DINNER FOR FOUR

16/09

FIRST INTERNATIONAL DINNER AT MY HOME!

The first “dinner for four” was made at my home! I prepared a tipical Italian food: pizza! Actually this dinner was for five people because Arianna (my flatmade)had helped me to prepare the dinner and then ate with us!

It was a good occasion to know us better, and to laught a lot in company!!!

2/11: SABINE SCHAPER: “Dealing with special needs of children in different Countries-Challenges risen by the Convention of the Rights of person with disabilities”

...REFLECTIONS...

As social workers we deal with education so I think it's important to know and understand the effects of globalization, which has not been good for all countries; in fact, there have been some nasty consequences. Our job is to teach to the next generation.
I think this topic is fundamentally important if we consider the equal dignity of every human being. Increased knowledge and awareness about our rights would lead us to fight harder and to enforce these rights. These rights are not respected in some parts of the world due to political reasons, cheap .. and it is not impossible that one day this could happen in our so-called developed countries. It is therefore important to create awareness of their dignity and what it is for all human beings and therefore the value of these rights that are untouchable. This should be the first teaching to children.
I also believe that in some countries rights are not respected, while they are obvious in other ones; even if there was such a violation, his evidence is less tangible. For example, in Italy the right of freedom of expression and freedom of information is limited, and this is certainly less obvious the violations of other rights, but no less important and less harmful.
All this is connected with disables because ,if it is difficult to safeguard the rights of "normal" people, it is even more about the most vulnerable people such as the disabled and children.

Are the rights of people with disabilities respected in Italy?

The school has been working on the inclusion of chilfren with special needs for about 30 years, so in terms of education we are on a good road, although the conventional wisdom has yet to change much. Indeed, in Italy there are still many barriers, and sometimes discrimination and lack of willingness in helping people with special needs.
What you should remember is that firstly the disabled are people, human beings with dignity, with their requirements, with their need for help with their personality .. Like ALL of us.
The social and educational systems should adapt to all different types of needs because each person has its own important and undeniable dignity.

GROUP WORK

THE PROJECT WORK:

INCLUSION IN THE SCHOOL

At the beginning it was a little bit difficult to decide the focus of our project because we study  different degree. After two days of discussion we have choosed the incusion of children with special needs.

“We chose to work with the theoretical term Inclusion and how it is implemented into the Danish, Italian and Spanish school systems. We do this because at the practical visits the international students were surprised how few children with special needs there were in kindergardens and the schools. And the Danish students were interested in how the other countries work with inclusion, especially because inclusion is a bit of a “hot topic” in Denmark right now. In general we think inclusion is an important concept because when inclusion is implemented it gives good values in society and because as the world is getting more globalised it becomes relevant to relate to all kinds of people and cultures as well as learning about tolerance and respect for other people, not only foreigners but also people with disabilities.”
(from the project)

At the beginning we divided our work  in relation to the different Country.  When we had all necessary  informations we decided in which way start to write the project!

Sincerly I didn’t know many things about the inclusion an so I was a little bit worry.. but with the discussion with my mates I started to think a lot about this topic.

The inclusion is a very complex subject.

The comparation between the Country, in particular Spain and Italy VS Denmark, is very interesting bacause there is two very different way of working  with the children with special needs: in Spain and in Italy the objective is the inclusion in fact the, in general, the children with special needs attend the normal schools and they stay in the same class of the typical children; in Denmark    

the most common choice of parrents are the special schools (in differet report s to various disabilities).

I think that the best way forward is a mix between the two  rappresenting integration and inclusion:

-to learn to be indipendent and to live in the society;

-to have focus on the individual and on the society, both ways.

This could be important not only for the children with special needs but also for the typical children because is a n opportunity to learn the values like tollerance and humanity. And to became more sensible an the difference and the difficulties of the others. In this  I refer not only to people with special needs, but to all human beings, because diversity is a natural part of being human.

It is important that this be taught away from children, and therefore also in the school.

STUDENTFORUM

...MY REFLECTIONS...

14/09

-SOCIAL WORK IN EUROPE: EDUCATING FOR CHANGE

There is a great difficulty in defining the "social worker" and its characteristics, the same for all the European countries.
It is therefore important to have a constructive discussion between those countries.
We have to note the differences between European countries, which are: culture, laws, structures, economic, political and social problems. In addition, the religions, which are part of the culture, may affect the educational environment. All these aspects affect the social life. So it is really hard to match the role and tasks of social workers in Europe.
In addition, different types of education and nationalism between some countries make it very difficult to reach a common vision.

I think the key issue is to consider the good of the child especially: the biggest step is the full view of childhood.

16/09

-COMPARING SOCIAL WORK FROM A EUROPEAN PROSPECTIVE: TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE SCIENCE OF SOCIAL WORK

I think every person is unique, so the social worker must be able not only to adapt to different situations, contexts, traditions, cultures .... but most of all the different types of people, with different characteristics. In order to do this, it is essential that the social worker has empathy.
A deep knowledge of the different realities aids to compere them, but it is also useful to know several possibilities of action: this is very important for the social worker because he must have a strong ability to adapt,in order to be able to do its job well, that is to help those who are in a situation of need.

-ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE

Knowing discrimination is the first step to deal with these discriminations. In our work it is essential finding solutions to these.
But there are some groups that accept and want to be discriminated, because they themselves want to stand out and stay out.
It is very difficult to eliminate prejudices from the common thought. Honestly I think it is impossible because they are part of our freedom of thought. But I think it is important that prejudices do not become grounds for discrimination, because only in this case they become bad and dangerous.
Prejudices derive from certain differences between humans and between their customs and traditions (eg. I can be impressed by a Muslim woman because she wears the veil, and therefore has something different to me). I believe that only through the recognition of these differences,which can become grounds for separation or fear, it can be possible to accept and understand the other people. I believe that education is important to respect the differences that characterize all the human beings. If differences are not taught, addressed and understood as natural, prejudices remain to create separation between the different cultures.
Anyway, I'm sure this kind of approach is a choice for each of us to know whether or not a person, for what he/she really is, because it certainly goes beyound any cultures, origins, traditions, religions .. Indeed, these are only aspects that influence the creation of personality, and do not let each person free to express his/her true self.
If you really want to meet each other ... everything is negotiable!

7/09-9/09 : PRACTICAL VISIT AND PRESENTATION

...MY IMPRESSIONS...

On 7th September I visited two institutions: Hobitten nursery and Josephine Schneiders children's home, both in in Frederiksberg.

In the nursery the children's freedom and authonomy surprised me. Indeed some of them are alone! Moreover it was very strange observing the place where the children sleep: outside, in winter too!!! Incredible!!! The Danish girls of my group weren't so surprised about this...and so I thought “maybe here this is normal!” :-)

I really regretted not understanding (because of my English) many things about the children's house that the woman who had welcomed us said. Anyway I could understand the most important aim of this institution: they want that the children feel at “home” as much possible and undestand what a Family really is .

As to me this visits were very interesting. I have never seen this kind of institutions in Italy, and so I can't make a comparison.

12/10-13/10: BILL CLEARY: “How religious values have influenced educational thinking and practice in Ireland and Denmark-a historic view” “Are religious values relevant for the education of teacher/social worker/professional in post-modern society?”

...THOUGHTS...

I believe that the meeting between young people of different nationalities is not a problem today. With globalization and technological change the distances have been reduced.
It is very important having an open mind because in this way fear, indifference towards the other turns into desire, curiosity and interest to know each other. This is not easy because the culture and the personality of each person affect much on this aspect and that is why education plays a key role. I think the key is education and teaching motivation, because that children are motivated is essential to know the others, and in order that this happens it must be taught to see each person as a possible resource, a treasure to discover and a way to enrich your soul, your being.

Religion influenced and still influences in some cases education and universal values. This is because it was the first form of education and some of its basic ideas are recognized almost worldwide. Remembering the most famous teaching of Gospel: "love your neighbor as yourself", which I believe is the basic idea of volunteering in some cases envolved in social work.

04/10: TIM GULLY: "Angels and demons"

...My reflections..

It was very difficult emotionally reading reading the story of the murder of James Bulger was very difficult emotionally. I was shocked.
Personally I had many problems to understand the lesson (because of my English), and I am very upset, because I imagine it was very interesting.
However, the few things I could understand made me think .. I think children are growing up too fast. Education, mass media and school are helping to steal their own innocence. Children are good by nature but I think that adults have the responsability to teach them the distinction between good and evil, because what they see on TV or on the streets might confuse their view of reality. I also believe that horror movies and some games play a negative role in the lives of children, because it is normal for them to empathize with the characters, and this happens to the cartoon characters,heroes and princesses .. but also to the murderess of a video game or a film.

In addition to the discussion topic, this lesson made me realize how bad it is not understanding what the others say. The limit of communication in relationships face to face can be overcome with help and patience, but during a lesson is unpleasant not being able to learn new and interesting things because of the language. I experienced a feeling of powerlessness .. :-(