Today's guest in Open School of Psychology - Ivan Delchev

by: Georgi Stankov

Today at Open School of Psychology we had a honorable guest - Mr +Ivan Delchev - co-founder and co-owner of Soft Consult Group. He is the head of the company's Quality Assurance department and a successful independent internet marketing consultant. 

Mr Delchev shared with OSP's students his company's experience and fundamental principles in management, leadership & co-leadership, staff recruitment and training, and the overall process of developing a new product from the initial discussion with the client, through the test and re-test procedures, to the final implementation. We also used Mr Delchev's competence and asked for his feedback on our very new Small world project.

Later we made an analysis of the interview with Ivan Delchev. The students discussed the psychological aspects of what we learned about the software development companies and their work. 

Photos in three steps:

We are very official... and stiff as trees :)
Ivan Delchev is the high man with white-grey shirt.

Here I show to students how to overcome the camera stress.

He-he... We rule!

We will upload the video from the interview with Mr Delchev in two weeks. Of course, we will inform you in time - this conversation is a worth watching!

Open School of Psychology - the new division of The Garden Association

The Governing Board of The Garden Association decided to establish "Open School of Psychology". 

What is the Open School of Psychology? 

It is an initiative for non-formal education, existing as division of The Garden Association. The school is not registered or accredited and does not exist under any law or regulations about education (and we intend that it will always be like this!). 

Conceptual framework of Open School of Psychology 

1. Purpose 

Open School of Psychology works in the tradition of Life-long learning concept.

As an institution for non-formal education its purpose is to develop psychological knowledge and skills at local, regional, national and international level. The school aims to present to its trainees the psychological processes and phenomena in people's daily life and to help them build competences in the filed of psychology through which they could improve their lives at any level.

2. Basic Principles 

• Learning by doing - the experiential learning, combining theoretical and practical approach for developing of knowledge and skills, lies at the center of School's philosophy and methodology. 
• Tolerance - respect for and openness to different cultures, traditions, and opinions. No violence! 
• Ethnic, Religious, and Gender equality - no discrimination! 
• Democracy - participation of the trainees in the decision making process regarding their education (for instance: choose topics for training, topics for discussion, and so on). 
• Community - sensitivity to the presence and needs of others, encouraging the spirit of togetherness as an alternative of selfishness.

3. Organization 

The Open School of Psychology works thanks to professionals who volunteer for the fulfillment of the School's basic principles. The main lecturer and trainer is Georgi Stankov. Additionally, guest lecturers and trainers will participate in the project too. 

4. Certification 

In order to response to the European trend for validation of the non-formal and in-formal education, The Garden Association will provide certificates to all students who successfully complete our courses. They will receive certificates signed by the lecturer/trainer/instructor. 

Interview with Conor

Last month we were lucky to have Conor Holton-Burke teach SAT math to students applying to US colleges soon. Most of my friends and relatives were really surprised and wondered why he would do that while on vacation, so I decided to interview Conor. Enjoy:

Lydia: How did you come up with the idea to do volunteer work while in Bulgaria?

Conor: When I initially decided to visit Bulgaria, I hadn't fully considered what I was going to do with my time. I knew I wanted to play a lot of tennis, but one cannot play tennis all day long. When I eventually thought about making my time in Bulgaria worthwhile, volunteering was honestly the first thing that came to mind, but I needed to find something that suited my skill set. My good friend Nasko (Atanas Atanasov) recommended that I could help Bulgarian students prepare for the SAT given my extensive standardized testing experience, so he put me in contact with you!

Lydia: Volunteering seems to be a hallmark of US culture. Why do people in USA volunteer? What do they do?

Conor: It is absolutely true that most students in the US spend a fair portion of their week volunteering. Though some volunteer purely out of the goodness of their hearts, most American students volunteer primarily because it serves their best interest. Students use their volunteer work to bolster their college, internship, grand, fellowship, and job applications; it has gotten to the point that any application would appear barren without at least some mention of volunteer work. Additionally, students are often taught from a young age that it is our duty to give back by volunteering as a way of giving thanks to the lives of privelege we were lucky enough to be born into. In my expereince as the philanthropy chair of my fraternity, I witnessed students volunteering in all kinds of ways: we organized a food drive, cleaned up a highway, restored a stream on several occasions, helped build a house in conjunction with habitat for humanity, helped pick up trash in our town center, etc. One of the most common ways for US students to volunteer, however, is by teaching. Many of my friends are just now entering yearlong English Teaching Assistantships in various countries or returning from summerlong Teach For America programs.

Lydia: Do you plan to do more volunteer work back in the US or in some other country?

Conor: I absolutely plan to volunteer back here in the US. This next year, I will be working at my former school (Whitman College), as I apply for medical schools. I'm hoping to work with the same organizations I worked with while I was philanthropy chair of my fraternity (doing the same sorts of activities I mentioned in my previous answer). If I'm lucky enough to become a doctor, I hope to spend a majority of my working life volunteering in places where doctors are most sorely needed, but that's a long ways off.

IPC - a temple of the Life-long learning values

by: Georgi Stankov

This is my tribute to the International People's College.

International People's College is a worldwide respected institution for non-formal education for adults. IPC is based in the lovely Danish city of Helsingor, known as Elsinore from Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

IPC was founded in 1921, after the World War I, when many progressive people advocated for peace and international collaboration. IPC promotes intercultural understanding and cooperation between the peoples from around the world. At IPC you can meet Africans, Europeans, Asians, Americans, and even Australians. The overall idea of IPC is that this unique meeting of people with different cultural and social backgrounds will create peace, tolerance, and friendship. 

"Global week 2011"

"At a Crossroads"

About 200 students study at IPC every year. There are two terms: Spring term and Autumn term. During the summer the teachers are free to travel, to rest or to make research. IPC management uses the campus and the teaching rooms to organize short summer courses. This summer I attended two workshops: "At a crossroads" and "Art and Science Have Date in Nature". Each workshop took a week. The trainers, the atmosphere, the participants, and the food were  fantastic!

"At a crossroads" was held from the 26th of June until the  2nd of July. Topics included: past and values study, decision-making, teamwork, conflict resolution. From my prefessional perspective, it was a very useful course.

"Art and Science Have Date in Nature" was held between the 3rd of July and the 7th of July. This workshop was part of a bigger event called "Global week 2011", which included several parallel workshops in the same time. In difference with "At a Crossroads", this wasn't a psychological workshop. I took it for my pleasure because I wanted to learn more about the connection between art and science (especially math).

Also I had the chance to establish relations with Lucie Cizkova, who is in charge with PR and Networking at IPC, as well with the IPC's principal Søren Launbjerg. I could see how highly functional as institution is IPC and how the personal growth of the students is set in the heart of the college's study program and teaching methods. See what subjects the students have right to choose: Global challenges line, US studies, African studies, European culture, Development management line, Journalism, Photography, Drama, Art & Video, Body, Mind and Spirit, Self-Expression through Arts, and many other... It is true that I am a longtime supporter of the LLL and everything related to non-formal education, also it is true that my own courses are totally under the philosophy of LLL, but in a matter of fact I didn't know how exactly it works on an organizational level. Now I know more.

The group from the workshop "Art and Science Have date in Nature"

And now... Now I have a dream - to apply the Life-long Learning concept in Bulgaria. To go beyond what the formal educational institutions give. To support the growth of more creative, spontaneous, open-minded, free, and tolerant persons in our own society. I wish to see Bulgarians more happy, more optimistic, more curious, and able to think big. Here I see the role of The Garden Association as institution, dedicated to the non-formal education. In my bravest dreams I see The Garden as the Bulgarian equivalent of IPC. Well, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...