Karin Dom Team Participated in a Summer Course on Inclusive Education in Voss, Norway
From July 2nd to 7th, a 5-member group from Karin Dom – Magdalena Tsoneva, Aneta Morfova, Virgnia Vasileva, Isabel Ivanova, Nikoleta Yoncheva and Desislava Docheva, pedagogical advisor at Kindergarten 38 “Margaritka”, Sofia, had the opportunity to participate in a summer school in Varna. They had the opportunity to participate in the ASUMIE project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, dedicated to additional support and mediated learning in inclusive education.
Our summer course presented everything we had learned and gathered in terms of knowledge and developments over the 3 years of project work to 48 participants from seven partner organisations and colleagues working in the field of additional support. After the opening by our hosts from Pedverket Competence and the project coordinator from AP University College Antwerp, we discussed the successes and challenges of inclusion in our own countries, and then shared what we had learned in small groups with representatives from the other countries. University representatives from Belgium, Portugal and Italy spoke about the reasonable facilitations needed for successful inclusion. The representatives of the Universita Cattolica di Sacro Cuore had prepared an interesting presentation for us – experiential learning.
At the end of the first day, we had a cultural exchange during which we could taste the food and traditions of each country! We presented Bulgarian choro to the international partners and had them join us in the dance.
Our participation in the course program was on the second day dedicated to creating a supportive environment. We presented Karin Dom infographic on Early Inclusion through the journey of a family. Colleagues from AP University College Antwerpen, Belgium and Center za komunikacijo, sluh I govor, Portoroz, Slovenia talked about support and teamwork in mainstream inclusive schools. Colleagues from Cooperativa Imparole, Italy, spoke about the application of the Feuerstein method, about working collaboratively to dynamically transfer educational perspectives. The day continued with a bazaar during which everyone shared their working methods, their original educational materials, books, videos.
The third day of our summer course was dedicated to Communication and Social-Emotional Learning, presented by partners from Universidade di Evora, Portugal. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit three kindergartens and learn how young children are cared for in Norway. We were impressed by the opportunities for free play, the playgrounds and the organisation of the environment, which provide many opportunities for the development of sensory, gross and fine motor skills. The children have more contact with nature, they get acclimatized by sleeping outdoors. Good staffing also contributes to the successful inclusion of all children.
The theme of the fourth day was “How to meet diverse characteristics and needs in an inclusive environment.” The partners from Pedverket Kompetance, Norway introduced us to the Nyborg Conceptual Model of Teaching as well as the PASS theory, which helps to provide opportunities to achieve an acceptable level of learning in the inclusive classroom, taking into account the diversity of characteristics and needs of learners. DysCentrum, Czech Republic talked about their experience in mediated learning.
And so come to the end of our summer course! It was an amazing week in which we were able to exchange experiences and knowledge about the practices of others. We all left with new ideas and more motivation to continue working towards this common goal, inclusion!
By autumn 2023, a freely accessible online course (in English) will be developed to support all those working in the field of inclusive education.
