« Head of the Diocesan Department of Religious Education participated in the International Pedagogical Conference in Milan »
15-03-2026 
On March 14, 2026, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, E.N. Poplavskaya, Head of the Department of Religious Education of the Diocese of Sourozh and Director of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth Children's Parish School at the Dormition Cathedral in London, participated in the Tenth Anniversary Scientific and Practical Conference "Bilingualism and Dialogue of Cultures: Challenges of the 21st Century," which was held from March 12 to 14 in Parma and Milan, Italy.
The international conference was organized by the University of Parma (Parma) and the Leo Tolstoy Educational and Methodological Center for the Development of Bilingualism (Milan). The conference was attended by 200 teachers and specialists from the USA, Italy, Japan, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Germany, the UK, Croatia, France, Spain, Austria, and Egypt.
The main topics on current issues in teaching Russian language and culture to students living abroad included:
- Multilingualism, bilingualism, and bilingual education.
- A modern perspective on teaching Russian as a foreign language to adults and children outside the language environment.
- CLIL, storytelling, project-based learning, and task-based learning (TBLT).
- AI in language teaching. - AI for assessing learning outcomes; diagnostics and testing, error classification.
- Teaching and preserving Slavic languages outside the language environment.
- New Perspectives on Language Acquisition, Language Teaching, and Literature (in English).
The conference featured presentations on modern methods of teaching Russian language and literature, as well as issues of preserving cultural and linguistic identity among bilingual students. Participants were introduced to the latest editions of educational literature and manuals created with the specifics of bilingual education in mind.
The conference concluded with a roundtable discussion, during which delegates discussed current issues in the preparation and publication of educational materials for compatriots living abroad.
Speaking at the conference, E. N. Poplavskaya noted that the development of manuals on the Law of God for bilinguals is one of the priority tasks of the Sourozh Diocese for 2026. These projects are planned to be implemented at local parish schools.
E. N. Poplavskaya also invited everyone to participate in the 4th diocesan exhibition of children's works, "The Spiritual Beauty of the Native Land in the Works of V.M. Vasnetsov" exhibition, which will take place in November 2026 at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God in London.