Academic mobility as a necessary tool for professional development

The proposed project is aimed at creating cooperation in the field of English language teaching between Université de Namur (Namur) and ITMO University. It is aimed at enhancing exchange of knowledge on education and fostering cooperation in the field of continuous professional development between the following departments:
- At Université de Namur: Ecole des Langues Vivantes (UNAMUR-ELV):
- At ITMO University: Foreign Language Training Center (FLTC)
Individual experiences of mobility between these departments will support the internationalisation strategies, curricular development and academic programme strengthening of both HEIs’ The purpose of the staff exchange will be both teaching and teacher training.
Teaching
As both institutions have mandatory courses in English for Specific Purposes, fellows from Namur and ITMO will exchange the information on how ESP is taught at both universities, compare the curriculum and requirements for teaching professional English and Academic Writing.
During the exchange visits fellows will plan, develop and teach ESP classes to current students at both universities. The teaching plan, including topics and the amount of academic hours taught will be proposed by visiting teachers and approved by the academic management of the faculty in the pre-departure period according to the requirements set in the faculty where the classes will be held.
Both universities have experienced the necessity in moving their classes into the online mode and we can share our experience in digital learning with the focus on teaching academic writing skills via the Moodle platform. FLTC developed and runs a course on Academic Writing and EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction), a team research on this topic will support the teaching staff in both departments.
Training
During their visits participants will expand their professional networks, they will plan and organize information sessions for the ELV and FLTC staff to present the information about both departments.
They will also plan training sessions for the teaching staff of the faculty to share best innovative teaching practices with each other on the following topics: flipped classroom, distant learning, teaching with Moodle, EMI, classroom observations.
After the exchange, information sessions and workshops will be organised at both HEIs to present the project to the wider staff and cascade the knowledge and experience.
This collaboration between individual teachers will potentially lead to an international project between computer science students from both universities. A possible joint ESP program, students and a wider staff exchange between Namur and ITMO can be organized. Students will gain experience in participating in international projects, which will boost their academic performance.
The mobility of teaching staff will support ELV and Foreign Language Training Center in developing a wider competence in the field of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and will support possible Erasmus+ projects and international research projects.
The collaboration also encourages social competencies in a different socio-cultural environment and therefore strengthens personal soft skills of teachers.
The results of the project may be presented in the publications, international and local conferences such as EUROCALL, ADMEE, AIPU, AUPTIC, PUNCH, ARILUF, ICLHE, ESP Conference at ITMO University.