Communities in Albania
Open Doors Open Minds
DOCUMENT AUTHOR: Albanian Organisation Order of Malta
GOOD PRACTICE TITLE: Open Doors Open Minds
KIND OF PRACTICE: School as communitarian center
PLACE: Shkolla “Deshmoret e Prishtines” Shkoder, Albania
ADRESS: Mrs. Enkeleida Basha Deshmoret e Prishtines Lagjia “Daniel Matlija”, Rr. “Arra e Madhe”, 4001 Shkoder Albania.
TEL: + 355 22 400 170
CONTEXT, FIELD OF INTERVENTION:
The community center school, a friendly school for everyone, is a promotional and developmental movement to make the school a place where family – community partnerships make possible the collaboration of a potential and comprehensive development of every student. Based on the laws on pre-university education where it is possible to operate an open school for joint decision –making with family and the community. This concept relies on the Convention of children rights where the pupil’s where the focus i son pupil and the involvement of the parents in overall progress of the pupil, in order tu succeed in this direction is necessary to prepare a field for the creation of a culture, philosophy and practice long – term and long –term policies to support the children’s friendly school and open- mindedness of community.
PERIOD:
This project started in 2012 and is ongoing.
POPULATION, PARTICIPANTS:
The number of participants has increased year by year. For the moment, there are 250 participants.
COORDINATORS:
The coordinator of this program is Enkeleida Basha, Dhurata Pashaj and Vjollca Baba .
METHODOLOGY (HOW THE PRACTICE WORKS):
The focus of this plan work is the academic development of children and young people, engagement and civic contribution, family support, social services and community services. Our school is conditioned by those educational institutions that serve not only the school community (pupils + teacher)but are open to the services of all members of the community. The school, the family and the community have a common quality education for the children, the opportunity to respond to their needs beyond the academic preparation. The students are in charge of social issues and social issues.
The basic principles that have led our school as a community center have been:
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Ensure a civic education for each student by exerting pressure on the means of teaching.
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Ensuring social, emotional and health wellbeing of pupils by making the close teacher-parent- psychologist close.
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Engaging and developing the community by helping the pupils in need.
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Joint decision making closely related to the parent community.
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Using community resources at school service for painting or arranging the outside environment.
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Respecting the dignity that makes the best for the pupil and the family.
RANGE: COMPREHENSIVE AND RESPECTING DIVERSITY The school provides all children the basic right to education and equal opportunities regardless of their origin, cultural identity, language, skills or economic circumstances, respect for the values and society, social cohesion, such as and being an active citizen in the interdependent world. Standard 1: Respect for children's rights Indicators: The school has information materials on children's rights. Children's rights are taught at every level of education. There are school clubs with extracurricular activities where they have the opportunity to include all children. Children's thoughts are heard and taken into account. The school creates a positive climate for resolving conflicts. The school creates and improves the mechanisms that ensure that all children are treated fairly, equally, with dignity and respect. The school has behavioural rules that do not discriminate against children and do not allow their discrimination. Educational staff (manager, teacher, psychologist, sociologist) at school are trained to respect differences of any nature and to react to any discrimination of students and school staff and thus contribute to creating fair perceptions of the learner. Standard 2: Equal Opportunities to enrol in the school to follow and finish it. The school cooperates with the civil registration office and the health center and receives from them the list of all school age children in the area (according to the guidelines / DNs in force of the 4-ministerial agreement).
The school has established a school-level assessment and registration committee for children, provides forms for assessment and registration of children in school. The school has prepared a database of registered student records and other data for students and school. The school has a functional team for prevention and response to abandonment and non- registration. The school has cooperation agreements and cooperates with organizations and institutions that help ensure inclusion in the school. The school takes steps to train staff on issues of inclusiveness and respect for diversity. The school has procedures for identifying and analyzing the reasons for repeating the school year and taking timely measures to reduce the number of students repeating the class. Teachers and students identify endangered students for leaving school and school due to the impact of various factors. The school informs the students about the possibilities of further education, career education, etc. Standard 3: Adapting to the Needs of Child Development Indicators: The school environment and physical space serve the children of different age groups. Activities are organized in order to fit the stages of child development. Standard 4: Unobstructed Environment Indicators: The school ensures that teaching tools are accessible to everyone, regardless of age, gender, and special
needs. The environment promotes the integration of all students regardless of the group they belong to (gender, disability, ethnicity, religion, etc.) in the same learning environment and teaching. Special school adaptations have been made to the environment for students with special needs during school environment planning. All students, staff and visitors have the opportunity to use sanitary facilities. Teachers adapt the work environment and learning activities so that children of different cultural backgrounds with different needs in education and at different social levels are equal participants. Standard 5: Disposable Infrastructure for People with Disabilities Indicators: All crossing routes and doors have a minimum width of 90 cm to enable the passage of a wheelchair of a person with physical disabilities. Floor surfaces are strong, durable, resistant to slipping and flat. At school there is a ramp for people with disabilities. The school owns at least one person with disabilities. The school has accessible toilets for people with disabilities. Wheelchair users have the opportunity to approach, enter, move and use sanitary facilities within the school premises. Classrooms have enough space to allow the mobility of students with disabilities. Standard 5: Infrastructure should be available from both genders Indicators: In the school there are separate toilets for girls and boys. Providing a playground creates opportunities for both boys and girls to participate freely in sports and games. Standard 6: School Governance Indicators: The school curriculum presents a strategy to enable both boys and girls to participate in the Student Government as well as for men and women in School Boards. The school curriculum provides strategies to enable the participation of children with special needs and ethnic minorities in the Student Government. Standard 7: Teaching Activities Indicators: During the implementation of the school curriculum are used practices, models, activities that assure the mixing of groups regardless of their origin, cultural identity, language, skills or economic circumstances. The school curriculum contains knowledge and skills to identify and eliminate prejudices in school. The school program enables students to express their views on school policies for inclusion and respect for diversity. The curriculum provides content and models of respect for cultures, traditions, beliefs, languages, etc. Teachers provide students with didactic materials that fairly reflect cultural diversity and the importance of diversity in society.
PARTICIPATORY PROCESS:
Participants are subject to recovery processes to specific subjects which are separate in groups and the school community center courses. So the students and the parents of the cuisine course empower participants in the forms of nutrition as well as the tradition recipes of our city. While in the tailoring group students are thought by the parents to wait and sew in the specified form or lift. As well as the recovery or specific classes such as English, Math, Albanian language etc.
TIME TO BE SUCCESFUL (HOW MANY TIME THE PRACTICE TAKE TO ACHIEVE THEIR OBJECTIVES):
The objectives of this program are foreseen to be realized during a school year, which provides an opportunity to evaluate the needs and opportunities that the school has encountered during the academic year. What is foreseen as objective in the annual plan extends to activities that enable the realization of this objective within 9 months? Time enough to realize.
VALIDITY (IF THE PARTICIPANTS THINK THAT THE PRACTICE RESOLVED THE PROBLEMATIC):
This program directly affects in career choice, strengthening capacity, value promotion, and handcraft valuation as an effective process to a prospective profession. By carrying out such a process, the community's problems are avoided by promoting the values and capacities it carries on itself.
IMPACT:
Initially, it creates the idea of an open school which recovers the lessons left behind and then reveals the need to participate in the education of children as a key actor in their all- encompassing formation.
INNOVATION:
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1. Securing productive education for each student.
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2. Securing social welfare, emotional and health for each student.
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3. Committment and development of community.
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4. Group decision making.
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5. Comprehensiveness and respect of diversity.
RESOURCES OR CONDITIONS NEEDED FOR THE PRACTICE:
To realise this program we need human resources, which bring us innovation and practical form to ribbing in model for beneficiaries. The didactics supplies, to realise these programs also the buildings, factors which would effect positively in the road of success to realise our points.
LIMITATIONS:
Sometimes the obstacle is the lack of stimulus for individuals work to realize this project, the community because of their priorities in life and in family calls it without intercession this innovative program. This reaction often makes us face a low number of parents participating in planned activities, making the responsibility pass on the pedagogical staff. The limits of physical conditions also create difficulties in the work progress.
LEARNED LESSONS: :
Skills for life, not all students are taught in the same form and each has their specifics to this, turning them into an opportunity for them to show their talents and to form them in specific areas. There is also a way to increase students' responsibilities over their duties and rights by dedicating more time to effective and valuable projects for their progress. Emotionally empowered and retain their individuality
SUSTAINABILITY:
From this good and fruitful collaboration we expect support from the government for the continuity of such initiatives and projects. Support can be: Capacity building of the staff and teachers involved in such initiatives. Extra financement for activities
REPLICABILITY:
The project has been proven to work in our community and it has been exported to other schools in Northern region of Albania. In Shkoder there are 7 communitarian schools.
CONCLUSION:
Benefits are considerable from this program, turning from a pilot program to a necessity to increase the academic level of students in many dimensions. Interventional areas deliver productivity in the education process to the students, and the school returns from a closed and unanimous institution to a multifunctional center for students, parents and the community.
CONTACT (PRACTICES AUTHOR AND ORGANIZATION):
Address: Mrs. Enkeleida Basha Deshmoret e Prishtines Lagjia “Daniel Matlija”,
Rr. “Arra e Madhe”, 4001 Shkoder Albania
Tel. + 355 22 400 170