It is important to attract interest, but how? Very often, in the context of education, it is discussed that the traditional teaching methods that have existed for more than one decade do not work today. As teachers are looking for ways to qualitatively engage modern students, various modern technologies, interactive teaching methods and stories of inspiring modern personalities are increasingly common in classes. Significant changes are also taking place in the field of non-formal education – alongside traditional culture, popular culture is becoming more and more important.
In the entertainment event – School Day
Observing changes in the field of education and hearing the insights of teachers, last year the team of Comic Con Baltics, the largest popular culture event in the Baltic States, decided to conduct a test. Expand the two-day entertainment-type event organized since 2017 and introduce an additional School Day.
The event, which offers visitors meetings with famous world actors, creators of films, series and comics, presentations of the latest technologies, computer games and other news, has adapted its content and turned School Day into an engaging non-formal education lesson. After using the Culture Passport program and being interested in the proposed activities, over 8,000 people responded to the invitation to come. students, teachers, members of the school community and parents of the country.
“School Day is designed to attract the attention of schoolchildren to learning and to give them the opportunity to get acquainted with the world of popular culture, which is becoming more and more important with time. We have many talented and creative students who just need the right motivation and inspiration to unleash their abilities. “Comic Con Baltics’ School Day is one such opportunity, which, to our joy, was positively evaluated not only by the students themselves, but also by the teachers who accompanied them,” said Tomas Vievesis, the organizer of the event.
Competition for high school events
According to the organizers of the event, more than 6,000 people visited the event throughout the weekend. school-aged students who could participate in various educations to get acquainted with popular culture. The students’ activity opened up new opportunities for the higher schools that participated in the event to present themselves.
“We calculate that out of 25 thousand visitors, a significant part, about 10 thousand. made up by students. Considering that the largest exhibitions of Lithuanian higher education institutions gather 12-15 thousand. visitors, we think that we are becoming a good alternative for high schools to present themselves from a completely new perspective – to interest and show that a university or college can also relate to students’ interests: games, movies, series and popular culture in general,” said the organizer.
The organizer emphasized that such events are not only entertainment, but also a great way to develop the creativity of schoolchildren, improve their social and communication skills, and stimulate interest in the interactive learning process.
A useful tool for teachers
Teachers emphasize the importance of popular culture and similar initiatives in the educational process. According to Roko Pčalin, a teacher at the “Saulė” private gymnasium in Vilnius, the attitude towards pop culture changes every day, but it is important that it finds its place in school as well.
“Popular culture is one of the most ambiguously evaluated parts of culture. It has been kept as if for a long time less, it is gaining more and more analytical attention, and its significance is becoming more and more appreciated. What is popular culture? It is a modern lifestyle practiced by a large group of people. These are literature, cinema, music, dance, a way of spending free time. Popular culture is given too little attention and time at school,” says the teacher.
According to the teacher, involvement in informal, interest-stimulating educational activities is very important from a social point of view.
“Students who experience interest, wonder, joy of discovery, creative activity are happy students. And a happy student is, above all, a successful student. During the event, you can not only see, but also get to know people of various specialties, get acquainted with the diversity of literature, cinema, music, and dance in the context of popular culture. Also, interest in the activities of the event promotes interest in foreign languages and cultures, broadens horizons, and opens up the possibility of intercultural relations. This is a great incentive to look for opportunities for self-expression,” says teacher R. Pčalinas.
With the Culture Passport – free of charge
Last year’s success prompted Comic Con Baltics 2023 to pay even more attention to School Day. Although the event will take place on October 20, it has already been confirmed that Danny Casale, one of the world’s biggest social media stars, who has tens of millions of followers, including 3.5 million on the school’s favorite “TikTok”, will talk to the students during the School Day and talk about his career success. “.
It is planned that more famous people will participate in the event – both foreign and the most popular Lithuanian personalities on “TikTok” and other platforms close to schoolchildren.
The event, which is growing strongly every year, will occupy the entire area of LITEXPO this year for the first time. The biggest change is an even bigger space for computer game fans.
School Day will invite all Lithuanian students to meet on Friday, October 20. Using the opportunity provided by the Culture Passport, students and teachers can visit Comic Con Baltics 2023, the largest popular culture event, for free.
More information: https://ccbaltics.com/schoolday/
