreters has forced me to think and plan for efficiency and impact in what I present
and deliver to an audience.”
“What I have learned from my work in Slovakia has made me a better administrator.
Issues of freedom and democracy which we take for granted are intensely debated. These
things have caused me to reflect upon our community and our schools, and wonder how
“democratic” our schools are and what we are doing in our schools to support and
improve our democratic form of government.”
Greg Stefanich – “At Constantine thePhilosopher University, I
interacted with faculty who have concerns and aspirations analogous to those at UNI. The
studentswere very much like the students I teach at UNI, enthusiastic and energetic with a
great degree of optimism. My experiences with the core teachers and middle level science
teachers were equally rewarding.” “They are searching,
like we are, to establish a high quality educational program for students; searching for
ways to extend greater opportunities for students to make decisions about their own
learning and, at the same time, having enough structure to address the management and
organizational attributes of an effective school environment.” “I returned to
Cedar Falls with an abundance of new acquaintances, and a wealth of new ideas from my work
and travels. It was an adventure in learning and I share my heartfelt thanks to all who
contributed and made it possible.”
Earl Ockenga And Genn Nelson – (In anticipation): “Our initial
responses to an invitation to teach in Slovakia were of excitement and uncertainty.
Excitement at the prospect of being involved with such a worthwhile project that had
already established such a good ruputation, balanced with uncertainty of how best to
deliver a message of teaching mathematics in a manner that promoted democratic
principles.” (After thoughts): “After completing our
math workshops, we must say our experiences were remarkable and memorable. The ease in
which we shared our math activities with the participants and they in turn shared their
good ideas with us is noteworthy. And on the last day, when a participant stood and said,
‘The world becomes a better place when we combine the best of Slovakian teachers with
the best of American teachers,” it made the workshops truly memorable.”
Dr. Melvin and Dr. Beach Co-Coordinate
Nitra Office
Mary Melvin has come to the project based on her ability to motivate and inspire
classroom teachers and also to work with the university to develop school/university
partnerships for teacher education. She has expertise in reading/language arts,
particularly in the use of democratic instructional strategies that encourage independent
and reflective thinking, critical questioning, problem solving and cooperative learning as
related to those areas.
Having worked 21 years as an elementary teacher in various locations; Miami University
Lab School, Colorado, Ohio, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, she has grown sensitive to
cultural differences. International education has been an important ingredient of her
professional career since receiving her MA in International Education at the University of
Michigan in 1963. Since completion of her Ph. D. at University of Wisconsin in 1976, she
has been an educational consultant in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Great Britain, Luxembourg, and
Bermuda.
During her 17 years at Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, Mary taught LA/Reading in the
teacher education program.She also organized “Computers in the Classroom,” a
conference for up to 500 participants, for 3 years.
Sara Ann (Sally) Beach comes to us from the University of Oklahoma at Norman. She
received her B.A. degree from University of Dallas, her M.Ed. from Texas A&M
University, and her Ph.D. from University of California in 1991. Sally has seven years of
teaching experience in international settings including Asia and Europe.
She has been active in teacher education and believes teaching and learning should be
viewed through a sociocultural lens. She views the context of teaching and learning
literacy as an active participatory, connection instruction. At the University of
Oklahoma, she taught literacy theories and methods classes for elementary education
preservice teachers, graduate literacy classes, and integrated methods.
Sally’s research interests focus on reading and literacy and she has produced an
extensive list of published articles over topics related to literacy, teacher education,
and school restructuring.
Marcela Maslova Hired to
Coordinate the Dolny Kubin Office
Marcela Maslova was hired in April to manage the Dolny Kubin office. She will work for
the project approximately twenty hours a week and provide much needed coordination in the
Orava region.
Marcela’s work will be especially important now that the region has been divided
into three separate areas as a result of national redistricting. Redistricting brought
confusion to the region, and arranging for teacher leaves and transportation to in-service
programs has become a much more complicated process. Marcela has taken on the task of
organizing in-service programs there, and operations are expected to run more smoothly.
The Core Teacher Leaders (CTL) in Orava are also beginning toprovide extensive
in-service programs for their colleagues. For practicing teachers, managing the
organizational elements of their in-service programs is difficult if not impossible.
Marcela will have responsibility for the administrative tasks necessary to put the CTL
in-service programs in place in the three districts of Orava
Many who have worked in Dolny Kubin know Marcela as she has served as an interpreter
for many workshops. She is a native of the Orava region and has been teaching English in
the Dolny Kubin Gymnasium for many years. Recently she took leave from her teaching
assignment to have her second child. She now has two sons, one is four years old and the
baby is now seven months.
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