The teaching of democratic values at Bulgarian schools

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s Bulgarian society has gradually rediscovered democratic values and practices neglected for several decades. Bulgarians are now grasping new concepts such as pluralism, parliamentarianism, tolerance, decision making after the holding of public debates, etc. The process does not run smoothly because it bumps into rigid stereotypes of the past in the majority of the adults. That is why it is essential that at least the younger generation is brought up with democratic values since school age, Mariana Bancheva, school counselor, and coordinator for children’s policies and health care at the National Network in favour of Children, claims. The network encompasses nearly 100 civil organizations working in the field of education, health care and services in support of children and their families.

“We as adults should be aware that teaching democracy at school would not help us with the building of the personality and the active and responsible civil behaviour of the teenagers,” she argues. “The patterns of civil behaviour and democratic values are something that they ought to experience in their daily lives, as part of their school practice, but also among the society and at home. Civil education cannot be merely a part of the syllabus. We need to have the school itself function as a democratic community, it is important that we have clashes of values, priorities, etc. this is not an easy task since the majority of the adults have grown up in a society where democratic thinking was not the widespread mentality. Civil behaviour requires that a person is active, critical and sensible to different points of view, and able to assume responsibility for the choices they make or to reconsider their position in a debate.”

Unfortunately the Bulgarian schools are still ruled by a spirit of patriarchal and authoritarian values which is tangible in the headmaster-teacher-student relationship, which poses a major challenge to the teaching of democracy and civil behaviour at school.

“The change in children starts with the change in adults,” Ms. Bancheva argues. “But it is extremely difficult to break the stereotypical role of the Bulgarian teacher. The participation of all school groups in the decision making process is key to the democratic teaching. That is to say the children are a major group in the school community. After all school is first and foremost their space. Ready-made decisions on the part of an expert, be it a teacher or the headmaster, and placing children and parents in a position they simply have to abide by those decisions, deprives both children and parents of the ability to recognize them as their own.”

There is no way to educate citizens with democratic thinking if we bring our children up with fear and punishment, psychologist Mariana Bancheva claims. They need to learn that in school they can speak freely, openly and without fear on all sorts of issues that are of interest to them. We as adults often underestimate the area of their interests and we tend to believe that the big issues of our time do not regard them.

“Children can be involved in evaluating the pros and cons regarding certain decisions that society has offered on major issues,” Ms. Bancheva says. “But there is no need to make this in a philosophical manner, but by linking the issue to the specific life of the child. One such topic can be violence and he way it reflects the entire society. Another important issue is how to teach children to communicate with adults in the best possible way, how to put forward questions and how to discuss together with them issues that are of interest to them. But the most important thing is that the adults become a paragon of democratic thinking and behavior.”
Another important thing is that children realize from an early age that responsibilities are part of their democratic rights, Ms. Bancheva adds. “Let us try and perceive children not as a threat to our values or stereotypes, but a resource which will help us to develop. And let us not forget that if we live in the past or present, our children live in the future.”

Source: BNR