In light of the ongoing war initiated by Russia against Ukraine, many teachers from Bulgarian schools have reached out to us seeking assistance in addressing the topic when questions arise in their classrooms.

Our firm belief is that current national and global events should be discussed in schools. Students do not live in a vacuum. They inevitably receive information about current events and its interpretation. Often, this interpretation is based on fake news and serves propaganda purposes. The role of the school is to help students read current events through the lens of a rich context and a democratic code of conduct.

Activities

I. We initiated discussions/lectures with experts in history, psychology, and disinformation for teachers to provide context and strategies for engaging with students in the classroom.
 

1. The first discussion on "How to discuss the war in Ukraine in school" took place online on March 4th at 5:30 PM with Professor Hristo Todorov (NBU) and Professor Momchil Metodiev (NBU). Over 100 teachers from around the country participated in the online meeting, where they had the opportunity to share their experiences and ask questions to the lecturers.

You can watch a recording of the event here.

2. The second discussion "Disinformation, hybrid warfare, and strategies for dealing with them" took place on March 10th at 5:30 PM with Associate Professor Ralitsa Kovacheva (SU).

You can watch a recording of the event here:

3. The third topic was "Psychological aspects in the conversation about the war" and it took place on March 24th at 5:30 PM with guest Zlatko Teoharov, a psychotherapist.

You can watch a recording of the event here.

II. We created a new lesson plan "The War in Ukraine" available on the platform grajdansko.bg. To access the lesson plan, you need to: 1) log in to your profile on grajdansko.bg; 2) click on "Conduct a lesson"; 3) select the option "Teach current social topics."

For more materials that would be useful on the topic, you can see here.

III. We have once again brought to the attention of teachers our handbook to aid teachers in "Civic Education," filled with materials on the history of Eastern Europe and Bulgaria before 1989.

Materials

1. The platform gajdansko.bg. For more materials that would be useful on the topic, you can see here.
2. Discussions/lectures with experts to assist teachers - see the links above.
3. Handbook to aid teachers containing analytical materials on the history of Eastern Europe and Bulgaria before 1989.

Funding organization
"Sofia Platform" Foundation.