Development of Lecturing Skills

From September 14 to 16, 2026, training was held for professional staff implementing group work forms, focused on the development of lecturing skills. The educational activity was carried out with the aim of enhancing the professional, communication, and facilitation competencies of the professional staff who lead group forms of treatment for inmates within penitentiary practice. The course was led by Janka Olexová from the company TIMAN, with the training designed interactively, with a significant emphasis on practical training and the transfer of acquired knowledge into everyday professional practice.

Leading group work forms represents professional activity that requires the lecturer not only to have knowledge of the content of the implemented activity but also the ability to manage the group process, work with group dynamics, create a safe and stimulating environment, support the participation of individual group members, and flexibly react to current events in the group. An important role is played by the lecturer's way of communicating, their ability to listen actively, formulate questions appropriately, provide feedback, and support the self-reflection of participants. The content of the education was oriented toward the development of skills useful for preparing, structuring, implementing, and evaluating group meetings. Attention was paid to the individual phases of working with a group, setting goals, choosing appropriate methods and techniques, activating participants, as well as handling challenging situations that may arise during group work. Emphasis was placed on the lecturer's ability to maintain the target focus of the activity while simultaneously responding appropriately to the individual needs, attitudes, and expressions of group members. Part of the training was also deepening communication and motivational skills. Through practical exercises, the professional staff practiced using open questions, active listening, reflection, affirmation, and summary, as well as procedures supporting the naming of their own resources, awareness of the consequences of behavior, and strengthening motivation for change. Special attention was paid to ensuring that the lecturer did not act merely as a mediator of information, but primarily as a facilitator of the learning, self-reflection, and change process. A significant element of the education was experiential learning and learning through one's own experience. Participants entered model situations, rotated roles, analyzed the course of group interactions, and received feedback on their own way of communicating and leading the group. Such training allowed connecting theoretical foundations with specific situations that professional staff encounter when working with inmates. An important part of the training was simultaneously mutual exchange of professional experience and reflection on one's own practice. Under the expert guidance of Janka Olexová, participants had space to identify their strengths in the lecturer's position, name areas for further professional development, and expand the repertoire of procedures usable when working with a group.

The implemented training represents one of the forms of continuous professional development of the staff of the Prison and Judicial Guard Corps and contributes to increasing the quality of implemented group forms of treatment. The development of lecturing competencies creates conditions so that group activities are not implemented only as the transfer of information, but as a purposeful, structured, and professionally led process that supports the active participation of inmates, their self-reflection, taking responsibility for their own behavior, and creating conditions for positive change.