The traditional event of the Faculty of Physical Culture - 21st International Teaching Week (ITW) took place in the week of 17-21 April 2023. The new decade of ITW started successfully with lectures of 11 foreign experts from our partner universities in Poland, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Romania, Israel, Iran, Germany and the USA.
On Monday morning, the students had the opportunity to stretch out at a practical lesson of hydrobic for elderly led by Finnish guest lecturer Milla Reponen. Other engaging sessions followed right after, for example a lecture on the use of electrical stimulation in physiotherapy, how to participate and improve the promotion of physical activities, or the use of game theory to measure creativity. This April, a number of guest teachers focused on groups of people who are somehow disadvantaged in society, particularly on the elderly. To give one more example in addition to the aforementioned hydrobic workshop, Israeli lecturer Itai Har-Nir, tried to show the students that even their grandmothers could take up lifting heavy weights despite higher age. A part of ITW was also the last lecture of the series by visiting professor Michael Pratt from the University of California, San Diego, who has been working at our faculty for almost a year thanks to his prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. The whole event was rounded off with a Friday lecture by Danish expert Lars Bojsen Michalsik, who shared his valuable experience mostly to future handball coaches.
As usual, our international guests were introduced to the secrets of Czech gastronomy at a welcome dinner in a traditional Czech restaurant and they could learn a bit about the history of Olomouc during a guided tour finished by the view from the Town Hall Tower. This year, we also had the unique opportunity to visit probably the most famous exhibition in Olomouc - Květinová Flora.
We were happy to see that the feedback from students, academics and ITW participants themselves was largely positive and we are looking forward to November when we welcome guests from all over the world once again. If you have not yet been able to attend our regular event, be sure to mark the date 6-10 November 2023 in your calendars, as ITW is not just about practicing language skills, but also about making new contacts and learning about different cultures, mind-sets and teaching styles. Mutual understanding and open-mindedness are among the most important values in today's globalised world, and thanks to ITW you can broaden your horizons twice a year directly at our faculty.
More information, including programmes and photos from this year's and previous ITWs, is available on the faculty website.