11.11.2010Workshop with mentoring teachers to prevent school dropouts
From 7th to 9th of November 2010 Center Amalipe held three-day workshop - training, attended by 28 base teachers working on the project "Prevention of Roma children drop out from school, funded by "America for Bulgaria" Foundation. The main target of the meeting was to plan the work in the pilot schools project and how mentoring teachers can help pilot schools overcome the removal of students. Focus of the training was sharing the experience of U.S. schools on educational integration of various minority groups.
Traditionally, the workshop began with interesting interactive games, which contribute to good mood and a pragmatic working spirit. "Knowledge is achieved through the exchange of values and cultures" - with those words Deyan Kolev, Chairman of Center Amalipe welcomed all participants. Together with experts from the pedagogical project team gave a pedagogical concept of the initiative for the prevention of school drop-out. The concept emphasizes that every student can and should be a winner: to find the area in which is good, to believe that he or she can manage and expand their knowledge and skills in other fields that the curricula requires. The concept proposes ways in which this can happen: approaches and activities for teachers, ways to reorganize the school and to involve parents. The concept was extensively explained by Gloria Kostova, Mariana Bancheva, Diana Dimitrova and Prof. Maria Baeva, experts from the national pedagogical team established within the project.
After that the prepared training modules were in focus and they will be presented monthly by the mentoring teachers in pilot schools. Special accent was placed on the modules for organizing the classroom and learning environment so that it becomes a friendly, welcoming and stimulating environment, and the module for working with parents for their active involvement in the learning process.
Discussions provoked and other modules - intercultural education in compulsory subjects in the training, SIP (elective classes) "Ethnic Folklore", Roma groups and their educational attitudes, extracurricular activities to keep children in school, using interactive techniques. Each teacher made a basic plan to present these modules for teachers in pilot schools, and many expressed their desire to organize similar training in their (mentoring) schools.
Divided into small groups they planned how to support the pilot schools in implementing their school programs for drop-out prevention and in their efforts to fully change the look of the school.
Participants discussed the monthly methodological assistance, which will indicate during work with the risk of dropping out of students. Mentoring teachers will be the first to be contacted when students from pilot schools are in danger of dropping out. For more complex cases pilot schools will seek the support of the national pedagogical team established within the project. "We need to build a safety system to prevent drop-outs of a single student!" Said Professor Maria Baeva.
Everyone left full of positive energy, happy that they have shared the difficulties and have found way to solve them. The meeting will be followed by the concrete work with pilot schools to prove that "Mission Is Possible", was the conclusion of the participants.
