Educatorium – from theory to practice

Abstract

Teaching foreign languages is based on teaching materials understood as all means used to ensure the achievement of the assumed goals of teaching a foreign language (Styszyński, 2004). Some of these materials are intended for students and others for use by teachers. Among the latter, the most popular are methodological guides and teaching packages concerning the implementation of effective ways of teaching a foreign language. However, due to their specificity, the theoretical aspect is rather undeveloped, and the examples are usually given in only one foreign language, without demonstrating the possibility of creative modification. These challenges are faced by the development of a new type of teaching materials – an educatorium, which has been designed and published for the first time in Poland. This type of monograph, containing an extensive theoretical part and a large set of exercises, is addressed to both academic and non-academic teachers of foreign languages, at different levels of professional experience, as a tool for self-development. Our main aim is to present the goals and functions of an educatorium, intended for teachers as innovators, researchers, and reflective practitioners. The paper also explains the methods of developing teachers’ professional creativity, presents the structure and content of the educatorium, and discusses a system of listening exercises given in Polish, Russian, German, and English.