Interculturalising education in Bulgaria: The contribution of the National Helpdesk for Intercultural Learning Materials

English-medium Abstract
Whilst there has been extensive discussion of the models and policies concerning intercultural education in Bulgaria, there has been to date surprisingly little work undertaken regarding the potential contribution of Bulgarian school textbooks across the curriculum towards the objectives of intercultural education. The National Helpdesk for Intercultural Learning Materials has been established to address this need. In this article, we describe the context against which the Helpdesk needs to be understood before discussing its mission statement, evaluation model, textbook evaluation project and ongoing activities.

Introduction
In this article, we report on the establishment and initial activities of the Helpdesk
for Intercultural Learning Materials (‘Helpdesk’) in Bulgaria.1 We view the emerging contribution of the Helpdesk for intercultural education in Bulgaria against a backdrop of: (a) the Bulgarian socio-politico-historical context; and (b) developments within the wider intercultural education arena in Bulgaria since 1991. Regarding (a), it is important to recognize that Bulgaria is:

● a post-communist state located in a south-eastern Europe / Balkan zone, often
associated with political instability and nationalist agendas;
● a society experiencing rapid and extensive legal and related changes required and stimulated by NATO membership and the upcoming accession to the European Union (e.g. the Anti-Discrimination Act enacted in January 2004);
● a society with a declining population (down half a million between 1992 and 2001 and forecast to continue falling2) and changing ratios between the different ethnic communities; and
● a society in which over 25% of those classed as poor by the United Nations are
from ethnic minorities, of whom two-thirds are from the Roma community.

Regarding (b), the ways in which the educational practices of the former communist era have been modified to support intercultural education objectives are noteworthy. Thus, in 1991, the Bulgarian parliament passed the National Education Act which prohibited any limitations or privileges based on race, nationality, ethnic and social origins, religion, gender and social status. The educational impact of such reform can be exemplified through foreign language teaching where new standards inclusive of intercultural objectives have been adopted.5 Similarly, new textbooks have been developed to support both minority education (including mother-tongue teaching) and citizenship education (Valchev, 1999; Mincheva-Rizova & Rizov, 2000; Bankova, 2000; Ivanova et al., 2002). Regional and school-based projects have also been initiated to address the education of children from Roma and Turkish-speaking backgrounds (Stancheva, 2001; Sabev, 2004).

Whilst recognizing the importance of this background, our discussion focuses on
the Helpdesk itself. We begin by reviewing the establishment of the Helpdesk, and
then locate it within the established discourses of intercultural education in Bulgaria. We then present the Helpdesk’s mission statement and evaluation model before illustrating the work of the Helpdesk through its first textbook reviewing project and its ongoing activities.