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Description
The Polish education system for people with intellectual disabilities (PID) protects the needs of this group up to 24 years of age, after graduation they remain without due support, and the system in which they were educated did not prepare them for independent and independent life. Aims and results: Development, testing, implementation and standardization of model solutions in the field of PID self-empowerment including: organizational strategy (also social and environmental architecture), curricula, evaluation tools and complementary education methodology using ICT solutions, Neurodidactics (eyetracking) and active methods. This model should be possible to implement in every special/inlusiv school. Project participants and beneficiaries are mainly students of special schools in PL and ISL, about 50 direct participants and 120 intermediate students, as well as pedagogical and social staff involved in creating their education process around 32 people. directly and min. 100 indirectly.
Summary of project results
ZSS4 in Sosnowiec is a leading center for special education in Poland, which has been undertaking extensive activities for years to develop independence of people with deeper intellectual disabilities. As part of the support system for people with disabilities, called "Perfect World", 5 protected flats were created. Initially, these apartments were of an intervention nature and supported OzN, especially those threatened with homelessness. Many of the key skills necessary for living are not yet mastered. It became necessary to modify the activities undertaken at school so that they better prepare for independence. However, there is a lack of entities in Poland that could be modeled on. Cooperation with the Icelandic partner provided a unique opportunity to exchange experiences and work together on developing new educational solutions. Working together on educational solutions provoked all partners to look again at the goals and tasks of the school. It was noticed that both in Poland and Iceland we struggle with similar problems, on the other hand, the observation of various strategies for dealing with them built the participants'' motivation, knowledge and skills to implement changes and improve the quality of education preparing for independent living. Students with severe disabilities traveled to partner countries relatively independently, actively participated in activities despite the language barrier. Teachers who initially pointed to a number of barriers in achieving independence by OzN, as a result of pilot activities, began to look for solutions to overcome these barriers. The cooperation has shown that despite a number of differences and different resources, the key challenges are very similar in both countries, and the joint discussion on potential solutions inspires a new look and further exploration. The final effect of the cooperation is the writing and implementation of the second project under the Education program.
The project plans to implement 4 results of intellectual work that constitute a coherent, comprehensive strategy for preparing people with more severe intellectual disabilities for independent living.
RPI1 - Education organization model and implementation strategy of the self-empowerment program - during implementation, the result was detailed to the model of organization and operation of the training apartment. On the basis of extensive empathization activities, especially in cooperation with the Icelandic partner, a detailed model of the functioning of the training apartment at the school was developed, containing tips both on the organization of the apartment itself (equipment) and its functioning at all levels. educational. An important part of the result is a manual devoted to the organization of the apartment space, taking into account the guidelines on accessibility and functionality for OzN, to be used by all entities wishing to create training/protected apartments for OzN.
RPI2 - Independence Development Program - a set of independent living curriculum has been developed for all educational stages. It is adapted for use in a training apartment (RPI1). It consists of catalogs of minimum skills in 4 key areas (independent: housing, work, relationships, civic skills)
RPI3 - Diagnostic Model - guidelines have been developed for conducting the Multi-Special Assessment of the Student''s Functioning Level and the Individual Educational and Therapeutic Program, along with an original diagnostic tool closely related to the programs (RPI2) and educational methodology (RPI4).
RPI4 - Comprehensive metpodic model - methodological assumptions were developed along with the necessary documentation for conducting classes, including: in the training apartment. The methodology places particular emphasis on building student engagement, developing soft skills, self-assessment and self-awareness of the learning process and one''s own achievements.
The developed solutions can be used in other public and non-public centers in Poland and around the world (especially methodological solutions). The project developed detailed organizational, program, methodological and evaluation solutions aimed at improving the process of preparing OzN at all educational stages for independent living. The proposed education model pays particular attention to autonomy, independence and the ability to make choices and self-assess one''s own achievements. This provides the basis for building your own internal motivation for development and places the exercise of skills related to independence in a very personal context. Education becomes the students'' own, well-understood activity, not the result of the teacher''s instructions. This small difference can have a huge impact on students'' future independence.
Summary of bilateral results
The cooperation between the partners was very good. Despite many limitations and difficulties resulting from the need to implement the new Icelandic partner into the developed application, restrictions related to COVID-19, and then enormous uncertainty and new challenges related to the war in Ukraine, we managed to cooperate effectively, achieving the assumed goals and tasks. We remained in constant and often direct contact with our partners. All entities participating in the project fulfilled their tasks in accordance with the adopted assumptions. The partner who replaced the original Icelandic partner not only fully completed the tasks entrusted to him, but also broadened our view of the issues of building independence in Iceland by enabling us to get to know more institutions involved in organizing education and therapy for people with disabilities in Iceland. The final result of the cooperation is the writing and implementation of the second project under the Education program.