Intermuse. Bulgarie. Bulgaria

The Bulgarian team established the students group

The preliminary work entailed the formation of teams of students willing to explore the issues of the Intermuse project. These were selected on the principle of their former active involvement with project work and viable achievements. Thirty students from the Secondary School of Foreign Languages “Yordan Radichkov” in Vidin who had some experience and interest in the cultural and historical heritage of the Vidin region were selected. Bearing in mind the specific aspects of museum work the students were assigned to particular teams instructed by curators responsible for the different departments: Archaeology and Numismatics – Fionera Yordanova Filipova, Bulgarian History ХV – ХIХ c. – Neven Zheliazkov Iliev, Modern History - Hristina Ivanova Kirilova, Ethnography 1 Sashka Bojkova Bizeranova , Ethnography 2 - Desislava Bojidarova Tzvetanova, Post-modern History 1 - Plamen Nikolov Nikodimov, Post-modern History 2 - Valia Dimitrova Dimitrova- research associate.

The principle of instructive teaching required that the museum experts should use methods and approaches that could evoke cognitive needs in the students.
We had to take account of the desires and interests of the young people so that our work should be both fruitful and gratifying. Individual preferences necessitated some shifting inside the groups. This occurred because reality did not always meet the initial expectations of the students; the variety offered and the team work organised by different instructors made some of the members show preference for the other team. The principle of scientific character of the education through museums is obligatory and was observed in all phases: when the students were introduced to the departments and their functions, the expositions, the monuments as well as while preparing the game. Each participant had to prepare a text and questions connected with the second phase of the project – creating the game with photos attached. The museum instructors had to present their departments in such a way as to make it possible for the students to write their texts by themselves, submit them to the instructors for correction, who then returned them to the students. It was necessary to include only scientifically based texts as well as ask sensible questions which had only one answer. In the cases where the photos were not satisfactory, the group of “photographers” had to make new photos and when this was not possible because of distance, the museum provided them out of its fund.
The museum curators had made a preliminary selection of the most important sites in the Vidin region but the students were allowed to make their own choice. They had the possibility to enlarge the range of sites they wanted to become familiar with. Given the fact that the young people’s perception of the world is different from the adult one, and that the game is addressed to the students’ peers, the curators accepted all suggestions readily. Being one of the basic didactic principles unchanged by time or educational reforms is the use of visual aids and demonstration. In the museum environment where exhibits are original and speak of history, perception is sensory based. Visualising and demonstration were an indelible part of or instruction sessions. Thus we created concepts, provoked a sustained interest in the young people and built skills to observe, develop imagination and thought. The direct perception of the sites was not only an object of learning but also a means to get to the core of the historical process where the notion about the separate facts plays a vital role. While it is difficult at school to restructure the history of mankind, the individual steps towards civilization, the centuries when people’s appearance, labour and lifestyles were fundamentally different from our reality, the museums in the Vidin region, the Magura cave and the archives made it possible for the project participants to turn into discoverers, “archaeologists”, “ethnologists”, “historians”, “archivists”, “photorecorders”.

Following the principle of visualization and demonstration we used three groups:
1. Material – we demonstrated artifacts such as tools of labour, arms, coins, household goods and other ethnographic materials, fortresses and installations, written documents, monuments of different objects of art found in the museum monuments in the region.
2. The visual aids included presentation of historical events and legends, preserved in the minds of the people and adapted to the game.
3. Symbolic and graphic aids – diagrams, maps, schemes, tables were also used by the curators first to present the area to the students and then include in the game.

The instruction process relied on the principle of conscientiousness and activity. Participation in the project is voluntary. The students have special interests in history, they are skilled in expressing preferences and communicating with their instructors, seek additional information, meetings, discussions.

One of the achievements of the project is rooted in the fact that learning through museums allows for individualization and differentiation. The different students were assigned diverse individual tasks to deal with, systematize and work out. They participate directly, make their choice of sites to write about, express their opinion as to the questions and the order of the puzzle opening. The two principles of differentiation – division and voluntary participation in groups – were part of the educational process. Making a personal choice the student ministers to a better differentiation on the basis of interests, desires and capacities.
The group-variety form of differentiation allows for the accomplishment of various tasks. The students willingness to work in particular groups is respected. Although thse are temporary formations and the participants possess a high intellectual level, management of the groups requires teaching skills and adequate structuring of activities.
Learning through museums is an excellent way of enriching the participants’ stock of knowledge and building intercultural skills. The Vidin students were introduced to the cultural and historical heritage of the area, the natural landmarks, spiritual culture, folklore. Moreover, they learned to write about these and present them to their peers, who, through the game, will benefit from the project.
A purposeful selection was made of sites presenting the culture and life of other ethnic groups so as to promote, peace, tolerance and understanding. e.g. The Monument of the Lamenting Soldier, the Mosque, Osman Pazvantoglu’ Library, the Synagogue and others.
Learning through museums is an open-ended series of lessons in patriotism. All participants in the project are proud of the cultural and historical achievements of the Vidin region and will be happy to present them to their peers from Romania, Belgium and Turkey. The elaboration of the game is a perfect way to do that.
Students from the Secondary Language School �Yordan Radichkov� � Vidin visited the National Museum of History

Students from the Secondary Language School “Yordan Radichkov” – Vidin visited the National Museum of History. Learning Bulgarian history in this non-standard way is set in the project “Intermuse – Intercultural Education through Museums”, which the students have been working on for two years now together with their peers from Romania, Turkey and Belgium. Becoming aware of the rich findings from antiquity on the Bulgarian lands enhances the feeling of the significance of the Bulgarian state, heir to highly developed civilizations.

The students saw all the halls of the museum with great interest – from the time of Khan Asparuh to the times of socialism. They were most impressed by the gold ornaments and vessels, as well as by the filigree decoration of the church plates.

“To see and discover confirmation of what you have learned in class is a real adventure’, says the history teacher Valiya Alexandrova. “We already work on the principle of the three “T” think, talk and touch.” Under her guidance and with the collaboration of the Regional History Museum in Vidin the students are preparing a videogame presenting the cultural and historical sights of the Vidin region. She believes that in this manner she evokes in the students the feeling of belonging to the nation – underlying patriotism, something that has become scanty in our country.

A special lesson in love of one’s country was delivered by the Museum director Professor Bojidar Dimitrov. The questions posed to the historian demonstrated the students’ profound understanding of Bulgarian history.
Macedonia being an important issue of the discussion, the professor presented all students with his latest book. The meeting was completed with a photo.

It is certain that the students will have a lot to share with their peers from Turkey, Romania and Belgium during the next videoconference. In two months’ time they will be able to exchange the ready video products.

The project is managed by the Intercultural Institute of Timisoara, Romania in partnership with NGO “SAGE” – Rousse. The project is financed by the Comenius European Progamme.

The excursion was done on January 30 – 31, 2009.
The group consisted of 50 students from the Secondary Language School “Yordan Radichkov” – Vidin.