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Elena Terekhova
The British Council: an INtern’s INsight [0] - 21.05.2024
«The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We call this work cultural relations.» -this is how the official British Council website explains its activities around the globe. The British Council Russia team possesses the true ‘UK-spirit’ – and not only that of Shakespeare, Oxford and the knights, but the one of modern culture, 21st century education and contemporary art. Organizing lots of events in the heart of Moscow, the BC Russia is there to prove it. This article is a result of an internship taken at the Education department of the British Council Russia, and it is here to prove it as well.
Presentation by the BC intern, 2012. Photo: Valentina Orlova © bordersoff
The British-Russian Management
The British Council Russia is jointly managed by Russian and British members of staff. Not surprisingly, the organization seems to have taken the best of Russian and British cultural traditions and management styles, which helps reach amazing results in the Russian environment and become one of the most successful regional teams as assessed by the BC directorate in the UK.
The English-speaking islet of Britain in Moscow (1, Nikoloyamskaya Str.) is always busy working: it brings the UK closer even to the office itself, commonly using the weird new words of ‘промотировать’ (to promote), ‘отфигурировать’ (to figure out) and ‘аламники’ (alumni).
The BC departments are working in different areas under similar principles of teamwork, accountability and development which are easily visible through the projects implemented. Let us try to explore some of these through the ‘Innovative. Individual. Inspirational’ events and activities by the Education team –, as is proclaimed on the official website of Education UK.
Part of the BC Russia Education Team, 2012. Photo: the British Council © bordersoff
Customer care & Commitment
Education UK Fair is the hugest annual event in international education organized by the British Council. This year, held on September 29-30 at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow, it welcomed 72 top UK education institutions and over 4.400 visitors. Impressive are not just the numbers, but the quality of customer service provided: those several thousand visitors were registered, listened and talked to. Dozens of competitions, multidisciplinary seminar program organized and hundreds of feedbacks collected reflect the immense workload and put in focus the greatest commitment of staff members. Why not experience it yourself? The BC Team will be happy to see you during the Education UK Fair 2013!
The BC information desk at the Education UK Fair, 2012. Photo: Valentina Orlova © bordersoff
Cultural awareness & Communication
As the Department of Culture of the British Embassy in Russia, the British Council is involved in the British Universities’ Alumni Meetings organizations held at the Residence of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Russian Federation Tim Barrow. Organization of this type of event is usually based on contacting the representatives of the International Offices of the Universities as well as the personnel of the Residence and HM Ambassador, which requires high levels of culture and excellent communication skills.
Organizing London School of Economics Alumni Meeting, Residence of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Russian Federation, 2012. © bordersoff
Confidence & Challenge
All the people at the British Council have an important role to play and are valued for their input; the hierarchy is surprisingly low, whilst the level of respect towards each other is undoubtedly high.
Although the level of responsibility depends on numerous factors, notably on capacities and skills, highly demanding tasks may be entrusted to an intern, such as management of the British representatives’ visit to the Russian educational establishments that I was in charge of on the last week of my internship program. Confidence in this project is also key: interns as well as permanent staff should always develop it in order to represent the Council accordingly.
The Russian-British staff at the British Council are flexible, considerate and welcoming. The internship program is in full swing. There is only one question left: are YOU confident enough to take the challenge and apply for the British Council Internship program?
Youth |15.10.2012 | Views: 2163
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