Tonight’s presentation will not surprise anyone. It is because every school has a director and our manages the American college “Arcus” as well. There is no need to clone him as he is a workaholic and he will do a great job running both schools. Petar Ivanov, better known as Ivanov among his colleagues is a man of principle. He strives for perfection and guides the others towards it. He is not only the head of the school but also acts as a barometer there and a serves as a bridge between the teachers, students, parents and the school board. Do not be misled by his strict and businesslike manner of speaking– he is going to tell a joke which will make you laugh immediately or at least will embarrass you for not having a sense of humour.  Ivanov often says that having a sense of humour is one of the criteria he is choosing his colleagues with. In the end of the day we should not take ourselves too seriously. 

Petаr graduates “English Philology” from Veliko Turnovo University St. Cyril and St. Methodius in 1994.  Immediately after that he starts working as a director of a school for foreign languages and computer skills in their branch in Veliko Turnovo. He worked there as a director for 7 years. After that, for 2 years he had his own private language school. Since 2003 he has been “temporarily” a director for the American college Arcus (as he likes to joke about himself). The fact that he is married and a proud father of twin daughters complement his “boring” biography.

Read his answers to the questions we asked him.

1. What is your motivation to become a school director?

The truth is that I have never wanted, planned or dreamed of becoming a school director. It just happened like that - while I was a student in the University of Veliko Turnovo I started teaching for short time and I am still doing it. I also think that I am quite lucky and I am thankful to certain people and to fate as well for having being given this opportunity. The pleasure of having the freedom to create a team working persistently well together is very satisfying.

2. Have you used alternative methods in your work as a teacher?

For my humble experience of 32 years of teaching, I have had students of different ages and have had different challenges in the classroom so I have used different teaching techniques and approaches. Regardless of the teaching tools you use as a teacher, it is important to do two things. The first one is to present the material in a way which is understandable for the students and the second is to motivate the students to be eager to learn and understand the matter being taught. The second has proved to become more and more difficult in the recent years.

3. What do you like doing in your free time?

There are two ways I can unwind. I have been playing tennis since I was student. And the other hobby I have is fishing.

4. Challenges? 

Talking about challenges in my job I would say that the most difficult thing for me in lately is finding young and well-educated people who want to become teachers not because of the good job conditions but because they feel it as a calling. Fortunately, I still find them and manage to motivate them and keep them in my team. When it comes to personal challenges in my life they vary and change but the most important for me is to do what I must do in the way it must be done and not to give up regardless of the circumstances.

5. What is your vision for the education of the future?

The education of the future will be a mixture of traditional and innovative ways of teaching and learning. I hope that the AI will be used correctly instead of tempting the students to use and copy ready-made solutions, answers, projects and etc. without understanding and going deeper into the matter being used. The biggest challenge for the education of the future will be its quality. Undoubtedly, it would be  more flexible, more interesting and broader.