This project is a joint project of "Youth and Academic Development Initiatives” and some of the most respected European universities - Ka Foskari in Venice, Karlovy in Prague and in Heidelberg. Adult education and lifelong learning are not only important directives of the European Commission, but also a growing need. In a fast-changing world in which many people face up with more and more challenges of new technologies, the idea of a lifelong profession seems no longer applicable. This project aims to correspond to this line of development and to concentrate on requalification of people who want to become teachers in Bulgarian language and literature. The focus is not accidental - in recent years there is a severe shortage of teachers, and the profession is becoming more promising. The current project seeks to answer these needs and increased interest. Considering the composition of the project team, the requalification will have two sides: requalification of teachers in our country, and also requalification of people who are citizens of foreign countries, but want to find their profession in this field and become Bulgarian language and literature teachers in lots of Bulgarian (mostly weekend) schools abroad. In the first group, the project will aim at supporting the requalification of teachers from different fields (philosophy, geography, but also non-humanitarian disciplines) into teachers in Bulgarian language and literature. As university lecturers, we know that this practice has been widespread in recent years and there is a keen interest in such requalification. Traditional attendance courses are less and less applicable to people who are already engaged in different professions. Therefore, one of the main goals of this project is to facilitate and optimize the process of training. In order to supplement and enrich the selection of requalification courses offered at Sofia University (in particular in the Faculty of Slavic Studies), we are going to create set of distance e-courses that will optimize the training of participants who work and have family duties. Once the project is finalized, these e-courses will be included in current Master's programs in the Faculty of Slavic Studies, as well as in the list of courses for postgraduate qualification. Our partners from the universities in Venice, Heidelberg and Prague have got extensive experience in this practice area, and will assist with new interactive methods, good practices for distance teaching, and new teaching methodologies for children. We believe that this is a truly innovative measure and a change because it is not included in the current practice of requalification of teachers who want to teach Bulgarian language and literature. We receive numerous questions from potential applicants who prefer flexible organization of training - this give us confidence in future workability of our ideas. We offer even more innovative measure - to train teachers in Bulgarian and literature abroad. Practice shows that very often people without necessary education or lecturers from Bulgarian universities teach Bulgarian language and literature abroad. The latter, due to their workload at universities, cannot meet the needs and in some places Bulgarian schools cannot function. The courses that we are going to offer on an accessible platform where applicants will be able to register, will open new possibilities for Bulgarian people who live abroad, want to qualify themselves, and to acquire skills to teach Bulgarian language and literature. This practice will be tested experimentally in Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic, where we are going to offer courses introducing innovative methods of teaching Bulgarian abroad, as well as courses that will present the cultural and literary exchange between Bulgaria and each of these countries. These courses could be also used by foreign students who study Bulgarian language, literature and culture in respective countries. Along with its educational side, the project also stakes on informational and reference nature of intellectual products. An important and ambitious accent is our intention to compile a reference book with data about secondary school leaving examination in the countries of our partner organizations; their experience and working models can serve in the course of forthcoming educational reforms in our country. We do not neglect the possibility to present the picture of contemporary Bulgaria. With the assistance of students in our university programs we plan to publish commentary texts on modern Bulgarian literature. With its accent on the possibility of flexible change of profession, and on the connection of qualification to new technologies and latest achievements of didactics and foreign language teaching, the project is shaping up as a model for linking traditional education in Bulgarian language and literature with innovations and as an undertaking opening the humanitarian field to the future.
The big goal of the project is to increase the professional training of Bulgarian language and literature teachers. Unlike the short-term live trainings, which are limited, this project offers an ongoing qualification opportunity. Each teacher who will retrain in these programmes can improve and use models. Part of the project is directly aimed at the work of teachers in Bulgarian schools abroad. They are often poorly supported by the state and this project offers them free resources. Among the more general objectives of the project was the presentation of innovative intellectual products in the field of literary education and teaching languages. Last but not least, the project aims to support the Ministry of Education and the experts in their work to make the best possible and workable model of the Bulgarian language and literature exam.
The project was launched at a time when the school curricula for grades 11 and 12 in Bulgarian schools were changing, as well as the matriculation format. This allowed us to offer our expertise, to offer easily accessible courses, to facilitate the qualification of Bulgarian teachers, and to offer working models to the Ministry of Education. The aim of our project was also to facilitate teachers in Bulgarian schools abroad - specifically in Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic. We believe that the models we proposed can be used by other schools as well.