The Foundation Tempus, via a project supported by the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) in Belgrade, is continuing with the teacher trainer activities (English as a Medium of Instruction – EMI) at the four largest state universities in Serbia: The University of Belgrade, the University of Novi Sad, the University of Nis, and the University of Kragujevac.
The main goal of this project is to empower the teachers of these four universities in the implementation of the entire study programs in English (English as a Medium of Instruction – EMI), so that they would upgrade their skills to carry out classes in English, which would support the internationalization process of higher education in Serbia.
Within the project, it is planned to conduct trainings for at least one hundred and twenty teachers at the universities in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac. At each of these four universities, two groups of trainees would be formed (at least fifteen participants per group). The trainings would be conducted by English language professors working at the faculties of philology/philosophy, which are integral parts of the four universities.
The training is planned for the winter semester of the academic year 2021/2022 in the form of fifteen academic two-hour classes. Of these fifteen academic two-hour classes, twelve will be dedicated to teaching, while three two-hour classes will be dedicated to the so-called micro teaching hours during which trainees will have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge and receive feedback from the teachers.
Registration for attending these trainings will be made possible within the public call of the Foundation Tempus in September/October 2021, which will be followed by testing and selection of training participants.
These trainings will be preceded by an online one-day workshop for trainers, for the needs of which, with the help of the US Embassy in Belgrade, an American expert will be hired to share the American perspective on internationalization and English as a Medium of Instruction.
Lastly, this training will bring an additional value. Namely, as the above universities are holders of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, whose retention is a prerequisite for participation in the entire Erasmus+ program, and whose principles prescribe quality standards in the implementation of international activities, primarily exchange of students and staff, this training will contribute to improving the quality of teaching in English, and thus improving the participation of universities themselves, in Erasmus+ and other international programs.
