Bulgarian Cultural Studies Curriculum
MISSION STATEMENT
Through their involvement in the Bulgarian cultural studies program the
students will acquire an understanding and an empathy with Bulgarian culture
in a variety of contexts. They will also develop a limited competency
in listening to, speaking, reading and writing the Bulgarian language.
KEY GOALS
- Through stories, drama, songs and dances to develop a familiarity with
aspects of Bulgarian culture.
- Through the introduction of specific vocabulary to acquire limited but
useful skills for living in Sofia.
- Through comparisons with expressions of other cultures to construct
a framework for understanding both the diversity and the common basis
of human cultural expression.
- Through careful planning to ensure that new students of the school can
quickly absorb the background knowledge and understanding of Bulgaria
that other students have acquired in previous years.
METHODOLOGIES
Students living in Bulgaria should have as many personal experiences
as possible interacting with the Bulgarian culture. They should be able
to communicate, research, understand and learn the culture not just from
textbooks but actually living in it. The language lessons should fully
follow the communicative principle, since the natural function of language
communication.
The main methods of education shall include not only direct instruction
but also:
- Drama including performances shown to them, the students acting in
performances and students writing their own scripts.
- Hands-on activities including making traditional objects, doing traditional
cooking and tasting traditional food.
- Field trips and observations help the students see artefacts
in their natural surrounding.
- Research on certain topics using the resources in the library and on
the Internet helps the student develop skills that are reinforced in other
curricular areas as well and useful for finding out information and learning
about a different culture.
- Interviewing is not only a good method for finding information but it
also encourages the communication of the child outside of school within
the host country culture.
- Discussions gives the students get a chance to share their own experiences
and interest helping their self-esteem.
- Dialogues are the main method for language education since they support
the communicative function of the language. This can also include the
written form of communication – letters, cards etc.
- Homework is completed to reinforce the studied skills and concepts but
also to provoke communication and additional experiences outside of school.
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