GrOuP wOrK

Yeaaaaaah!!!!!!! We have finished the project work that we’ve been taken up for four weeks.
Our group has changed the first idea, the pet therapy, in order to choose another target group: blind children 0- 18 years. The research of the material was not very easy because there aren’t specific laws for this target. In fact you must extract the information from laws for people with special needs. Knowing only few things about this target, I personally decided to send a dozen of emails to the main Union of Italian Blindness. And with pride I can say that in one week all associations answered me, providing me more or less, all materials. One association asked me to send one copy of my project to publish on a specific journal of blind people when we finish the labor . Wooooooooow!!!!

The second phase was very heavy, because it consisted in putting all together the information we found. Then to compare and analyze all these data for each country. We always had the obsession of staying into the 10 pages. But fortunately I found a funny and nice group. I felt comfortable with three simple worker and fantastic people from the beginning. The funny thing was that we “lost” time only for eating and for discussions about the defects in our countries, sometimes smiling for some aspects and sadding for others.
Returning to the project, I can say that, when we started to know more of this target group, we began to see and meet lots of blind people with dogs or sticks, in the bus, metro and in the streets of Copenhagen.

It’ s true: when you think and know more about something it’s easier to identify and meet all these people.

Thanks to this project we have discovered that blind people are a group, unfortunately forgotten, maybe for its dimension and because they don’t have particular needs(except for the sight) compared to the other targets group like Down syndrome, autism .

OpEn MiNd

During a discussion in the lesson by Bill Cleary we talked about the fact that in our intercultural class the main difficulty is the language. As far I’m concerned it is true because sometimes I would like explain my opinion , but I don’ t have a good word or sentence for this. Fortunately, we all have an open mind that enables to compare, debate, tor tear down the stereotype , to meet halfway to understand each other, even if the language is not the best one .It is also true that in this situation it is easier because we are more or less oriented in the same field, that is the social education one. This year it is very important to develop an open mind, because the world changes very quickly and it is necessary to have an elastic mind to follow everything without getting lost. Another great aspect is that when you have an open mind you can let your imagination work for you and develop your creativity. For me an open mind is a characteristic that a social worker must have to carry out his work very well.

Angels & Demons

I was shocked by the reading of James Bulger’s murder to prepare the lesson by Tim Gully. There were a lot of details about the way the child was murdered. I think my stomach was closed for one day. Then I started to wonder:

how are two children (since they cannot be called teenagers) able to kill a two-year child in such a way? What happened in their minds?

Certainly, the familiar situation of these two children was not the best one. But why taking it out on a two-year child and to reduce him in that way?

Looking back I think that sometimes animals are more human than we.

Another aspect that made me reflect is the teachers’ role, these two “guys” had been both sacked, they were annoying in class and finally they played truant. These aspects led the teachers to close them off. I know, usually most teachers are only worried about finishing the syllabus and they do not care about deepening and under standing the behaviour of a pupil, but I think that in this case both the family context and the school, which was not able to spot the problem, are responsible.

Another aspect that I consider incredible is the fact that the 38 people these two guys met on their “death route” didn’t notice there was something strange.

It true sometimes it is easier to think only of oneself and of the external world but if you see a child with a tumid face does nothing light up in your mind????????

I don’t know, sometimes individualism leads us to become egoistic and egocentric.

It is necessary to change this mentality, it is not possible to go on like that.

Rights of children

In the last days, while I was surfing in internet, I discovered this images, and I started to think again to the lesson of children’s Rights by Anne Mette Danielsen.
These images captured my attention because there are lots of simple drawings, that I can use with children to explain their rights. It’s very important that children know their rights to defend themselves from many dangers that there are now in the world. In all the drawings there is the same sentence, that says:

“all children, boys and girls, (we) have the right of:”

a) a life, a name and a nationality;
b) love , care and attention by family
c) being all equal: black and white, sick and healthy, believer and not believer
d) living in one home, have food, hygiene and dresses in order not to become sick, if we get sick we have the right to be nursed
e) studying and playing
f) knowing and love our country and history
g) a love, care, education when we have difficulties to see, hear, speak, express
h) protection in the work because lots of us are compelled to work
i) knowing , thinking, speaking, deciding, and joining together with other children
j) Protection from drug ,sexual abuse, and other forms of violence
k) Being respected and treated as children, to apply the right law if we have troubles with the police
l) Being first rescued in case of earthquake, seaquake, flood or another danger
m) Living in peace and brotherhood with children of all countries
n) Demanding the state to let us know our rights, that it respects them and have them respected.

For what concerns the art. G, I remembered that in one journal in Italy there was an article that talked about the education of children in particular in the new countries like Africa and Asia. This article said that to solve many problems in these countries the education of girls is necessary: too many girls and teenagers didn’t have the opportunity of being educated, that’s why they are now uneducated and therefore unable to improve their social condition, including their children and their community.
There is a close link between education and vulnerability of hungry, abuse, exploitation and traffic of human people. The risks connected to pregnancy raise day by day: it’s very difficult to use a specific strategy of preventive treating in case of diseases because of bad hygienic habits. But educated girls would have more opportunities to grant good health and education to their children.

The education is necessary to stop waisting the big human abilities, the most important base for every single credible project of future development.

Different ways of thinking

While I returned by metro this afternoon, I saw one thing that upset me. At the second stop metro came up 8 children, more or less of 6 years, attend with two person. And I starting to reflection….. in Italy the teacher doesn’t think to take a children for a walk , furthermore in metro….are they crazy? when there is a school travel by Pullman, usually the teacher count 2 o 3 turn.

Intercultural workshop

Now I think that in all the fields of education, and more, you need an intercultural competence, because the world has changed, we don't live in a monoculturalism anymore, even in a small reality, such as my small town Sanguinetto.

As job prospects, I think that, in my community, it is necessary to start from primary school to implement an intercultural project. Actually, a large percentage of children are foreigners ( from Romania, Ghana, China..) so it's necessary to try to develop ,in these children, “other attitudes”. The difficulty we encounter is that often, resources and "the courage or desire of some teachers" to get involved and create a stimulating and inclusive program for all, lack.

Many teachers are taken from anxiety to finish the program of the ministry, it doesn't matter what kind of needs or class-problems are in front of him. About what concerns the lack of resources, I mean that it would be nice if the teacher from the early days ,at least, would be supported by an interpreter or a mediator just to know the parents who may have different needs. For example,the fact that the child does not speak Italian and then therefore it would be usefull to create projects or games that allow you to develop a greater awareness of their values, a dynamic and understanding comparison of differences and finally a flexible definition of their identity boundaries. The teacher must pay attention, at the same time, to the risk that his intercultural learning does not take the perspective of "doing good" aliens are like us, are good, sometimes a little kinder to us, the difficulties arise ...he should be able to give life to a thought that is oriented not so much, in the ethics of good intentions (act ,so that, your action is good and also what can happen), but in the ethics of responsibility (so that your good deed has good consequences too).

I would like completing my brief essay with this citation:

"Like to learn from everything that you do not know why the humility you can participate in the possession of that good special that nature has given to every single human being. It will be wiser than all the one who wanted to learn something from everyone who receives something from everyone, ends up being the richest of all.

Do not underestimate, therefore, any form of knowledge, because science has any value. If time does not exempt you from reading the books that will occur: (...) there is a script that does not propose something interesting, if it is examined in due time and place (...).

(...) Do not neglect any science, you will strive to learn something from everyone happy. then when you reach a certain level of education, do not despise anyone, you may wish to adopt this behavior."

cit: "Ugo di San Vittore, Didascalicon, Rusconi, Milano 1987, pag. 138. Si tratta dell’edizione curata da Vincenzo Liccaro del trattato pedagogico che il maestro vittorino, nato intorno al 1096 e morto nel 1141, avrebbe scritto prima del 1125, quando aveva tra i 25 e i 30 anni."

Presentation project

Today we had a presentation of our practical visits. At first I was a little bit worried because I don’t speak very good English, but I had a good group that gave me an easy part to explain. And presentation went well. In the afternoon Lone illustrated to us the educational philosophy that stands behind Denmark school’s system.
It’s stimulating to discover that among the authors we study, there is our Italian pedagogue Maria Montessori. Now I understand why the children do what they want at school: in fact they adopt the policy of laissez fair system and support the concept that children should learn through activities and through things.
The Italian kirdengarden is different: all the activities are planned, the children are compelled to do these activities, there is no other choice. Teachers are very stressed because they have classes of 15 children each and they have to satisfy the different needs of different children. On the contrary, in Danish Institute there are a lot of teachers and pedagogues helping each others and taking care for the children.
It’s so unbelievable! You can find schools in the forest where parents bring their children and they are not worried about that: it’s just amazing, great, magnificent! In Italy a thing like that would not be possible: parents are overly anxious about their children and they transfer all their concerns and worries to the teachers and sometimes they even doubt their professionalism . I’m every day more convinced that I would prefer to work here than to work in Italy and face our disappointing reality.