What happens when schoolteachers and principals communicate and cooperate? How does the learning process change when it starts to focus on the learner? In what ways will technology improve communication and learning?
These are some of the questions the America for Bulgaria Foundation’s Education Leadership Academy tries to answer. ABF’s newest educational initiative, the Academy provides regular training opportunities to small groups of schoolteachers and principals from across Bulgaria. The training curriculum was developed by two leading global educational institutions, Teachers College of Columbia University and Bank Street College in New York, in partnership with the Faculty of Education of Plovdiv University. In the next three years, the Academy will train 320 teachers and principals of schools nationwide, where more than 44,000 children study.
“We want Bulgarian children to receive an education relevant to the needs of the digital society,” says Elena Hadjisotirova, the Academy’s program coordinator. “This is why effective technology implementation in education is a key theme of the program.”
The training in the Northwestern Bulgarian town of Varshets, from March 20 to 23, focused on progressive educational practices, learning engagement, and means to improve communication in school teams. Consultants from Bank Street College delivered the training, in which 30 teachers and principals of schools in Northwestern Bulgaria took part.
“Apart from technological innovation, the most important prerequisite for developing quality education is forming a professional learning community—teams of principals and teachers who plan together and support each other’s work,” explains Natalia Miteva, ABF’s education program director. The important role of interschool cooperation was also in focus.
In Varshets, the participants observed two open lessons at a local school and discussed new approaches to giving constructive feedback. In small groups, they drew up plans for future work at their schools and a schedule to share what they learned with coworkers.
“The feedback we constantly get is that ABF’s trainings and programs nurture real and meaningful innovations in the field of school education,” says Miteva, summing up the impressions of participants in ABF’s educational initiatives over the years.
