Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

Resumen

CONTIEMPO stands for CONtinuous Training for Innovation and EMPOwerment. The training is aimed at staff and trainers who support people with intellectual disabilities, in residences, at work or in other services. By Empowerment we aim to change attitudes, both of the staff in working with their service-users, and about their own role as key players in the lives of the people they support.

Contiempo was a two year pilot project (2005-2007) subsidised by the Leonardo da Vinci programme of the European Commission. Contiempo was promoted by ARFIE (Association for Research and Training on Integration in Europe).

Objetivo del proyecto:

• Develop training modules for staff supporting people with intellectual disabilities

These continuous ("on the job") training courses are based on the values of inclusion, empowerment and the right to a quality of life for disabled service-users. They also look at  issues around the empowerment of staff themselves

The modules are European in nature but designed in response to local need. They are officially recognised in each partner country but could be used as a model in other countries and sectors.

• Improve the quality of that support through our project.

The partners involved in this project were all concerned with offering the best services possible to people with intellectual disabilities of all ages. Service users may also have physical or sensorial disabilities, psychological problems or challenging behaviour. These service-users all deserve to work, live and socialise in places where they will be supported with respect and encouraged to reach their potential. Staff members say they need training to help them cope with the challenges of their daily support work. In some countries there is very little training in this field; staff is expected to train on the job. In others it is recognised that there are limits to traditional training as it offered at the moment. It is generally agreed that the quality of the professional support offered has a direct influence on the quality of life of users or clients. This is why we wanted to improve the quality of that support through our project.

This project aimed to be innovative in its approach to staff training, using "Accelerated Learning" which draws on the idea that each one of us has multiple and diverse intelligences. It has been shown that learning is more effective if there is active engagement and enjoyment in the process of learning.

Metodología

The core aim of the pilot project was to develop values-based training modules for staff and trainers using Accelerated learning methods. We have defined Accelerated Learning for this project: Accelerated Learning is an approach that assumes each person has a preferred learning style.  Using the techniques that match the learner’s style is the pathway to more natural, easier, faster and more efficient learning. We have defined Accelerated Learning for this project.

We ran a survey into the training needs of staff in Bulgaria, Hungary, Luxembourg and Hungary. In Hungary people with disabilities living in institutions described their lives – the good and the bad. There were similarities in what staff found difficult in all countries, but differences in the degree of these difficulties.

The course was designed by Pieter Verdoorn and Paul Twynam, and was set up to meet the needs expressed in the focus group surveys carried out in each country. The courses have been fine-tuning so that they met local needs and can be practically applied by the staff and their trainers

This new training approach has tested in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Hungary:

• - The first course took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands,  in September 2006.  There were 8 trainers of social workers who support people with an intellectual disability. The training course lasted 2 days. Trainees found it was a stimulating and motivating learning experience, but they still needed some time to work out how they would put the training into practice.
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• - The second course was scheduled in December 2006, in Varna, Bulgaria. All the participants definitely want to and think at this stage they would be able to apply what they have learnt both when they work as front line workers and as trainers. They said they have some ideas which they want to develop as to exactly how this is going to be done.
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• - The third course took place in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2007. There were both trainers and front line workers among the participants.  This course has been supplemented with specific additional content on challenging behaviour, since it was a major issue expressed in the Hungarian survey. Our Hungarian partner is going to deliver this training content herself with the help of Hungarian trainers who attended the course in May.
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• - The fourth course was delivered in Luxembourg, in May 2007
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We evaluated each training course and modified them according to the results. We then worked on the accreditation of these courses so that they can be officially recognised and run again.

We also collaborated with other European projects in the disability field to see how we can complement each others´ work

Público objetivo

Staff and trainers who support people with intellectual disabilities, in residences, at work or in other services

Innovaciones de la buena práctica

The Contiempo training modules are based on Accelerated Learning, which is an innovative approach to learning. Many people think of Accelerated Learning as any activity that speeds up the learning process. Accelerated Learning methodology is much more than that. Accelerated Learning is a systematic approach to teaching the whole person, containing specific elements that empower students to learn faster, more effectively and joyfully.

Innovative approach ("Accelerated Learning") to training for trainers and for frontline staff, supporting people with intellectual disabilities. The training courses are based on the values of inclusion, empowerment and the right to a quality of life for disabled service users and the empowerment of staff themselves.

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What is Accelerated Learning? Accelerated learning is a movement in the training and teaching world which has established itself, over the last 20 years or so, as an alternative to longer-existing, e.g. chalk and talk or pedagogical, models. It is based on the practical application of a number of theories and empirical observations from the world of social science and psychology. It does not have a single, unified theoretical basis.

Origins of Accelerated Learning

Accelerated learning traces its roots to Bulgaria. In the 1960s, a Bulgarian educational psychiatrist, Dr. Georgi Lozanov, was experimenting with non-traditional methods of teaching English to Bulgarian students (McKeon, 1995). Specifically, Lozanov discovered that the use of Baroque music could bring his students into a state of relaxed attentiveness. Today, similar to the effects of commercial advertising, this technique is referred to as "suggestopedia" (Russell, 1999, p. 186). The use of these techniques can increase the speed at which students learn. The increase in learning efficiency, as compared with traditional teaching methods, is achieved through engaging the whole body in the learning process (Lozanov, 1978).

In the 1970s, Lozanov's work received the attention of Sheila Ostrander, Lynn Schroeder, and Nancy Ostrander (1979). Their book, Superlearning, discussed the use of Baroque music to relax and make positive suggestions to improve the progress of student learning. This book was the catalyst to start the use of these teaching methods at Iowa State University. In 1975, The Society for Accelerative Learning and Teaching was formed (Meier, 2000). In 1994, this group became known as the International Alliance for Learning (2003).

The International Alliance for Learning (2003) identified the elements of accelerated learning which included:

• Knowledge about the human brain and emotional states
• The learning environment
• The role of music and the arts
• Personal motivation
• Multiple intelligences and learning styles
• Imagination/metaphors
• Suggestion
• Team learning and cooperation
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The theoretical roots of Accelerated Learning

Accelerated learning encompasses and links to other "theoretical" frameworks, including the following:

• Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) - e.g. visual, auditory and kinaesthetic processing; pacing; leading; chunking.
• Multiple intelligence theory
• Mind mapping
• Learning style theory and learning preferences
• Suggestopedia
• Learner-centred approaches
• Left-right brain theory and the triune brain
• Person-centred (or learner-centred) approaches
• Memory systems, mind gym
• Study skills
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Accelerated Learning in Practice http://www.arfie.info/contiempo/resources/accelerated-learning_2.html

Read more http://www.arfie.info/contiempo/resources/accelerated-learning_4.html

Logros de la buena práctica

Survey in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Hungary

We ran a survey into the training needs of staff in Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Hungary and The Netherlands. You may download them from the menu Downloads.

Testing the new training approach in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Hungary

We have tested the training modules in 4 countries, in September (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and December (Varna, Bulgaria) 2006 and in May 2007 (Budapest, Hungary and Luxembourg).

Accreditation

Dissemination Conference in Budapest (September 2007)

We hold our final Dissemination Conference in Budapest. The conference theme has been “Values in Action: A new way of learning for frontline staff”.

Evaluación

Evaluations of the training modules in each partner country )100-day evaluations following the training course) http://www.arfie.info/contiempo/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,0/func,select/id,21/