By Tsvetanka Mancheva | Development Associate
When it comes to the success of every student, we often forget to ask the students about what they think and what would make them happier, more motivated, and more confident. This is why we wanted to include the students’ perspective in this month's GlobalGiving report.
We asked Aylin, a 10th-grade student at 97th Secondary School “Brothers Miladinov” in Sofia to put her thoughts into words and write an article about her personal experience at school and how she thinks education is going to change over the next decade. Aylin is a student of several classes of Teach For Bulgaria participants, she has also participated in 8 consecutive Summer Academies. Many Teach For Bulgaria alumni who have worked at 97th Secondary School “Brothers Miladinov” have been her teachers throughout the years. Aylin wants to become a journalist and loves writing. Find out more about her views on education here:
"I have been going to school for a decade now. As any other student, I started not knowing much about our education system or what to expect at school. I entered a world full of adventures and quite a few challenges. I believe education is one of the most important things for people my age. This is how we learn a lot about the world we live in. It is key for our future development as sensible and responsible individuals.
This is what I remind myself whenever I have trouble accomplishing any of my tasks. I ask myself “Do I really want to always depend on someone to live a normal life?” My answer is no.
Education is the key to our independence. We all feel better when we can rely only on ourselves. Students’ main responsibility is to go to school and learn. Sometimes it’s tough, but when we look back in 10 years from now we’ll be able to see that it has been because of these difficulties that we’ve grown. Because they’ve made us go out of our comfort zone. I have a little over two years left in school and I know I’m going to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible. I am planning to improve as many skills as possible and to take the best of what our education system can offer."
Motivation and good teachers
"I believe that it takes motivation and good teachers for us to feel more engaged in the classroom. I am very happy to have teachers who provide quality education. I can’t help but wonder, however, if my future children will have the same opportunities.Education does not boil down to memorizing and regurgitating a lesson. In order to take full advantage of it, I believe we have to work on our soft skills by making presentations and communicating with others. And we should be asking many, many questions not just about the subject matter, but also about everything that goes on outside of school.
Student-teacher relationships are the most interesting ones in our adolescence. Of course, we’re not best buddies with our teachers, but they can teach us so many things beyond the textbook. Teachers give advice and provide support, even though they are neither friends, nor family to us. I think this is one of the hardest professions. A teacher has many students and has to empathize with all of them."
Teachers who help their students think critically and form their own opinions
"I would like to see many more motivated teachers who show their students how to think critically and form their own opinions on important issues in ten years. Teachers who do not expect students to blindly agree with their views. The perfect teacher isn’t someone who gives easy As or tolerates absences, but someone who can show you that the world actually holds many secrets and is waiting for you to find them.On the other hand, we do need intrinsic motivation. We all have dreams – to become pilots, journalists, doctors, police officers, etc. It takes a lot of work to make these dreams come true. We can start by making a plan today. Tomorrow might be too late. Some of my peers neglect their studies because they get bullied at school or they simply don’t think that education can help them make their dreams come true."You can read the whole artcle here.
Thanks to your suppport we are able to provide quality education and make positive change in Bulgarian educational system.
With gratitude,
Teach For Bulgaria
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