60 Experts from the Regional Inspectorates of Education Will Be Trained to Effectively Support Novice Teachers

The training program is part of a major European project with three partners from Bulgaria – the Ministry of Education and Science, Education Trade Union, and Teach For Bulgaria – coordinator of the international consortium

60 experts from 14 regional inspectorates of education in Bulgaria are going to go through a holistic training program focused on the professional support of novice teachers (with up to 5 years of professional experience) during two school years. 

This is part of the international EU project NEST (Novice Educator Support and Training). The project will be executed as part of Erasmus +, Key Action 3: Support to Policy Development and Cooperation – Social Inclusion through Education, Training, and Youth. It is funded by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). NEST will be executed in 6 countries (Bulgaria, Austria, Belgium, Romania, Spain, and the UK) by a consortium of 16 partners. The results will be evaluated by a team of experts from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. There are three project partners from Bulgaria – the Ministry of Education and Science, Education Trade Union, and Teach For Bulgaria – coordinator of the international consortium.

The Training Program 

The training program for the experts of education in Bulgaria is based on different strategies for the professional support of teachers who work in challenging environments. During this school year and the following one (2021/2022 and 2022/2023) the experts from the regional inspectorates of education are going to go through three trainings and take part in three peer support meetings. They are also going to apply what they have learned by directly supporting three novice teachers from their respective region.

“NEST explores which types of support are most effective when working with novice teachers and focuses on competence building which allows inexperienced teachers to meet their students’ individual needs in the best possible way. The program is looking for solutions which would enable the experts of education to provide support to novice teachers so that they feel supported, satisfied, and willing to continue teaching long-term,” comments Radostina Boycheva, Manager of NEST for Bulgaria and Senior Regional Development Specialist at Teach For Bulgaria.

The Experts

60 experts of education from half of the regional inspectorates of education in Bulgaria are going to take part in the NEST project. The remaining regional inspectorates of education will be part of the control group which is going to be crucial for the external evaluation of the project. 

Experts from the following regions are going to participate in NEST: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, the city of Sofia, Stara Zagora, Targovishte, and Pleven. 

Next Steps

The experts have already had one training session and one peer support meeting. Two more trainings, classroom observations, and two peer support meetings should be scheduled and executed by the end of the school year. 

There is also going to be an interim conference in the spring of 2022 where the participants will present the progress they have made so far. 

Find out more about the project here.