Reflecting first benchmarking visit

After a few days rest at home it is time to get back to work, and this time again in Finland. The benchmarking visit to Prague went well and we got a lot to think about concerning the project themes as well as developing and applying a model for benchmarking in educational institutes.

The most interesting part of this benchmarking visit was meeting the local hosts, visiting different schools, working with students and discussing with the staff of different schools. It was interesting to hear and discover both similarities and also the differences within the school systems in Finland and in Czech Republic and within the organizations in terms of guiding students and pupils with special needs.

Discussing with students of councelling programme (upper), Hanna trying to make a nail in blacksmith workshop (Vocational School of Hadicrafts Prague).

The gardening school in Kopidlno cooperates with the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague for example in terms of teacher practice.

The delegation and local hosts from the left: Emil, Milan, Hanna (with a strange light effect), Päivi, Maija, Annikki and Sanna (Sari taking the picture).

Because the time of our visit was limited and there is a lot to reflect and think about, we agreed with our project partners to meet online by Skype in January. Before that meeting we have had a little time to make conclusions and discover the high-lights of this benchmarking process so far. The next step is to advance the analysing of the benchmarking process and the materials connected to that process.

First days in Prague

The benchmarking workshop has started and programme has been busy. Our delegation arrived in Prague on Sunday, which was spent by planning and organizing final arrangements. On Monday we met our local hosts, Barbora, Jiri, Milan and Emil and spent some time with studetns of the new councelling programme in Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague. On the next day we had a visit to Stredni Skola Zahradnicka in Kopidlno (about 70 km from Prague). In Kopidlno we had a chance to meet some students, teachers and the head of the school. In the afternoon we had a brainstorming with the Finnish delegation, and in the last picture you can see the stage of our analysing concerning the benchmarking this far.

Jiri and the students of councelling programme at work.

Gardening school in Kopidlno.

Students making beautiful christmas decorations.

Maija at work.

The first thoughts about the benchmarking and its results so far.

Final preparations for benchmarking visit

Time flies and the first benchmarking workshop begins next week. The general benchmarking process includes a number of stages which all have an important role in the whole process. What has been our project groups interest in planning this process, is that:

• Benchmarking should benefit all parties
• Benchmarking provides a way of peer learning
• Aim is to find, share and develope best practices
• Focus from comparing to learning and developing in cooperation 
• From benchmarking to benchlearning

The themes that will be discussed, compared, analyzed and developed in cooperation during benchmarking process are:

• Regional cooperation in terms of special needs education
• Vocational special needs educator -programme
• Individual learning paths
• Multiprofessionalism (in learning support and guidance)

The programme of benchmarking visit includes visits to our partner university, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Secondary Vocational School of Gardening in Kopidlno and Vocational School of handicrafts Prague. In these educational institutes we will meet the administrative personnel, teachers and students.

The final preparations are being made at the moment and the atmosphere of the participants is expectant.

Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vltava_in_Prague.jpg

PLANNING THE FIRST BENCHMARKING-WORKSHOP IN PRAGUE

First benchmarking-workshop in Prague will start in a few weeks. Planning has been intensive in two ways:

We have met our collagues in Prague in order to plan practical arrangements and thematical issues. Co-operation by Skype has been successful and workshop-programme will be interesting and we all will learn a lot, I'm sure.

    
                                         Maija and Barbora discussing in Skype


Finnish participants of workshop come from two big vocational schools in Tampere and of course also from TAMK, School of Vocational Teacher Education. We have met twice before the worksop and at this moment we design the questions and issues to be solved in Prague.

                                         Sanna, Annikki and Maija in work

Getting started

Disseminating Inclusive Practices -project is getting started. Active project workers and Czech partners had an online meeting 11.10.2012. In the meeting we discussed the key issues, aims and plans of this project and agreed the dates of our first benchmark workshop in Prague. This workshop will be held 3.-5.12.2012 and the detailed schedule is under consideration at the moment.

The benchmark workshop in Prague will focuse in themes such as 

• the special needs educator -programme
• the spacial needs education - regional coordination and strategy
• preventing student exclusion in vocational education
• student guidance in vocational education

The next step is to plan and organize this first benchmark workshop in more detail. Luckily we have active organizers both in Czech Republic and in Finland as well as a good network for planning and project work tasks, because the time is quite limited. I am looking forward to this benchmark visit because it will (hopefully) be mutually useful for both project parties.

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog of
Disseminating Inclusive Practices (DIP) -project!

What?

This is a blog of project Disseminating Inclusive Practices (DIP). The aim of this blog is to inform all project parties and others interested in project themes, of the plans, actions and results of this project. This blog will also work as a means of communicating and sharing ideas and innovations concerning project themes.

Disseminating Inclusive Practices project continues the dissemination of innovations and good practices created in the ESF projects Erityistä osaamista ja ohjausta (EOO, ”Special know-how and counselling”) and Campus Conexus (CC). Both projects dealt with the prevention of student exclusion and increasing inclusion and they created models for vocational education and universities. The innovations created in the EOO projects form the model for the regional special needs education coordination centre as well as the model for the special needs teacher education for developing the activities of vocational institutions. The innovations of Campus Conexus deal with including inclusive pedagogies and commitment to studies directly into the curriculum.

Photo: Kriss Szkurlatowski

 

Who?

The project coordinator is Tampere University of Applied Sciences, School of Vocational Teacher Education. The project is funded by European Social Fund in Finland, Pirkanmaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment

The target groups for the project are the contracting parties of Pirkanmaa Vocational Special Needs Education Coordination Center and the parties which have taken part in the strategy work of organising special needs support in the vocational secondary school in the Tampere region (including all vocational upper secondary institutions in the Tampere region). Another target group consists of the persons who are involved in TAMK curriculum work and developing support services for studying. The third target group are the guidance experts of the international partners Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

When?

The project started in September 2012 and it continues untill the end of June 2014.

Action?

The project goals

• Strengthening the regional network in the Tampere region for the students in need of special support
• Developing the pedagogy of the vocational university education in the Tampere region into a more inclusive direction
• Strengthening the regional international networks
• Developing the actions of the international partners

Disseminating Inclusive Practices project is divided into the following areas:

• Analysing the need for developing the innovations created in the EOO and CC projects from the viewpoint of international interest. Analysing the activities of the international partners and creating a working process
• Finding the best practices through benchmarking
• Disseminating the best practices regionally and in the partner organisations

 

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