The first HUPE Osijek branch meeting in school year 2022-2023
The first HUPE Osijek branch meeting in school year 2022-2023 was held on 3 December 2022 at the Faculty of Education in Osijek. 29 English enthusiasts and HUPE members decided to spend their Saturday morning attending a 3-hour mini conference rerun with their hardworking colleagues repeating their successful workshops from the 30th HUPE conference.
The agenda included:
1) 30th HUPE Conference report
2) Cassy Prskalo: The Transformative Power of Storytelling
3) Ksenija Benčina & Lorna Dubac Nemet: Can you teach an old dog or is ignorance bliss?
4) Lidija Šaravanja & Alenka Taslak: STEM, STEAM, STREAM If you know what I mean
5) HUPE news
At the beginning of the meeting the HUPE Osijek branch president informed the participants about the 30th Annual International HUPE Conference, which took place in Valamar, Poreč from 11 to 13 November 2022. She reported on the conference venue, partners and sponsors, programme, plenary speakers, workshops, social events, raffle, as well as on the overall positive feedback the HUPE Organizing Committee has received. She also mentioned a rather successful British scone bake-alongwith Jane Borwa that was organized by our partner Languages United from Bath via Zoom for the members who could not attend the conference.
A special guest and a Fulbright scholar at the Faculty of Education in Osijek, Grace Penta, introduced herself to the attendees and offered to gladly accept invitations from schools and other universities for short visits as an ambassador of American culture and an English language resource.
The first workshop, titled The Transformative Power of Storytelling, was held by Cassy Prskalo from the Secondary School Ilok. In an hour-long workshop, Cassy demonstrated different activities and strategies for successful storytelling she acquired during her SUSI course in the USA, benefits of these activities, as well as examples of good practice.
After the coffee break, the second workshop, titled Can you teach an old dog or is ignorance bliss?, was held by Ksenija Benčina from the Faculty of Education and Lorna Dubac Nemet from the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health in Osijek. They presented a number of ideas on how proverbs and sayings can be implemented in teaching to raise learners’ awareness of cultural differences, expanding their vocabulary and motivating them to take a stand and actively participate in discussions.
The third workshop titled STEM, STEAM, STREAM If you know what I mean was held by Lidija Šaravanja from Primary School Vladimir Nazor, Čepin and Alenka Taslak from Primary School Dore Pejačević, Našice. They demonstrated how teaching our students about STEM creates a great opportunity for empowering research skills, problem-solving, collaboration, reflection, critical thinking, and creativity, and it also enables developing higher-level thinking skills by connecting classroom learning to the real world.
After the workshops, participants were informed about the news in HUPE including the highlights from the AGM, HUPE Broad and Osijek branch president elections that will take place in spring and summer of the next year, writing competition HUPE in Storyland, HUPE’s meeting with the President of the Republic of Croatia held on 22 November, a 5-day teacher training course in Edinburgh that is planned for spring 2023, HUPE Day planned for April or May, as well as the changes in the membership fees from January 2023.
At the end of the meeting, the branch president organized a short Kahoot quiz to test the members’ knowledge about the 30th HUPE Conference in order to give away three conference goody bags filled with useful teaching resources and materials.
HUPE Osijek is thankful to the speakers and all the members who were able to attend and make the meeting a productive and enjoyable experience. Hopefully, we will see you at our next meeting in February 2023.
If you are a teacher of English and would like to join HUPE Osijek, feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you!
Adrijana Roždijevac
HUPE Osijek Branch President
