“Summer 2016”: Outcomes of Practical Training for Future Teachers

The official opening ceremony of the event “Summer 2016”, which aimed to summarize the outcomes of the summer program of hands-on pedagogical training that our future teachers covered this summer, took place at the Assembly Hall of Astrakhan State University.

Over 250 students and guests – reps of the University Administration, summer camps for children, as well as Deans and supervisors of the practical training programs – gathered in the Assembly Hall.

Prof. Galina Stefanova, First Vice Rector – Vice Rector for Main Activities of ASU, gave a welcoming speech; she emphasized the importance of camp counselling activities in the professional development of a future teacher and wished our students good luck in mastering their future profession.

Her speech was followed by our students’ reports about their summer training. Their songs and dances left no one indifferent; each number was humorous, cheerful, and a bit regretting the past summer. The words “Camp counseling is not a job; it’s a state of mind” were the main idea of the event. In our students’ opinions, the summer training at camps for children was a definitely memorable event for them, and the obtained pedagogical experience is of great value for their future profession.

After the concert and reporting program, issues of interaction between ASU and summer camps for children were discussed at a roundtable. Another discussion concerned the role of camp counselor, which is crucial to provide a real recreation for children.

Management of a number of Crimean summer camps thanked our University for a high level of training camp counselors and wished this cooperation were developed further.