by Jenny Johnson
Fall 1997
Dr. Habil Stanislaw Dylak receives
the AECT International Division Award for “International
Contributions” and an International Division mug during
the 1st conference of the Polish Association for Education Technology,
in Pozan, Poland on April 15, 1997. Observing the event
is Dr. Ludwig J. Issing, AECT adviser for Germany and president
of the German Association for Pedagogics and Information. The
award was presented by Jenny Johnson, on behalf of AECT.
Q1. You have made many contributions
to the international field of educational communications and technology;
tell us about them.
I have directed a team that has made
films about exemplary programs in different countries such as:
TVIND school in Denmark; Roudolf Steiner, Dalton Freinet Schools
in Austria. Those films were placed in every school in Poznan,
Poland. I have funding to make films about schools in Great Britain.
Some of my films have been broadcast on Polish TV. I also organized
5 study trips for groups of 40 teachers to Denmark, Sweden, Germany,
Italy, and The Netherlands.
I am pleased to be serving my 4th year as the AECT International
Division Adviser for Poland. I contribute reports about Polish
educational technology initiatives for publication in International
Perspective.
I must tell you, before we go
any further, I am surprised and honored to receive this award.
I will do my best to continue to contribute to international cooperation
in our field.
Q2. Where and what are
you currently teaching?
I teach in two facilities at Adam Mickiewicz
University, the Department of Educational Technology, Faculty
of Educational Studies and the Faculty of Biology. In Educational
Studies, I teach strategies of communication for graduate science
teachers using video self-observation as well as pedagogy for
teaching science.
In the Faculty of Biology I teach general
pedagogy. I’m head of Postgraduate Studies for primary science
teachers. The courses are the result of three years of the international
TEMPUS project: European Center for Primary Science and Environmental
Education in Poland. TEMPUS projects are established by EU countries
to help former communist countries develop their systems of education.
Our project collaborates with England, The Netherlands and with
the U.S..
Q3. Your book titled: “Visualization
in Teacher Education”, was published recently. Please, give
us a synopsis.
Teacher education and teacher training
are the main areas of interest. The main assumption of my book
is that the passive previous experiences of teacher candidates
are iconically (visually) encoded and verbally encoded. I consider
visual representations important tools for discovering common
sense knowledge and elaboration, further making links with scientific
knowledge. I see four functions of video technology in teacher
education: anticipation (as in a trigger video), self-images (as
a mirror), data processing, and simulation (virtual reality).
The book presents a range of points of view on using interactive
video and computers in teacher training.
Q 4. Is you book available in English?
No, not yet. I hope to publish my ideas
in English education journal articles in the near future.
Q5. What is your philosophy of education?
My philosophy has changed over the
years. I believed in a very humanistic approach. However, I could
not accept the extreme points of view of that theory. Now, my
philosophy is a cognitive approach to teacher training with some
behaviorism; and I believe in “reasonable” constructivism.
Education should give students a chance to choose. I admit this
philosophy is not without risk because we must teach students
how to accept different points of view and know the limits of
freedom. I want to apply my beliefs to media in schools, where
media is overestimated as tools for learning about facts; but
is underestimated as emotionally active and involving tools; I
am concerned about improving teacher preparation regarding media.
Q6. What activities are you working
on now?
A I am active in the development
of the Polish Association for Educational Technology and Media
(PAETM). We are planning our 2nd international conference April
1998 and invite all AECT members to attend. I am interested
in “interactive” Learning Centers that are popular
in the US. I hope to work on developing such centers in Poland,
especially for science. I will continue my work with the
Polish Ministry of Education teams on reform and standards, as
well as co-authoring of the curriculum base for primary teaching.
And, I intend to continue to teach at Adam Mickiewacz University.
NB: This article
first appeared on a web site hosted by the California State University,
Fresno web site. The original link is found at:
http://bogota.soehd.csufresno.edu/news98/fall97/interviews.html
