During the fifth edition of the Viva Dydaktyka conference, we invite you to reflect and engage in dialogue about… dialogue itself. Practicing dialogue in education is not an easy task – perhaps even an impossible one. Since the beginnings of formal education for young adults in higher education (and at other levels of schooling), teaching has usually been a meeting between generations: the older generation, in the role of teachers and academics, and the younger generation, represented by students. Academic teaching might be therefore considered as a relationship between those who possess expert knowledge and those who are just beginning their academic journey. It may thus appear almost “natural” for us, as academics, to promote our own interpretations, perspectives, and solutions.

Many years ago, Professor Joanna Rutkowiak, a distinguished scholar from Gdańsk, began exploring the meaning and practice of dialogue in the didactic context. She made us aware that even when teachers make efforts to give voice to students, this usually takes the form of what she called a “dialogue with an arbiter” – a situation in which one party claims the right to the final say, to "to dot the i’s and cross the t’s."

At the same time, Professor Rutkowiak identified the conditions that make possible a courageous, complete, and educationally meaningful form of encounter and conversation – one she defined as a dialogue without an arbiter.

Such a form of academic work would require all participants in the process to be treated as subjects rather than objects — to embrace difference with openness, courage, and respect; to engage in regular, appreciative listening; and, above all, to accept that assuming the position of an arbiter does not serve the formative and transformative adventure that studying can be.

Therefore, we understand didactics in relation as a space where students and teachers meet “dia logos” – through words and dialogue. In this space, what matters most is the exchange of experiences and perspectives, the building of trust, the courage to ask questions, and the creation of a learning community. Dialogue in didactics is not an add-on, a methodological solution, a pleasant interlude, or even a transaction – it is the very foundation, the condition for building deep understanding of a complex world and of oneself – an understanding essential to conscious, empathetic, responsible action grounded in solid knowledge.

Viva Dydaktyka 2026 will be an event that combines the presentation of research and good practices with an opportunity for in-depth and personal exchange of experiences and mutual inspiration among university teachers from Poland and abroad.

We invite you to participate in:
• Plenary and paper sessions, presenting both research findings and practical experiences related to didactics in relation,
• Good Practice Forum and poster sessions, offering opportunities to see and “touch” initiatives implemented at Polish and international universities,
• Workshops, providing practical tools and methods for dialogue-based teaching and learning,
• Joint reflection and idea exchange in the Open Space Technology format,
• A debate between students and academic teachers, presenting diverse perspectives on dialogue in didactics.

Viva Dydaktyka 2026 will also be an opportunity to discuss the Peer-EDU project (peer.ug.edu.pl), which develops the idea of peer tutoring in higher education. It will be a moment to look at the results achieved so far, share experiences, and reflect on how to use them to further enhance academic didactics in Poland and beyond.