The first-ever Bildung day in Armenia.
Inspired by the idea of Bildung, SEP (Self Education Platform) organized the “Con-SEP-tion Summit” in Aghveran Park Resort.
Over 400 participants from 4 regions of Armenia, more than 50 speakers hosting seminars/workshops on topics such as
- Science, history, culture
- Business and Marketing
- IT
- Psychology and Coaching, Art-therapy
- Woodcraft, pottery, soap, and jewelry making
- Music and Social Dances
- Yoga, First Aid
- HR, Freelance
- Restauration
- The Art of Speech
- National Brand Creation
- Librarianship
- Ecology
e.t.c.
No papers, no books, no strict teachers, or homework. The only form of homework was “to discover yourself”. It was a one-day demonstration of what Bildung can mean and how it can inspire people to change. The summit allowed experimenting with your knowledge, trying new things, opening your mind towards new ideas, discovering a brand new side of yourself, feeling the atmosphere and enjoying the learning process. The speakers were great storytellers, they brilliantly caught the attention of the participants. The duration of the seminars and workshops was 45 minutes. Although, the majority demanded to prolong them.
During the summit suddenly rain broke out but it turned out amazing. People were dancing in the rain, laughing, and continuing the workshops. The positive energy was overwhelming. Smiling faces, curious eyes, crafty hands, hot discussions, horses, rain, new experiences. The motto “Inhale knowledge, exhale skills” was guided throughout the event. After the seminars, workshops, and discussions the calming melodies of the hang drum summarised the day. Bildung was in the air!
The “Con-SEP-tion Summit” provided the perfect environment for networking. Finding like-minded people, forming new organizations/movements, and creating new projects are highly important for us.
The next event is the upcoming “SEPtember”. On the 1st of September, as the classes begin for children, we decided to create a round of seminars for adults as well. The seminars will take place every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month. We want it to become a new tradition and the month of September to be associated with SEP.
SEP creates non-formal education platforms all across Armenia. For the past 6 months, more than 70 different events were organized by SEP.
Currently, we have an educational project in Oshakan, a small village in Armenia, near the capital. A group of teenagers gathered together with a strong will to make their village attractive for tourists. Twice a week we teach them Tourism, Social Media Marketing, Guiding, English, and Russian languages. We call it SEPxOshakan. The course is delivered by SEP volunteers, who are specialized in their fields. The duration of the course is 2 months. The classes are taking place at the Cultural House of Oshakan village. By collaborating with the Cultural House, we also help them in organizing the “Sujugh Fest” (Sujugh is a traditional Armenian sweet) which will be held in Oshakan later in October.
By teaching them the listed subjects, we subconsciously find ourselves being a part of Bildung, where our teachers make their experiment with the learning process, create their methods of teaching, find new ways to connect with learners, make the classes fun, interesting, and most importantly inspire them to take action towards their dreams.
After the Bildung “Con-SEP-tion Summit”, SEP is actively collaborating with different regions of Armenia. We are looking forward to having many SEPx-es with different villages and communities. Despite the small steps, SEP is gradually expanding its community. We are sure that the decentralization of education is the key to raise the level of education in Armenia.
Global Bildung Network
For more information about bildung, please visit https://www.globalbildung.net/ and check out our manifesto: https://www.globalbildung.net/manifesto/
