Prepared Teachers – Motivated Teachers – POCU 6.6
Goal and Objectives
The project’s objective is to develop the skills of working with children with special educational needs (SEN) through continuous training for 400 teachers, 80 support staff members, and 26 managerial team members from 13 special and mainstream schools. These 13 schools, selected from 6 counties (Suceava, Bacău, Prahova, Galați, Brăila, and Vaslui), cover 3 disadvantaged regions (North-East, South Muntenia, and South-East).
High poverty rates and a significant number of SEN children in these regions, combined with a decrease in the number of schools (both mainstream and special) and a lack of teacher training in working with SEN children, contribute to lower school inclusion and higher dropout rates.
The project is based on the premise that diversifying and improving teaching methods, adapting them to children’s developmental levels, and using new technologies can enhance the chances of SEN children’s inclusion in education.
RAA and its partners propose a comprehensive training program consisting of an introductory e-learning course, followed by residential courses (face-to-face with instructors) and online monitored practice.
The introductory e-learning course will cover topics such as school dropout, school segregation, and the role of teachers in enhancing the integration chances of at-risk children, particularly those with SEN.
The four residential courses delivered in groups of approximately 20 teachers per county will address topics like:
- Curriculum adaptation for SEN children
- Participatory teaching methods, child-centered approaches, and ICT
- Developing critical thinking, skill formation, and increasing independence
- Personal development and stress management
The project also addresses the need for training support staff directly involved in supporting SEN children’s integration and for the managerial teams of partner schools.
The training program for support staff will cover desegregation measures and integration of children into school communities, while the courses for school managers will focus on resource acquisition, staff motivation and retention, and managing teacher-parent relationships.
The project is implemented in partnership with the Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapies in Romania (APCCR) and the Federation for Rights and Resources for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (F.E.D.R.A.). Romanian Angel Appeal and its partners will be involved in all project phases, including promotion, teacher selection, course development and delivery, coordinating monitored practice, and evaluating the training program.
Additional Information
The 13 selected partner schools, including 10 special education units and 3 mainstream schools, serve a total of 2,849 children. Of these, over 65% are children with special educational needs (SEN), 28% are of Roma ethnicity, 65% come from poor families, and 39% are from rural areas. The distribution of the 13 schools by county is as follows: 4 in Prahova, 2 in Botoșani, 1 in Brăila, 2 in Vaslui, 3 in Suceava, and 1 in Galați.
During the project preparation phase, Romanian Angel Appeal conducted a needs assessment for teacher training among the partner schools using a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 16 schools and kindergartens in the 6 mentioned counties, receiving 147 responses over three weeks.
The responses to the questionnaire highlighted the following:
- 34% of the surveyed teachers had not received any training in the past 2 years.
- 97.95% of respondents have or have had children with SEN in their class.
- 77.5% believe that the information and knowledge they possess are NOT sufficient for working with children with SEN.
The proposed training themes were considered very useful by 80% of respondents.
Studies conducted in recent years (RAA, 2011; Mareș G. and Toth A., 2015, Toth A., 2016) indicate several factors that limit the school integration of children with autism and their access to quality education adapted to their developmental needs. These include the limited skills of teachers in working with children with special educational needs, insufficient material resources and support services adapted to the needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the still unintegrated nature of social, health, and education services, as well as ignorance, stereotypes, and prejudices exhibited by teachers or the parents of typical children.
A quantitative survey conducted in 2015 on a sample of beneficiaries from the counseling and support centers for people with ASD from the DGASPCs in 12 counties (Toth A., 2016) reveals that among school-age children with ASD (who are 6 years old), 21% still attended kindergarten despite being of age to be integrated into primary education, and 18% were not enrolled in education at all.
International studies show a strong link between teachers’ competencies and reduced dropout rates and between professional training, motivation, and educational performance, especially among special education teachers.
In the context where significant efforts have been made by civil society organizations over the past 15 years to increase access to therapeutic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders, it is essential to have teachers trained to work inclusively with these children.
