Teachers Experiences

Date: 2014.05.16

Posted by MICHELA RAMACCIOTTI (HIGH SCHOOL POLO BIANCIARDI - GROSSETO – PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE FOR COMMERCIAL SERVICES – TECHNICAL GRAPHIC INSTITUTE – HIGH SCHOOL SPECIALIZING IN ARTISTIC STUDIES – HIGH SCHOOL SPECIALIZING IN MUSICAL STU)

Message: The story of Manuel causes one to reflect on the importance of the decisions we make as teachers and how these choices inevitably influence the lives of our students who are more emotionally fragile.
The first thing that really struck me was the presentation of the boy: Manuel is described as a fragile, shy student who needs particular attention; he needs to be accompanied in the “unprotected” world, where it is easy to fall if you do not find the “proximal zone” that is most adaptable to one’s own interior being. In this research, the teacher found the proper dimension: she inserted Manuel in a delicate working context, not easy to manage, but that required interpersonal competencies surely within the capabilities of the student. This chosen course would not have produced the positive results described, had the teachers limited themselves to only focusing on his difficulties, seemingly at odds with the requests of the professional profile of the school in question. The ability of the teacher to recognize the strengths within the sphere of the “student’s weaknesses” enabled the transformation of such weaknesses in great potential when working with individuals more emotionally compatible with the student (children, for example!)
During my career in teaching, I have had experience in preschools for my students with learning disabilities: they were two different experiences, but both were extremely significant.
In 2008, together with my colleagues of the Class Advisory Board, we decided to insert one of our students attending the fifth year of the Professional Institute for Hotel Management of Grosseto, in a training session in the kitchen of a Municipal Pre-School. The student had demonstrated great difficulty in work planning and in the performance of tasks assigned by the kitchen crew, also due to an inferiority complex in respect to his classmates, who were better able to perform increasingly, difficult tasks autonomously. Thanks to the support of the tutor of the Pre-school training work experience, with whom a precise training course was shared, our student was able to perform the work assigned, which involved a level of difficulty comparable to his technical knowledge. Upon returning to school, the student demonstrated an ability to work constructively with his classmates even during assignments that were not easy, such as the preparation of official events organized by the school for external agencies.
The second experience had an even greater tangible positive development and involved a female student with Down Syndrome, who attended the Professional Institute of Hotel Management with a Major in Reception until 2010. The student, who had an incredibly supportive family that had always motivated her to become independent and to interact with others, was able to follow a protected, job training course based on a collaboration between the scholastic institute and the Territorial Employment Agency. After having completed two experiences in the Reception sector, she participated in a competitive job call for workers in the Municipal Pre-School in her town. She currently works in the structure with dedication and commitment, and has established a trusting relationship with all of the children such that the people in charge not only renewed her contract, they made her an active part of the educational staff that cares for the transition of new students at the beginning of the school year.

Date: 2014.05.05

Posted by Georgia Lazari (Greece)

Message: This is a fine example that real education has more to do with team social work and less with the execution of quantitative "educational plans".