Erik Kalla

You studied chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science. When did you realize that chemistry was the field you wanted to devote yourself to?

I had been involved in chemistry outside school since lower secondary school. Through the Chemistry Olympiad, I regularly attended training camps and summer schools. That was when I first became interested in the field, but my enthusiasm really grew during high school, particularly in the later years of grammar school.

Today, you teach at a secondary school yourself and you are also involved in training future chemistry teachers at the Faculty of Science. When did you decide to pursue a career in teaching?

It was a dilemma that had been with me for most of my life.

Even in primary school, I interacted with my peers in a way that often involved playing “school,” with me taking on the role of the teacher. Looking back, I see that as the first sign that I might be drawn to teaching.

When I started university, I was already involved in various experimental activities from my first year. The camps and training events I had once attended as a participant soon became events that I helped organize.

Then, when I began my doctoral studies and had already completed the pedagogical training required for teaching, I started teaching at a secondary school alongside my PhD.

What do you find most fulfilling about being a teacher?

What fulfills me most is the enthusiasm of my students. They are often able to make tremendous progress in a relatively short period of time, and seeing that is incredibly motivating for me. I also greatly appreciate the feedback they give me.

For me, teaching is not simply about standing in front of a class and having students listen for forty-five minutes. It is about witnessing their development throughout the learning process. I can also see that students enjoy being in my classes, and they make that clear to me.

Chemistry can be quite abstract for many students. How do you motivate them and spark their interest in the subject?

I see myself as teaching not only chemistry but also mathematics, physics, and, to some extent, biology. I think students appreciate the fact that I try to explain chemistry within a broader context. Rather than presenting it as a collection of facts to be memorized, I want them to understand it in relation to other natural sciences and to the knowledge they have already acquired.

Chemistry is often highly abstract because it deals with phenomena that students cannot directly observe or imagine. However, when those concepts are compared to familiar macroscopic phenomena, students can build concrete mental models and understand abstract ideas much more easily.

Another important factor is that I teach at a secondary school specializing in chemical technology. Students who choose this school are generally expected to have at least some interest in the natural sciences and a desire to engage with them.

Many people associate chemistry teaching with experiments. What role do experiments play in your classes?

Paradoxically, it is not about preparing an experiment for every lesson to keep students interested. In fact, that would not be nearly as effective as the general public sometimes imagines. Simply performing experiments is not enough to inspire students to pursue chemistry.

Of course, visual demonstrations are important, but chemistry education is certainly not built on experiments alone.

Our school has a specific structure in which theoretical lessons and laboratory sessions are taught separately. In theoretical classes, experiments are not generally expected, although I occasionally rely on videos to illustrate certain concepts.

What surprised you most after entering the teaching profession?

How demanding it is to work with parents.

During my first years, I had no difficulties interacting with students or colleagues. What I struggled with at the beginning was communication with parents.

I had certain expectations of my students, and when you have just graduated from university and started teaching, you naturally want to pass on as much knowledge as possible. What may seem like basic information to you can actually be quite advanced for secondary school students.

In my early years, there were some intense disagreements between me and certain parents. I had to learn how to navigate those situations. To be honest, parent-teacher meetings used to be the most stressful part of my job.

What qualities or competencies do you think a good teacher should have?

I believe that effective teaching depends on establishing the right relationship with students. I try to communicate with them as equals.

The idea of being someone who is somehow “above” students has always felt uncomfortable to me. I experienced that approach myself as a student, and even then I knew it was not the kind of teacher I wanted to become.

At the same time, it is important not to let things go so far that students no longer recognize boundaries. There needs to be a balance, with clear expectations and rules. However, a human approach is, in my opinion, the most important thing—treating students with respect and never looking down on them.

Another essential competency is the ability to communicate ideas clearly and present them in a way that makes sense. University training prepares us for this to some extent, but personal qualities and the way we relate to students are equally important. That is why I would particularly emphasize the interpersonal dimension of teaching.

In addition to teaching, you have long been involved in preparing Chemistry Olympiad competitions. What do you see as the main purpose of these competitions?

When I prepare students for Olympiads, I can help them move beyond the limits of what is covered in regular classes. That is something I find incredibly rewarding because their progress is often extraordinary.

If I spend eight hours with them in a laboratory on a Sunday – and as crazy as that sounds, it sometimes happens – they inevitably reach a completely different level compared to students who do not participate in Olympiads.

If I had to summarize it, working with gifted students is wonderful because you can see how happy they are – not only because they get to do science, but also because they become part of a community.

They find a group of people who are just as passionate and enthusiastic as they are, and they build friendships across classes and schools.

If I had not had supportive people around me in high school – people who worked on Olympiad problems with me and motivated me to attend camps and training events – I might never have followed this path myself.

You are also actively involved in science outreach beyond the classroom. During the Czech European Researchers’ Night at the University Campus Bohunice, you introduce chemistry to the general public, and in the summer you organize chemistry camps for school students. What is your goal in these activities?

Together with my colleague Radek Matuška, our target audience is the general public.

We want to show people that the subject they may have disliked at school does not have to be as terrible as they remember.

Since our work is science communication, it cannot be only about chemistry – we also try to make it entertaining. At the same time, we want our programmes to have a strong educational component so that people can understand the relevance of science and chemistry in particular. Once again, we strive to connect chemistry with other natural sciences.

This year, your students also nominated you for the Zlatý Ámos award, which recognizes the most popular teacher in the Czech Republic. What does such recognition mean to you?

It is wonderful when students show you in this way that they appreciate your work and recognize that your teaching goes beyond the standard classroom experience. It means a great deal to me.

I value it enormously. The nomination came from my first-year students, whose homeroom teacher I have been since September. Applications closed in December, which means that after only three months they felt they knew me well enough to nominate me.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring chemistry students or to those considering a career as chemistry teachers?

I would tell them that even if they feel overwhelmed and think they are not managing teaching well enough, it does not mean they are incapable.

If you cannot complete everything within a standard forty-hour workweek, that is perfectly normal. Sometimes forty hours simply will not be enough. On the other hand, there will be weeks when the workload is lighter, and teaching does come with advantages such as longer holidays.

The important thing is to focus on the positive aspects and not let yourself be discouraged by the fact that everything is not perfect right away. If your teaching materials only become truly polished a year later, after you have taught the course several times, that is completely fine.

Accepting that everything does not need to be perfect the first time around is incredibly important.

Erik Kalla

Erik Kalla is a natural sciences teacher at the Secondary School of Chemical Technology and Grammar School in Brno. He also teaches laboratory-based courses for future chemistry teachers at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University. What he finds most rewarding about teaching is the enthusiasm of his students and the progress they can achieve under the right guidance.

Career and professional path

He studied chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, and the Brno University of Technology, focusing on different specialized areas at each institution. In 2025, he earned his PhD from the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University.

He began teaching chemistry and other natural science subjects at the secondary-school level during his doctoral studies. At the same time, he has been an enthusiastic science communicator. In cooperation with the JCMM, he helped organize the multidisciplinary competition N-Trophy, prepared tasks for several Chemistry Olympiads, and delivered lectures for participating students.

In 2026, he advanced to the semi-finals of the Zlatý Ámos competition, which recognizes the best teachers in the Czech Republic.

Photo: Erik Kalla archive