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Description
Death and dying are seen as taboo topics. Many people die in hospitals receiving care that does not correspond to their wishes. The nonprofit organization „Cesta domů“ („Homecoming“) has been working for more than 20 years on changing the view on how the Czech society perceives end-of-life themes. We provide hospice care in Prague and we offer a further education in palliative care. In 2021, we carried out research among teachers at the Czech elementary schools to find whether they are able to discuss death-related topics with pupils. The research has shown that they are not trained in it and need adequate assistance; the COVID-19 pandemic has increased this need even more. The research shows that 57 % of questioned teachers faced a situation connected with death (i.e. death of a pupil or a staff colleague) nevertheless only 5 % of them consider themselves to be able to cope with it appropriately. They do not know neither where to find trustful information nor do they have any school-policy in the case of an emergency. The aim of the project is to build a team of lecturers who will prepare a series of educational activities and informative documents to help teachers in introducing the topic naturally into Czech schooling. First, the team itself will be trained by crisis intervention experts. Consequently, it will organize workshops for teachers on how to talk with the children about death-related topics, and for headmasters on how to prepare a methodological plan for crisis situations. We will launch a web-side with supportive materials. Teachers who will profit from our workshops and the web-side will see death as a natural part of life. Instead of being scared of it, they can help pupils to focus on restoring the value of living.
Summary of project results
The project was realized with the aim of opening up the topic of the finality of human life and dying among primary school pupils through teacher education. Thanks to this, teachers and directors will know how to open up this difficult and taboo topic in discussion with pupils, but also among themselves. We expect that when students, teachers, training collective encounter a death in their environment, the school will be a place where this experience can be talked about and understood. This helps to ensure that death is seen as a natural part of life.
Thanks to the project, syllabi for training seminars for teachers and principals were written. These seminars have a dual format - for face-to-face meetings and for the online form. At the same time, e-learning and publications on the experience of communicating bereavement have been developed. Also, the organization''s website has been redesigned with activities designed for educators in one place. Last but not least, an education team was trained and appointed to design and deliver all the courses.
The project has enabled more than 200 people from the school environment to learn about the topic of dying through seminars and webinars and thus strengthen their preparedness and competence in communicating death (of a student, a member of the school team). This will also be reinforced by the publication, which has been published in 1700 copies.