Intercounty Professional Meeting for Croatian Language Teachers Held

An Intercounty Professional Meeting titled "Communicative, Emotional, and Social Competencies of Educational Staff" was held at our University on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. The event was co-organized by the Education and Teacher Training Agency (AZOO) and the Catholic University of Croatia for Croatian language teachers from the Krapina-Zagorje and Koprivnica-Križevci counties, as well as elementary school Croatian language teachers from the City of Zagreb County.
 

The welcoming remarks and the introduction of the full program and lecturers were delivered by Marijana Češi, PhD, on behalf of the Education and Teacher Training Agency. The attendees were then addressed with an introductory speech by the host representative, Professor Daniel Labaš, Head of the University Department of Communication Studies at the Catholic University of Croatia.
 

The professional part of the program was organized through parallel workshops for a total of 100 participants. During the program, the groups rotated between two key thematic blocks, each consisting of a professional lecture and a practical workshop.
 

The first topic, titled "When We Truly Hear Each Other – Teacher-Parent Communication in Challenging School Situations," was led by Associate Professor Irena Sever Globan, PhD, from the University Department of Communication Studies at the Catholic University of Croatia. The second lecture and workshop, focusing on "Psychological Capacities of Teachers in Challenging School Situations," was held by Assistant Professor Barbara Balaž, PhD, from Algebra Bernays University. Through these interactive sessions, educational professionals had the opportunity to strengthen their communication and emotional skills necessary for daily functioning in a demanding school environment.
 

The final part of the meeting was dedicated to questions from the participants, discussion, and evaluation. The closing remarks and the official evaluation of the event were conducted by Marijana Češi, PhD, Head of the Department for Preschool and Elementary Education and Senior Advisor for the Croatian Language at the Education and Teacher Training Agency.