The main objectives of the course were: - to demonstrate to teachers the latest techniques for managing an effective and modern classroom; - to demonstrate interactive techniques through which course participants learn how to organize a student-centered learning environment; - to prove that student-centered teaching methods are superior to the traditional teacher-centered approach in education; - to show that student-centered teaching methods support both student autonomy and student collaboration; - to emphasize that these methods support short- and long-term memory, critical thinking, self-confidence and motivation; - for participants to get ideas for a practical and innovative classroom management solution to implement in their classrooms; - further improvement of the level of language proficiency of the participants through discussions and role-playing games; - to understand the cultural heritage of the Republic of Ireland through the bilingual language environment.
The school teaches students from the first to the twelfth grade, as well as children from the family-type accommodation center in the town of Pavlikeni and students with special needs. Since the school is also a central school for some villages, the number of minority students who have different levels of proficiency in the Bulgarian language and come from different family and social backgrounds has increased. The presence of students from different ethnicities creates a very colourful classroom, which sometimes leads to difficulties in teaching the learning material. Our participation in European projects contributes to the international opening of the school. In this way, it is possible to realise one of the priorities of school education, namely - placing the student at the center of the overall pedagogical activity. In order to realise the achievement of higher learning outcomes, the development of students' soft skills and competent classroom management when applying the person-based approach, a set of activities is needed, which was carried out during the participation of three teachers of ours in the course “Student-Centered Learning. Teachers as facilitators of active learning'.