44th WeeK

Sabine Schäper was the guest teacher during one day in the international course to talk about the special needs of the children in different European countries. She puts emphasis in the importance of the international conventions. I think it’s too important to share the “problems” every country has with the others, and how each government works in it, because it can help everybody to try to solve their own troubles giving and receiving some ideas of the way of working in other places. I guess this is one of the reasons of the creation of the European Union, to share ideas to improve every country.

She posed us something that makes me think a lot. As a professional in the social field, should we ensure to the autonomy of the children or take care of them? I think it’s a good question even though it’s too difficult to answer. In my personal opinion the most important is to ensure their autonomy, but at the same time while you’re doing it you are taking care of them, so really I have no idea what is the correct answer for this question. I think even I don’t have the answer, everybody have their own opinion about it, and all the point of views are correct.

In this class I was reflecting about the concepts of inclusion and integration, related with the schools. Maybe this is because in Spain nowadays we have some problems with the immigrant children who are coming in the schools, and many of that children don’t know the language, so there are many discussions about this issue. And my question is: we have to include the children in the class or we have to help them to integrate in the class with the other kids? I really don’t know, again, the correct answer. Of course these children have their own language, their culture and so on, and who am I to say them: you have to integrate in the class; you have to be like the others…

I remember this class because makes me realise of many things and I was thinking a lot about it.

On Friday of this week, Jan Storo came to the class to talk about the young people’s transition from care to adulthood. He was explaining us the way of doing it in Norway, which is mostly the same as in Denmark. Young people in these countries move of their parent’s home soon, when they are too young, of course young for me, because in Spain is practically unimaginable to can do it as here. I guess it can be consequence of the welfare systems, because maybe in Spain the young people are dependent of their families because they don’t have other option and here in Denmark and in Norway as well the have an important support of the government, so it’s easier for them to get independent of their families. I remember this class because the teacher was really good, and also the topic was very interesting for me, because of the differences between the countries, that are completely different.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE TUTORIAL

It’s important for me to say something about this tutorial because it was so interesting. We were in the three groups, and the teacher asked us to explain our own experience about the process of being in an international project group, the best and the worst things we experimented.

It make me realised that I was so lucky with my group, we didn’t have problems. During the project I was learning many things like…I improve my writing in English, some specific vocabulary, and of course about our target group, and the different ways of working in the different countries. But also it was difficult for me the communication, because maybe I wanted to say something but I didn’t know how to explain it to the others so I didn’t say anything…and also the way of working it’s too different, and the worst was the different rhythms.

Any way I realised the importance of the verbal communication when you are working in a team, and it’s too easy to misunderstand the other people, what they try to say and also how you understand what the other is trying to explain. However I assess it as a very positive learning. 

In this tutorial it was so interesting to listen the other people, the problems and the improvements they have had experienced.