The Future of Education

The Trident started in October 2014 as a joint project between Japanese studies at Sofia University, Lyulin Municipality and 1 kindergarten and 1 elementary school in Lyulin Residential District, Sofia. Initiated by the municipality as a way to motivate youngsters to explore different cultures, develop tolerance and open-mindedness, and to cope with the depopulation of the district, as well as the growing social tensions in the largest district of Sofia, the project was started simultaneously as a trident – social, educational and cultural goals intertwined to produce a new learning horizon.   

The project involves annually around 15 second-grade Japanese Studies students (BA Programme) who teach Japanese language and culture to 2 groups of 30 each 6-year pre-school pupils. In addition to the weekly classes, up to three public events are also a part of the educational project, which on the other hand involves the local community into the future educational perspectives in the residential district.

After two years of successful implementation, first results are being recorded which together with our teaching philosophy, we would like to share with our colleagues at the forthcoming forum, while learning from our colleagues abroad. Gergana Petkova is a university professor in Japanese Studies, Stela Zhivkova is Director of Education, Culture and Sport Department at the Municipality. Reported results will present a new reading of the “learning through teaching” methodology, in which more than one part benefits – Japanese Studies students acquire professional experience and see the project as an internship, preparing them for career after graduation; pre-school children get in touch with a different culture and learn “to learn and experience foreign culture”, while growing tolerance from an early age; the newly developed ‘empty’ classroom acts as a motivating and alternative school space, first of its kind in Bulgaria; school N40 experiences a boost in enrolment and interest through this new possibility; Lyulin RD strives to develop a “friendly” school environment to motivate students subject to social tension. Our project is both based on research and experience and is as much a second language acquisition project, as socially and culturally bound initiative.