http://interc-edu.hit.bg/

Project: “Teachers in a multicultural environment” was won by European Information Centre – Veliko Turnovo and Zlatarica Municipality, under the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development” of the Ministry. Financial subsidy of 56 160 Levs is provided by the European Union through the European Social Fund.

DURATION:

17 months (June 2008 – November 2009)

OBJECTIVES:

General objective – improving professional skills of teaching staff from schools in small villages with ethnically mixed population and improving the quality of education in terms (conditions) of multiculturalism.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE:

Mastering intercultural competence by teaching staff as a basis for effective dialogue with students in cultures different from their own.

Learning the key techniques and Change the Primary set of methods used in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.

Enriching the professional competencies of teachers by forming relations of susceptibility to the “other” and “the other culture” and empathy; or openness to students’ problems and receptiveness to their “other” culture; develop skills of dialogue, nonviolent communication and conflict resolution.

TARGET GROUP:

Teaching staff of the school “St. st. Cyril and Methodius “- Zlatarica; School “Hr. Botev “- Gorski Novo Selo; PGMSS “N. Jewelers ‘- Zlatarica; Primary School’ C. Levski “- Sredno selo; Kindergarten”Nightingale “- Zlatarica; Kindergarten” Sun “- Gorsko Novo Selo; Kindergarten “Spring” – Rodina vilage; Kindergarten – Average village village.

Indirect beneficiaries:

– Students and children from kindergartens in the Municipality of Zlatarica involved in the implementation of micro-projects developed by teachers.

– Educators from Pavlikeni participating in the approbation of the distance learning course.

ACTIVITIES:

Related to the need to master and implement specialized methodology that takes into account the specific needs and difficulties of working in an integrated environment excluding division of language, ethnocultural or other status.

UNITS OF ONGOING TRAINING OF TEACHERS:

• Psychological mechanisms of social integration (From ethnocentrism to

multicultural).

• Intercultural Education.

• Interactive methods in an intercultural environment. Development of

student projects.

• Culture and identity in a multicultural society.

• Gender Education and European citizenship rights.

• Conflict resolution in multiethnic environment.

• Receiving a supplementary written information on each of the thematic areas developed by experts from the European Information Centre training packages;

• practical and applied learning through the development of individual micro by every teacher and approve them within a year in different forms of education for students (GFA, PIU, EPA and extracurricular activities);

• forms of remote individual training and educational consulting for all direct and indirect beneficiaries using the potential of school computer cabinets and site of the European Information Centre;

• psychological counseling – locally and distance of direct and indirect beneficiaries, on dealing with ethnocentrism as a type of social attitude.

RESULTS:

• The current training of teachers in Municipality Zlatarica intercultural education.

• approbated two modules of the program for intercultural education through distance learning with teachers from PAVLIKENI.

• Development of teacher’s portfolio by participating in the target group (didactic works, individual micro-projects).

• Training packages – presentations slips with methodological guidelines for teachers and worksheets for individual working students.

• Reader intercultural education.

• Training material for teachers “United in differences”.

• Website of the project: http://interc-edu.hit.bg/

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROJECT:

• Development of modules for continuing education for teachers working in a multicultural environment, to be proposed to institutionalize the Center for the qualification of the University “St. Cyril and Methodius.

• Institutionalization of the school celebrations associated with the traditions of the different ethnic communities in order to update individual ethnic identity through stored in the traditional culture of ethnic mythology.

• Create models for extracurricular activities and EPA-s for multicultural education in individual subjects.

• Development of remote sensing for individual training and ongoing training of teaching staff in the region, working in terms of multiculturalism.