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12/12/2018

Croatian team impressions from Metin Sabanci school, Istanbul, Turkey


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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