Impressions
on working with children with developmental difficulties in Istanbul
The first
school we visited was the project partner’s school within the Metin Sabanci
Center. We were fascinated by the building and its surroundings on first sight.
It was evident that it was designed with the needs of children with cerebral
difficulties, who are the users of this institution, in mind. We liked the
large park-like exterior around the buildings the most. There aren’t any
privately funded institutions dedicated to the education of children with
developmental difficulties in Croatia. Our special education schools are exclusively
run by the state. We believe that, by allowing diversified sources of financing,
the quality of life for the users is greatly improved.
Our hosts
were exceptionally kind and forthcoming in presenting their working methods to
us. We liked that the staff is comprised of people with disabilities, which is
also the practice in Croatia.
Despite the
circumstance that the Croatian team are a regular school and in our day-to-day
work do not interact with students who have a large extent and degree of
difficulties, we find that some of the experiences can be applied to our
educational work. That pertains foremost to the application of technologies in
teaching and introduction of methods used in sensory room. We have seen that
the technology is used for motivation and for development of psychomotor
abilities, and much less for presenting factual knowledge, and that is
something to think about in the Croatan educational system. Some of our
teachers had their first experience with a sensory room in Istanbul. All
members of the team believe that every school should have such a room and that
it benefits all children.
We were
particularly impressed by the music teacher’s workshop Leadership Watch.
Without the use of technology or any type of aids, simply by high-quality
guidance a maximum result is achieved. To us that reinforces the belief that
the person of the teacher is the most important element of education quality.
We are glad
we had an opportunity to see a wide range of institutions, from private to
state-run, regular and special education schools, which gave us an insight into
the education opportunities for children with difficulties in Turkey. As far as
we were able to see, the systems have many similarities, from inclusion in the
regular system to specialized institutions for different types of difficulties.
The differences we observed are a consequence of the higher possibility of
private investment in all types of education.
It was our
impression that, in the Turkish schools we visited, a warm-hearted human
attitude towards the students and a great concern to enable the children to
function in everyday life are the dominant features.
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