english-ERASMUS ΚΑ122 2ο ΓΕΛ ΕΧΕΔΩΡΟΥ Working with learners from vulnerable backgrounds.ppsx
- 1. Working with learners from vulnerable backgrounds During the period from October 29 to November 4, 2023, three teachers of the 2nd Geniko Lykeio Echedorou attended a seminar, entitled INCLUSIVE EDUCATION-Increase participation in Learning of Students with Different Backgrounds, in Malaga, Spain, organized by the provider of adult education courses Plus Project European Academy. The move took place within the framework of the approved European program Erasmus+ KA1 Learning Mobility of Individuals entitled: "Working with learners from vulnerable backgrounds" and code: "2022-1-EL01-KA122- SCH-000076316".
- 2. The seminar was attended by colleagues from schools in Portugal and Ireland, with whom we collaborated in mixed groups to create, design, execute the activities that accompanied the program but also to get to know each other, to exchange views on the "ideal" classroom, on the educational systems of our countries, on the methods not only of teaching but also of managing diverse groups of students within the framework of inclusive school.
- 3. Through games, discussions and research, we became students, we remembered the difference between equality, equity, justice, we recognized behaviors and mistakes, we became psychologists, we received criticism, we recognized in the seminar class our own true class, with different cultures and habits, different backgrounds and experiences.
- 4. We tried to find those elements that we can incorporate into our teaching in order to come closer to our students, to offer them the right to "belong", to open wide doors, minds and hearts, not only theirs but also ours, to accept the different, to listen to their pulse, To cultivate the idea of inclusion and create the atmosphere that will frame the classroom so that it is a space of real expression and creation.
- 5. Our trainer, Sara Galvez, quickly caught the pulse of the participants, respected the differences in our character and culture and effortlessly created the conditions for us all to work together, gave us space for expression, listened to our objections, She sensed our difficulties and adapted her suggestions to cover the fields we were interested in and to offer us a variety of tools that made the seminar more interesting but also that could be applied in the classroom.
- 6. The activities included research, theatrical play, dramatization, writing, imagination, discussion and took place indoors and outdoors.
- 7. Through a game we got to know each other, saying two things we like or are good at. We glued them to a designed jar on the board. So each of us knew that if we needed something we would find it in the face of someone in the group. We did the same another day with two things that bother or upset us in our daily routine. In the classroom it can be applied in the first days of school year, anonymously. Sometimes we express ourselves more easily when we don't need to say who we are. Students can find similarities with others and respect their differences.
- 8. We wrote what we expect from this seminar, one group completed the other, explained expectations, expressed hopes, jotted down words or sentences, We discussed and thus began the cycle of meetings with the clarification of the words: exclusion, separation, integration, inclusion.
- 9. We did research, we found historical data on inclusion in education, we saw with sadness how mean we can be facing the “different”, how few opportunities we give to those who are not the same with us, but we also saw slow but steady steps towards acceptance and equality.
- 10. We've built our life cycles, cycles of things we can or can't control, things that stress us but they shouldn't, that make us feel responsible or guilty but they don't depend on us. We've learned how a word, a behavior can affect the whole group, learning path, relationships or mood, but it's up to us to decide what to let affect us. We let the burdens of those we cannot control go away from us.
- 11. Armed with colorful papers, markers and our mobile phones, we became children around a core, that of thirst for learning, which eliminated our differences, gave us the opportunity to laugh, to cheat, to talk about our daily habbits, about our lives, dreams and fears, without criticism and without right or wrong.
- 12. We went out under the sun, closed our eyes and trusted our partner who led our steps on the sand by the sea, we collected shells that we brought back as souvenirs from our trainer.
- 13. We photographed the works of a museum of modern art that caused us disparate emotions, tasted traditional dishes and got to know the everyday life of the city that hosted us.
- 14. We created videos with approaches of different behavior, we became aggressive, defensive, assertive, we recognized these different types We have admitted that many times we become what we do not want.
- 15. We painted the "ideal" class, we saw with melancholy how far it is from reality, but we got ideas on how we can put small touches so that we have around us something different from the monotonous pattern of the room.
- 16. Just as every coin has two sides, every story can be told "differently" and we tried this by mixing empathy with laughter. We took the side of "evil", we fervently defended how self-evident it was because of its nature, or we remained indifferent to the reprehensible acts simply because we took advantage of the "news" for personal promotion and viewership.
- 17. We shared roles, recognized a situation and made decisions, justified them subjectively and listened to all opinions even of those we did not need. The majority decided, even if some disagreed. Teacher Psychologist Nurse Youtuber Translator Nini Principal Janitor Charwoman Cook Soldier Deaf student Senegal student (don´t speak your language) Sahara student (don´t speak your language) IT Mayor Aspergers tudent Grandma House keeper Shopkeeper Priest Sheperd Taxi driver Farmer Ezgi
- 18. Divided into pairs, we listened for ten minutes without talking. We let our partner say what they wanted without interrupting them. Who could imagine how hard it is to listen? And yet, we wondered, do we do this in class? Can we listen to our students without interfering? Can we just not take advantage of our position;
- 19. We matched colors to situations and emotions. We saw how different and how similar we can be and feel.
- 20. We shared a true dream and others in turn completed it, gave a solution, changed it, destroyed it, completed it. We learned that you can get help from where you least imagine, that a problem can be solved if we share it, or that we can simply help someone in need.
- 21. We titled photos from real life. We tried to guess what they think, what the people in pictured are. At what stage of their life? Can we understand from the attitude of our students what lies behind an apathetic look or a smile? Can we overcome prejudices and feel what lies behind each face?
- 22. We designed something simple and instructed the other person to draw it using only simple commands, without telling them what it is. We tried to be clear by using clear instructions on how to move the hand or using other shapes. Do others understand what we say or want, without saying it exactly? Do we lead them correctly to find it?
- 23. We wrote as many words as we could about a popular destination and then canceled the use of those words and tried to advertise it, to make a spot that refers to it without saying its name. Can we express ourselves when some words are forbidden or if for some reason we cannot express them? How do we let others know what we feel when we have we run out of words? Travel agency
- 24. We met a gifted student, he talked to us about the boredom caused by the class, about his indifference to certain subjects, about his conflicts with some teachers and about his decision to study what really interested him. They are the other side of the classroom, the children who we cannot know if they understand us, if they listen to us, if they doubt us and if they need what we teach them.
- 25. Differentiated teaching is very difficult to implement in the classroom and yet along with differentiated assessment are the basics that a prospective teacher should learn, because there are no identical students in learning. The levelling of students, with the horizontal application of learning processes, leaves behind both students and teachers unsatisfied.
- 26. These were more or less the activities of the seminar, very interesting, lively, targeted, a kind that leave something floating in the mind, a will for something more, a mood for change, a play in thought and a sweet nostalgia for our school years
- 27. We closed the seminar with a graduation ceremony, happy, moved, having a clear idea of whether it changed us, complemented us, opened up paths for us or simply confirmed us. In any case, it was a special experience that left each of us with different mementos. Isn't that the basic principle of inclusion after all?
- 28. Of course, we got to know Malaga and other cities, as tourists, but with an appetite to see, taste, feel something more. The sun, the green, the old and the new harmoniously tied us together compensated and unloaded us daily from the thoughts of the seminar.
- 33. How many things can one do in a week? How much can we learn? How many can we see? The truth is … it's never enough. But every time is a start, as long as we are open to the idea that we are also students. "It's impossible for a person to learn what he thinks he already knows." Epictetus Thank you