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JAN FRONĚK
Role: Academic coach Area: Career and Personal Development Emmployer: Freelance, TEREZA Education Center WHAT CAN I HELP MY MENTEE WITH?
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Helping teachers and other academics is something that has always made sense to Jan. While studying andragogy, he was already helping schools with programs for students and teachers, and during his PhD studies he most enjoyed teaching and connecting with new people. 12 years of teaching social psychology to American students was then a key experience for him.
The PhD period was a vivid one for Jan and brought him two big surprises. The first was the discovery that he and his wife, whom he had just married, did not want to live in the city. They bought an acre of land and decided to build a house and a small farm. The second surprise was the discovery of coaching. Jan got into coaching through a lecturing job at a company. "Suddenly someone explained to me how to define a goal and then how to work towards it. I've always been an honest student, so I started trying out the tricks on myself and on my own projects - like building a house and a farm, and eventually I even finished my own PhD thanks to that, although at one point I was losing motivation." Jan found that what he enjoys about coaching as an introvert is that it is a one-on-one conversation that visibly moves people along. He started coaching full time in 2010.
In addition to coaching, Jan currently works at the TEREZA Education Center, where he is in charge of a team of four that helps Czech teachers teach about nature in the outdoors. He creates training, methodologies and online support, with the aim of bringing children and nature closer together for the benefit of both.
He enters mentoring with the motivation "to help students, especially PhD students and postdocs, achieve their goals faster without losing their soul and relationships". And he is also looking forward to broadening his horizons and making connections at the technical school.