As you know, I don’t talk about work a lot on this blog nor do I talk Bulgarian politics much, if ever. Today is the day that this changes.
Why?
Because there are potential changes afoot to the education system in Bulgaria. On the surface this is a good thing as much of the current system is outdated and antiquated but there is at least one major proposed change that has the potential to drastically alter the landscape of foreign language instruction throughout the country.
Here’s the deal, I’m a foreign teacher and have been living and working in Sofia, Bulgaria now for almost four years. I’m what’s called a native speaker and I’ve taught in two different schools–one public and one private. I teach my whole class each and every day in English. I interact each day only in English with my Bulgarian students.
It’s been quite an experience for me and for the students. One, for the record, I wouldn’t change for the world.
I’ve met lots of students who are hungry to learn English but I’ve also met with plenty of bureaucracy. These things happen. This said, I’ve liked it so much so that I signed another year long contract in February and this week I learned that my work permit has been approved for the next year. Hip-hip-horay.
Thus, I was surprised to learn last week about a new Education Act which was written by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and has been submitted to the Bulgarian National Assembly for its first read which among other things if approved would only allow for foreign teachers from European Union countries to teach in Bulgarian schools.
Think about that for a minute.
That shit is crazy.
I can’t for the life of me imagine why Bulgaria as a country would do this to herself and to her students. It makes no sense. Native speakers are a huge resource for a school. They provide an excellent opportunity for students to learn, practice and hone a foreign language.
Moreover, Bulgaria has a long standing tradition of language schools.
In fact, the American College of Sofia (ACS), where I work, is one of these schools. And, yes. We’re an American school. One which was founded in Bulgaria over 150 years ago. That makes us one of the oldest (if not the oldest) American educational institutions outside of the United States. Not bad Bulgaria, not bad.
Thus it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that Americans teach at this school. Lots of us. And surprise, surprise, America’s not part of the EU. At this point I probably don’t need to connect the dots for you but I will any way. This means that if this law were to pass as it currently written there’d be no place for foreign American teachers in Bulgaria and by extension at ACS.
Of course as soon as our school administration learned about the proposed Education Act, they began to explore and to address this problem (and others created by the proposed act) through every possible avenue. At this point, I’m not worried about ACS or my job here as neither of these things actually seem to be in jeopardy but this seems to be because the school was proactive in addressing these problems and very likely we will receive an exemption of some sort.
What’s more concerning is what this means for the state of education in Bulgaria.
This new law would prohibit not only Americans from teaching English but anyone outside of the EU from teaching in a Bulgarian school. Sure this allows for the classics to be taught by native speakers like French, Spanish, German and British English but what about languages like Russian, Chinese or even Japanese?
I don’t know any other way to say this: a law that prohibits native speakers from teaching in Bulgarian schools is short sighted.
International schools had a place in Bulgaria’s past and they should clearly have a place in Bulgaria’s future as well. The importance of international schools in Bulgaria should not be overlooked. Limiting schools in such a way hurts everyone.
Really? They want to do this? This is the biggest nonsense by far! I hope they will change those texts, they can’t be THAT stuped, can they?
Being a teacher is a job. And that`s the rule in the EU – you need to prove that no Bulgarian is suitable for the job, then no EU citizen and then you import people from the Philippines to do it. This is a mechanism for protecting the country (from unemployment but not only). The same way I need a working Visa to work in Israel (and I`m waiting 2 months already), you need to prove to my country that we need your work. Of course, you have your chances – but the reason for you to win a job contest shouldnt be your mother tongue, it should be your teaching skills. We have more than enough skillful teachers here, dont you think so? Why shouldnt they take your place?
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In Bulgarian we dont say British English. The word for English comes from England. I know only one university where they teach American English – all the rest teach English and by that they mean British English.
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As I can see it, in the worst case you will need to attend a job interview and to prove that you can hold your position. If for your institution mother tongue is crucial, then why worry if you will get re-hired?
Ok but if for example you want to learn Russian or Chinese from a native speaker you can hardly employ an EU citizen to do that as neither Russia nor China are anywhere near to be a part of EU, what will you do? And does that means we cannot have – say an American professor of Physics for example teaching us new technologies? It is not only a matter of language teaching, but education in general. This rule if applied for general job openings should not include such fields as: education, science, sport and medicine! And there should be a difference in employment in private and in state institutions IMO.
I dont know any Japanese (or Russian actually) whose Bulgarian is good enough to teach physics in a Bulgarian university. And even if this person exists, he would have a Bulgarian citizenship or at least a visa, right?
Teaching is getting paid. A foreigner getting paid means a Bulgarian not getting paid. Any American speaking mathematician can tell you that.
Well I think the good news is that the Education Act only applies to Bulgarian education pre-university.
I don’t think we are on the same line with you, particularly looking over the topic from different angels. And btw I haven’t wrote anything like Chinese teaching us physics. Moreover I do think there are countries outside EU far more advanced in many fields of economy, science, medicine that could have teach us a lot of things no matter the language barrier! I am sure you understand what I meen
I have not researched the issue (and I will) but at a first glance it seems that it maybe more related to the state of economic affairs in EU, rather than Bulgaria itself. I am not sure whether you are aware of this, but as a EU member state Bulgaria had to bring its legislation in compliance with the EU legislation (and that also includes the area of education). In addition, there may be different requirements for the teachers and their qualifications depending on whether the school is a public or private institution. All this being said, I am not excluding the opportunity that whoever was responsible for writing the act itself, did not do a very good job, and therefore, revisions maybe needed.
Hey, I’ll dig into this piece of legislation once I can dig myself out of underneath my pile of tasks but at first glance: don’t worry! I have been living abroad forever and this is the most regular thing everywhere. In Austria before we entered the EU I had to prove that no Austrian or other EU citizen was suitable for a job to get a work permit. My friends who work in the States say that their company needs to prove to the US immigration office that they need that skilled worker. So I guess its will be just the same thing.
But guess what! English is required to teach English and you’re native. Hence you’ll be the most suitable for the job and get it anyway. Besides if a private institution claims they need a certain educated person for a position neither US immigration is able to really argue against a Bulgarian citizen, nor Sofia or Burssels can stop them from hiring an US citizen. (Besides you have your permit already and once you get it it’s really hard to revoke it or not extend it unless you comit a crime, even in Bulgaria. )
Cheers and please don’t worry!
Okay, I am sorry to spam here so much on one evening but I have skimmed through the 90 or so pages of literary delight that are the ministry’s proposal and wanted to share some of the interesting stuff. In general nothing shocking but since you’re a teacher it’s always good to know whats going on. (FYI that’s the original in Bulgarian: http://bit.ly/KblRhQ )
-Paragraph 10 states, that international schools continue to operate under the agreement they were founded. (ACS is both Bulgarian and US certified, so I don’t know which one would take presedence.)
The worrysome part might article 213 that states:
(1) The positions of pedagogical (that right?) specialists are filled by Bulgarian citizens… [blah, blah boring stuff]
(2) Then the second part talks about principals.
[groan!]
(3) The positions of pedagogical specialists can also be taken by:
—1. Citizens of other member states. [i.e. of the EU]
—2. Other nationals who are appointed by force of an international agreement.
—3. Other foreign nationals with permanent residence.
[My read of this is: The Ministry of Education wants you to have a valid visa to employ you. The agency that grants the permanent residency visa wants you to have work to get you the visa. I.e. no one wants to take responsibility and as long as you find an employer you're fine.]
Nothing shoking and the draft was entered for review by a committee so things may change and stuff. But anyway, legislatively I’d be on the watchout for new laws concerning visa granting and work permits, not the education stuff.
Thanks to everyone for commenting on this post! At this point, I am not worried about my status in the country or about the ability of ACS to continue to hire American teachers to teach here. Our school clearly have connections within the country and a tradition that will allow us to continue to do the work we do.
What continues to seem worrisome is the fact that the act as currently written limits fairly drastically the kinds of people who can teach in Bulgarian schools given what’s been outlined in demi’s comment above. The problem of course is this: it’s one thing to be a permanent resident and a very different thing to have a work permit and a prolonged residence permit which is what American ACS teachers currently have.
I’m not advocating for taking jobs away teaching jobs from Bulgarians but I would continue to argue that the presence of a native speaker in a school dramatically improves the teaching of foreign languages and student fluency in the language. Moreover given the current state of education in Bulgaria, Bulgarians need to have other options and international schools help to fill this current void. Limiting the country’s access to native speakers limits the kind of education both linguistic and cultural that Bulgaria can provide its students and in my mind this is a shame.
I’m sorry but this is simply not true. It matters whether the teacher is a good teacher and knows their stuff and not whether they are native speakers. It’s good to have but it’s neither crucial, nor doesn’t “dramatically improve” anything. I am from an English Language School myself and I had some really great, great teachers in English – all of them Bulgarians. I had also some science classes in English too – these teachers were pretty good too. As for the native speakers – through the years I have been exposed to a couple of them and mostly – meh … especially the American who was supposed to teach us Geography. I had a great English teacher in Media and she did her job well – she knew her stuff and was very engaging. But still this is just one class a week (in only one school year) and doesn’t have substantial effect on anything. The “core” English language teachers are with you every day for at least two classes in a row.
And lastly, nowadays children and Bulgarians as a whole are much more exposed to native speakers so that’s not something really missing from everyday’s life.
Good point. Do you need a native speaker to learn a language? No. Clearly lots of people learn English (and many other languages without a native speaker). What to native speaker offer? Access. A native speaker brings with them the living language. They provide intimidate feedback. They provide assess to a foreign culture–one not seen on tv, in movies or magazines. Native speakers bring a corner of the world to students who wouldn’t otherwise have direct and tangible contact with it in a way that pop culture media cannot. At I’ll add at the risk of being completely over the top, the best native speakers make the language real and the world seem smaller and in the process I hope that this inspires students to learn even more.
I agree with you on all points. Cultural diversity is especially important for the spiritual and economic development of a nation. Having access to an array of minds and ideas is incredibly valuable, it broadens our own reality and extends our possibilities, it improves the way we treat other people and the way we solve the problems of our own country. And I don’t know why I sound like a textbook.
Studying Chinese in Sofia University, for example, was quite a bizzare experience for me. There were some really competent Bulgarian teachers, who had an admirable grasp of the language and a profound knowledge of the written culture, but us and them were always on the same level for one thing: we were the “normal” people examining this new, different, VERY different, unimaginably strange, rich and foreign culture. Hence, there was a lot of insecurity and unstability, typical for every culture shock, in all of us, students and teachers, and this somehow allowed a silent racism among us, we could sneer at everything the Chinese did differently from us and just label it “weird” instead of trying to understand. We had the privilige of being the majority after all. Or, of course, we could pretend that what we did was merely studying some foreign language, ignoring any cultural differences altogether, as if language and culture were two separate things. Which is the easiest and the silliest thing to do. But I myself tended to do it.
The only Chinese teacher in the faculty, the only carrier, acted securely and professionally. She was an amazing linguist and thaught us as much as she could, having in mind that our education started from infantry level. Her classes were a different thing. There were still those emotions, but standing face to face with her, we were more accepting. She was a person like every one of us, but she was also different. We discovered those differences and, yes, sometimes we sneered, or shrugged, or mowed, or ignored, but mostly, I think, we were unconsciously accepting, which cultivated tolerance of things we tend to label “foreign” or “weird”.
In perspective, I actually think that this Chinese teacher was the only one in the faculty who acted normally. I don’t know if she was of any help for improving our language skills, I think first year students haven’t much to gain on that aspect from a native speaker. I also think that the faculty misused her, having her teach subjects that weren’t very productive and weren’t very suitable for her potential. Nevertheless, she played a very important part in my mental education.
So I guess we have to ask what our prerogatives are. If we want to learn Englsih and get a job translating documents or guiding foreign tourists, then sure, Bulgarian teachers will do. But if we want to really enrich our culture, broaden our minds and expand our horizons, well, we’ll have to expand our horizons beyond EU. Obviously.
What interesting topics you always notice, Karolinka. Congratulations on your staying for another year.
@Стефан Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. You make a really good point about the usefulness of native language instruction when you are learning the foundations of a language. A native speaker can teach anyone from beginners to advanced students but often we find ourselves teaching upper level language classes or in my case literature classes because this is where we are perceived to be the most helpful. This said I think that it’s great fun to work beginners because you can see such big improvement in their skills in a really short time.
What I think is being addressed here is what I have heard discussed about the difference between being “bilingual” and “bicultural”. A non-native speaker who has skill as an educator can teach a language and even the literature of a different nation or culture. The native speaker who has skill as an educator can teach the language in the context of the culture in which the language is used.
Does the value of understanding another culture trump the value of having Bulgarians employed in teaching Bulgarians. I’m sure there are many differences of opinion.
As much as I don’t like that policy, it’s the same in the US. If an employer wants to hire a foreign employee, they have to prove that there’s no US citizen who could do the job. There are industries which suffer from that because they can’t find enough Americans to fill in their job vacancies, even in the present economic situation, but it’s been this way for a long time. Bulgaria is not the only EU country with that policy either. It can be next to impossible to get a teaching job in a state school in quite a few European countries if you aren’t their citizen. As I said, I don’t like it, but it comes as no surprise to me.
@ol Let me clarify, the law that you describe already exists in Bulgaria. What’s being proposed takes this law even further. It’s this: only EU citizens would legally be able to be hired for teaching positions in Bulgaria. This would make Bulgaria the only country in the EU limiting who can teach in their country in such a drastic way. I’d argue that this is bad business for everybody involved.
I totally agree with you. I’ve never been a fan of such measures. It may not be very PC of me, but I would actually prefer it if more Americans than Europeans could come to Bulgaria and work/teach here. Yet, there are quite a few EU countries which say yeah, we can allow you to teach in a state school here, but apart from your credentials, you also have to speak the language at a near native level, take an exam that proves it, then get all of your permits and papers in order. On paper, it seems so much better than the Bulgarian version and allows foreigners to teach, in reality those are all hidden restrictions that either significantly delay your job hunting, or force you to stop it. Private institutions often have more freedom, but it’s not a given.