ČOSIV – Page 4

Deník.cz writes about the Czech pilot implementation of PBIS

09Oct

Since this summer, we have been piloting the implementation of the PBIS framework at three Czech primary schools, in Most-Chánov, Velvary and Zeleneč. PBIS originated in the 80’s in the USA and is now used in dozens of other countries around the world. Thanks to the Schools Helping Vulnerable Children project, we bring an evidence-based approach towards children with challenging behavior, that is based on a clear formulation and setting of positive expectations throughout the school.

“We tell all the children what we want them to do. The adopted unified rules relate to safety, responsibility and mutual respect, in all areas of the school, ” Anna Preclíková, a seventh grade class teacher at the Zeleneč primary school, describes for Deník the beginnings of work with this framework. Since summer, her school has had established a four-member PBIS team consisting of teachers, administrators and an educational counselor or special education teacher. They are supporting colleagues in the day-to-day implementation of PBIS and preparing further steps in implementation, after the initial training of the entire faculty done by ČOSIV. A key part of the PBIS is shifting attention to expected behaviors and reinforcing appropriate behaviors.

The whole article is available here.

More about the PBIS system and the pilot implementation is on the website www.pbiscr.cz

The project is being supported by the Committee of Good Will – the Olga Havel Foundation from the Active Citizens Fund. The programme promotes citizens’ active participation in the public life and decision making and empowerment of vulnerable groups. The Active Citizens Fund is financed from EEA and Norway Grants.

ČOSIV helps Czech schools to introduce a three-tiered behavior support

07Sep7.9.2020

With the beginning of the new school year come further changes and uncertainty for teachers and students as to whether and when we should expect next waves of distance education. The situation is challenging for teachers, parents and, of course, students. We value schools all the more that they try to tackle the situation in such a way as to help children adapt to the school environment as much as possible after a long separation from friends and teachers and a long period of home education, which unfortunately often did not take place in ideal conditions.

We are pleased to have been able to support three schools involved in the project Schools Helping Vulnerable Children in the preparatory week. We have carried out a two-day training for the schools’ faculty focused on the introduction of the PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) framework. Schools will be implementing PBIS with ČOSIV’s support for over the next three years. The three-tiered behavioral support (PBIS) framework enables schools to respond to students’ current behavioral and well-being needs, thus creating an environment that enables students to reach their maximum educational potential.

In the first year of implementation, schools will focus primarily on unifying behavioral expectations and routine procedures. This will strengthen the predictability and structure of the learning environment and increase students’ sense of security. When students feel safe at school and the environment is easy to understand for them, they can concentrate on learning better. School-wide expectations are formulated positively, thus creating a school culture of competence. As part of the feedback on students’ behavior, teachers strive to draw attention primarily to students who respect the agreed expectations, and thus the expected behavior is further strengthened.

During the two-day training, the lecturers supported the faculty of each of the participating schools in creating school-wide expectations, specific examples of expected behavior and procedures for teaching students the expected behavior in the adaptation period. Schools also reflected on the current course of distance education and the effects of quarantine on children’s mental health. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an important topic of the training was also the support of children’s mental health, relaxation techniques and ways of recognition and appropriate responses to a possible adverse experience of students.

We wish all children, students, teachers and parents the most pleasant start to the new school year. After such a difficult conclusion of the previous school year, we need to renew and build mutual relationships and a sense of security, which will help us to manage any further period of separation and insecurity

You can find more Czech materials about PBIS at https://www.pbiscr.cz https://www.podporainkluze.cz/material/pbis-podpora-pozitivniho-chovani-deti-a-zaku/

We are preparing materials and meetings…

20Jul31.7.2020

We are currently translating a text of our Norwegian lecturers, which will become a key study script for teachers and other pedagogical staff who will be trained in the new educational programme. The purpose of the text is to help the trainees understand why even the best teaching methods offered by the current pedagogy fail when we are working with children suffering from developmental trauma. In the text, teachers will find valuable advice that can help them teach such children. Developmental trauma affects the development of the brain. Knowledge of the impact of childhood in fear and conditions of inadequate and insufficient care can help us understand why these children misbehave in school. Understanding the causes of challenging behavior of children with developmental trauma can help significantly and make teaching and caring for these children a little easier.

The script provides readers with information on procedures and measures that can help children with developmental trauma cope with daily schooling. It aims to provide a deeper understanding of the developmental trauma, its impact on children, and their education. It also contains practical recommendations on how to reduce the impact of trauma on the child’s education.

In September, we are planning to implement yet another two-day training in Prague, to which we again plan to invite (epidemiological situation permits) our Norwegian lecturers. Their visit will also include a seminar at the Ministry of Health targeting health and social services involved in the reform of mental health care. The seminars will also be attended by lecturers of lifelong education of pedagogical staff in matters related to the behaviour of children at school.

Once we meet at school Again

08Jun

Document Once We Meet at School Again – The Crisis Plan (PDF) is intended to guide Kindergartens, Primary and Secondary Schools during the periods of children returning back to schools after isolation, currently after the Covid-19 pandemic isolation. The document was created in collaboration with Bambíno Nursery and Square Primary School, supported by Vigvam Counseling, under the auspices of the Professional Community for the Prevention of Risk Behavior, OSPRCH, z.s., the Czech Society for Inclusive Education ČOSIV, z.s., the Czech Montessori Association, the Association of Small Innovative Schools and the Fair School.

“The intention was to create material that will support teachers in responding to the possible low spirits of children and students on their return to schools. It is important to advise teachers when to expect negative changes in behavior and feelings of children and their own during next school year and help them to respond adequately and attempt to prevent such changes where possible. The document describes common chronological sequence of changes in feelings and behavior based on our experiences from crisis work. If teachers take these variables into account in advance and prepare an explicit plan for what to do and not to do, it can contribute to increasing the feeling of security and faster adaptation to the situation. The document contains significant time periods with a description of their characteristics, emphasizing what to focus on when working with the class, and suggestions for possible activities for these periods. The specifics of the school year and the passage of time with regard to the holidays are also taken into account. The suggestions for activities in the document are broken down by individual age groups. Each age group to which the document relates has its own important “theme” in development, which comes to the fore with the closure of schools more than in other groups. Kindergarten children cannot be assumed to have been in virtual contact with each other or with adults, which may result in their return being a completely new adaptation. For primary and secondary school pupils, it can be assumed that mutual contact in the virtual world could have provided them with even narrower and closer form of contact compared to regular contact in schools. At the same time, the burden associated with school results, with regard to school graduation, entering exams, etc., appears significantly in the second mentioned groups.

The document contains both theoretical and practical information. It was created so that its parts were suitable for printing, adding written notes and for its practical use. It was not our goal to create an academic or study material. “

Ashoka regards ČOSIV as an example of good practice

30May8.6.2020

Ashoka acknowledges ČOSIV’s systematic activity in the field of alleviating inequalities in children’s educational opportunities and supporting inclusive education in Czech schools. Ashoka regards ČOSIV as an example of good practice in achieving the necessary systemic changes in education.

Ashoka has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, identifying and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs since 1980. Ashoka concentrates on innovative solutions that bring social benefits and respond to today’s social and environmental challenges.

The ČOSIV case study shows the work of our organization in the current publication SYSTEMIC AND 08EMPOWERING (SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE TIME OF PHILANTHROCAPITALISM). The publication aim is to inspire, share practical examples and support social innovators across continents. The analysis of the Czech Society for Inclusive Education and its chairwoman Klára Laurenčíková case study, which can be found on pages 36 – 41, depicts the complexity of implementing systemic change and its impact on systemic support provision for children with special educational needs in Czech schools.

“The case of ČOSIV depicts the way in which social entrepreneurs focus on improving existing regulatory and legislative public systems to guarantee access to quality public service for everybody.”

ČOSIV unites non-profit organizations, representatives of the academic community, schools, parents and people with special educational needs in the Czech Republic and supports changes aiming towards higher justice in education. ČOSIV concentrates on the overall support and awareness of inclusive education based on data driven decision making and the provision of resources, capacity building and methodological support for schools so as to create suitable conditions for the provision of quality education to all children, including children with special educational needs and gifted children, who often need increased support in education. ČOSIV strives for equal and equitable access to quality education for all children, pupils and students, regardless of their socio-economic background, living conditions, origin, cultural environment or health status. ČOSIV aspiration is to ensure that every child will experience acceptance and success at school. This would be achieved then by supporting schools in establishing conditions that are promoting the full development of their educational potential. One of the many activities ČOSIV is carrying out to achieve its vision is the transformation of legislative, financial and capacity conditions that will enable implementation of an inclusive environment in all Czech schools.