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St. Petersburg International Educational Forum: new format and new solutions

The video recording of the round table "The Outcomes of the XI St. Petersburg International Educational Forum" was streamed on the website of the Forum. The discussion of the outcomes of a major international educational event, organised by the Education Committee and the Center for Regional and International Cooperation, was held at the Herzen University.

Valeriy Nikolaevich Volkov, Head of the Department of Education Development of the Education Committee, was the moderator of the round table. The heads of the Education Committee and educational institutions, leading education experts (organisers and moderators of the Forum's official programme events) participated as speakers.

The participants of the round table highlighted the key points of the last forum and tried to outline their vision of the future of this educational event.

After a two-year break the eleventh forum showed that the challenges faced by education and the search for new solutions are still relevant in our society. Not only did people from all the regions of the Russian Federation participate in the forum, but also the representatives of 26 foreign countries took part in this educational event online.

The new format of the forum also made it possible to use a variety of event formats (dozens of them), including discussion platforms, round tables, workshops, meetups, eduthons, barcamp sessions, and many other formats that came from other, non-educational, events.

Mikhail Yuryevich Puchkov, Deputy Chairman of the Education Committee: "We could not cancel the forum for the second time, because this year brought so many qualitative changes to the education system that it was paramount to highlight and emphasise them. We were able to implement many interactive activities, for instance, on the forum's website and we also provided feedback on the website. New formats made the Forum more open both for the teaching community and for parents."

St. Petersburg Center for Regional and International Cooperation provided assistance in the organisation of the XI St. Petersburg International Educational Forum from the idea to its implementation. This year, the Center's team provided information support and media coverage of the Forum.

Maria Petrovna Rokhmaniiko, CEO of the Center for Regional and International Cooperation: "...Creating a communication platform for our colleagues from other regions and other countries and presenting online events were a new and significant challenge for us. That is why a new Internet resource was launched on the eve of the Forum. It is still active afterwards: people visit it, they click on links to the websites of educational institutions that organised the Forum events, watch videos and have access to other materials. Our region continues to use this resource. For other regions and countries it serves as an additional virtual gateway to our city. Thus, a brand new education news aggregator has been launched in St. Petersburg."

About 300 events were held within the framework of the Forum. Three of them were held at the Herzen University, that has been a partner of the Forum for many years.

"Our meeting today tops off intensive and hard work that has already been done. St. Petersburg International Educational Forum was held for the 11th time. Only a really important project can go such a long way…This year was special for education system, and the forum was also special, because the role of a teacher has never been so essential for the country, for people, and, one might say, on a global scale…It is crucial that the forum is international. Only together can we find the right solutions to all the challenges..." said Sergey Igorevich Bogdanov, Rector of the Herzen University.

The most impressive event organised by the university in terms of participation was the X Herzen Pedagogical Olympiad of Young Teachers "Professional Prospects". It was attended by more than 2000 teachers from more than 40 regions of the country.

Elena Vitalyevna Piskunova, Doctor of Education, Professor, Head of the Department of Didactics, Herzen University: "This is an excellent opportunity for young teachers from all over Russia, first, to network, second, to learn new approaches and third, to show their achievements… I have been involved in the organisation of the Forum since the very beginning and I can see clearly that more and more educational (and not only educational) institutions participate in this large-scale event. The Forum promotes St. Petersburg education both in St. Petersburg and in the regions and different countries."

Aleksey Olegovich Kravtsov, Ph. D. in Education, Associate Professor of the Department of Education Management and Human Resources Management, Herzen University: "The Forum showed that education is still alive and kicking. It was essential as we were not able to take part in face-to-face meetings and the scientific agenda was curtailed. On the other hand, there are many significant events like Pedagogical Council in August, the "Child and Society" Conference, etc. and the Forum is one of them... Why is it so important? First of all, it is an opportunity to see how fundamental St. Petersburg education is…Secondly, it provides a variety of new ideas expressed by the scientific community that we can explore. It sheds light on the process of their implementation...".

The organisers identified the top 3 issues that were covered and discussed during St. Petersburg International Educational Forum in 2021: 1. digitalization of education; 2. quality of education; 3. discipline.

Irina Eduardovna Kondrakova, Deputy Head for the Development of Cooperation in the field of Teacher Training, Ph. D. in Education, Professor of the Herzen University: "I expected St. Petersburg International Educational Forum to give rise to a proper conversation, as always. The subject matter, the number of venues, and the variety of formats indicate that we still have something to talk about, something to discuss and share with each other. The Forum showed that our global educational community is a close-knit one. The issues raised resonated with our foreign colleagues, and the online format allowed us to discuss challenges that we all can relate to...".

Olga Olegovna Zhebrovskaya, Ph. D. in Education, Associate Professor of the Division of Education Psychology and Pedagogy, St. Petersburg State University, has taken part in St. Petersburg International Educational Forum many times. This year she participated as a moderator for the first time. "For me, this year's forum showed a huge amount of educational energy that was accumulated over the past year during the pandemic and flooded us all like an ocean this year... For me, the Forum was also a revelation. This year, so many ideas and events were presented that it proved that education is fascinating, it really defines the future, it shows us the challenges we will face and our readiness to meet them..." Olga Olegovna highlighted to her colleagues.

Roman Viktorovich Demyanchuk, Ph. D. in Psychology, Associate Professor of the Division of Education Psychology and Pedagogy, St. Petersburg State University: "...St. Petersburg International Educational Forum is an event that you do not want to just participate in, but to live through. Many different people took part in the events of the Forum: those who participate in the educational process and those who are related to it – children, parents, teachers, researchers, representatives of educational authorities, business and the public...".

Irina Vladimirovna Grishina, Doctor of Education, Professor, Vice Rector for Research, St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education: "Once again, we showed everyone who is interested in the development of the education system that we are energetic, progressive and proactive. We survived this challenging year together maintaining the quality of education. We generated new ideas and kept our dignity... The Forum continues to live! And it means a lot!"