TEACH FOR BULGARIA TEACHERS START THEIR SUMMER TRAINING

The intensive training of the new Teach For Bulgaria participants starts on July 10th, 2017 in the town of Lukovit in Lovech region. The 7-week Summer Institute is the basis of the new motivated teachers’ training before they enter the Bulgarian classrooms in September and start working towards overcoming educational inequity.
The summer training consists of two parts- a theoretical part which takes place in Lukovit this year and a practical part which involves working with students during the 3-week summer academy in Sofia. For the first time the theoretical part of the institute takes place outside of Sofia- the main goal being for the participants to have the opportunity to identify the specificity, needs, and mindsets in various communities, similar to the communities in which they will be teaching during the next two years.

“Teach For Bulgaria has been working in the Lovech region since 2013 and we have established strong partnerships with schools, local institutions, and corporate partners. These partnerships along with Teach For Bulgaria alumni’s experience and expertise will be the stepping stones for the new teachers to get to know, explore, and work with various communities as early as during the preliminary training,” Ivan Petrov, Teacher Induction Training Specialist at Teach For Bulgaria, shares.

The training of the new participants in the program consists of theoretical modules and practical assignments; the topics which they cover include lesson planning, classroom management, teaching methods, assessment, revision, and working with national education standards. The new teachers are also learning how to create a vision for the success of their students, to identify the goals on the way to fulfilling the vision, and the various ways to accomplish these goals.

The training of all participants in the program also includes the internationally recognized Teaching as Leadership model. It is developed to be effective when working with students with low educational achievements who are growing up in families with low socioeconomic status. Teaching as Leadership has six main principles and when teachers working in low income communities apply these principles in practice they manage to see a considerable student motivation boost and an improvement in academic results.
The intensive summer training is for all Teach For Bulgaria participants. Those of them, however, who do not have a teaching certification, and as part of the Teach For Bulgaria program, are enrolled in university programs in compliance with all state requirements. Teach For Bulgaria partners with Bulgarian universities which can certify teachers in accordance with all regulations stipulated in the legal requirements posed by the state.

Teach For Bulgaria is a non-governmental organization which for the past 7 years has been working towards providing equal access to high quality education to every child in Bulgaria, regardless of where they live, which school they go to, their ethnic background, and their family’s socioeconomic status. In order to provide equal access to high quality education, Teach For Bulgaria recruits and carefully selects motivated, high-achieving professionals with various backgrounds to teach for a period of two years in the schools where they are most needed. Within this two-year professional development and leadership program all participants go through intensive training and are directly supported in the classroom and in all aspects of their work with students from vulnerable communities in regions all over Bulgaria. The organization has built a strong community of current teachers and alumni, as well as key partners from all sectors in order to ensure a long-term, sustainable access to high-quality education to every child in Bulgaria.

Over 160 people have completed the program so far and its scope includes working in schools in the following regions of Bulgaria: Vratsa, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Sofia Province, Sofia City Province and Stara Zagora.

Teach For Bulgaria is initiated and financially supported by the America for Bulgaria Foundation, and is part of the international global network for equal access to high-quality education- Teach For All. You can find additional information about Teach For Bulgaria at www.zaednovchas.bg. TITAN Zlatna Panega has been one of Teach For Bulgaria’s most valuable supporters and partners in the Lovech region.