Slovakia_case studies_Poprad, Smolenice and Krasna Horka

SCHOOLS ON THE WAY TOWARDS INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION: GOOD PRACTICES FROM SLOVAKIA
Elena G. Kriglerová, Katarína Medľová, Ivana Rapošová
Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK)
On the following pages the case studies from three Slovak Schools will be introduced.
The selected schools have adopted the philosophy of inclusive education and have been
trying to put the inclusive principles into practice. However, despite the fact that
allthree of them were carefully chosen based on their attempts to pursue the principles
of inclusive education, as well as according to the project methodology, due to various
circumstances respective schools have to face (structural obstacles of the Slovak
education system being among the most salient), we prefer to call them schools on the
way towards inclusive education instead of simply inclusive schools. With this expression
we aim to capture the transition element from the traditional school system in Slovakia,
which is quite selective and unable to treat all children equally, towards the more
inclusive one. The achievements, but also challenges, brought by this transitionhave
been strongly accented in all three schools and, therefore, "being on the way" is the
expression which more accurately frames their successes and failures in this process.
The aim of our research thus lies not only in capturing the current status quo in the
researched schools, but also the process of becoming inclusive. We believe that
uncovering the dynamics behind the individual inclusive attempts of the respective
schools could be a beneficial contribution towards the general debate about inclusive
education in Slovakia.
Also, despite the fact that in order for the Slovak schools to become more inclusive the
larger systemic changeof the general school system is needed, the example of these
three schools clearly shows that adaptation of more inclusive principles and teaching
methods is possible also at the micro level based on the proactive approach of the
schools themselves.
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Case study no. 1
The Friendly School in Poprad
Welcome to the Friendly School - basic information about the school
The first school on the way towards the inclusive educationis located in the Eastern Part
of Slovakia in the medium-sized city of Poprad (53,000 inhabitants) just under the Tatra
Mountains. For the purposes of this research we shall call it the Friendly School, as the
atmosphere of friendliness - towards the children, towards the parents, as well as
towards the whole community - is something that the school communicates with
commitment and intensity.
The Friendly School isa state associated school, which brings together under one roof a
kindergarten, a primary school and anelementary arts school. This is nota very common
model in the Slovak school system. The combination seems to be working well, as it
provides the opportunity to get to know and work with children from an early
kindergarten age and on the top of the standard primary school education it offers the
possibility to develop children's artistic skills, too.In the words of the school
principalthe cooperation of the three respective parts is being likened to a living
organism which, despite being located in the different wings of the building,seem to be
working in mutual cooperation and each of them benefiting from the presence of the
others. As one of the teachers put it:
"We are very proud about how our school looks like, about the decoration, but
without the cooperation with our pupils of the arts school it would not have been
possible." (Math teacher)
Similarly,parents also value the presence of the arts school.
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"And here we have an arts school, too. Only when the children start going there do
the parents realize what a benefit this is". (Parent of the third grader, focus group)
According to the school statistics, there were 97 children in the kindergarten, 430
children in the primary school and 902 in the elementary arts school in the school year
2014/2015. Interestingly, the school is located just next to the other primary school in
the same neighborhood. However, as both of them work on the principle of the
catchment area, they both have specific streets of permanent residency of the school
applicants. This principle seems to play an important role in the current decision
making about which child gets accepted to the school. As the deputy principal explained,
in the recent years, with the growing good name of the school, more and more parents
from different parts of the city expressed their willingness to enroll their child in the
school. The school had beengenerally willing to help the children, especially if they were
the children with specific learning needs (hereafter SLN) that the school could
effectively work with.However, as the deputy principal puts it, the school does not aim
to be selective in any sense;they neither aim to attract children with specific learning
needs, nor high achievers. Therefore, the principle of the catchment area shall help them
to maintain the predominantly local character of the school in the future. Regardless of
the specific situation of the child, when he or she belongs to the catchment area, they are
accepted. Moreover, as already mentioned above, the school aims to work with the
children from the early kindergarten age, therefore most of the capacity of the first
grade classes will be filled directly from the kindergarten graduates.
When compared with other primary schools in Slovakia, the classes in the Friendly
School are rather small. Most typically there are 20-22 children in one class, sometimes
even 16-18, which is below the national average. As the school principal emphasizes,
this is due to the fact that if the SLN were taken into account, the real demand of the
class would be closer to 30-31 pupils, as the individually integrated children are counted
as 1.5 pupil. Therefore, keeping the number of children in the class as small as possible
allows the teacher to work with those who are in a need of a more individual approach.
The school educates children with a wide spectrum of SLN coming from different social
backgrounds. In this capacity, it is seen as outstanding among the other schools in
Slovakia.
"I believe that our school is exceptional in this sense, because we have such a wide
sample [of children with different learning needs]. We have many intellectually
gifted children, as well as many with learning disorders. But I assume that the school
principal and our whole team are all trying hard to provide the education." (Special
pedagogue)
Currently, there are twenty-ninepupils with specific learning needs and one individually
integrated pupil. In the last two years two children with Asperger Syndrome got
enrolled in the school - currently they are in the first and second grades. As will be
explained later, much of the current inclusive efforts of the school are concentrated
around these two children, as their successful inclusion pose several challenges for the
school.
In the school, there are also many children with communication disorders, which is seen
by the school principal as a very frequent problem. The school, however, seems to be
able to accommodate the needs of these children well.
"We have many children with communication disorders, so many, for sure five at
least. This starts to be another major problem - the communication disorder. But we
also have an example that makes me happy: the child with the communication
disorder was born, she used to go to boarding school, but her parents wanted her to
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get at our school very much. So she got enrolled, now she is in the third grade and
she is doing quite well." (School principal)
In the Friendly School there are also many children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
According to the teachers, this could sometimes cause problems equal tospecific
learning needs, as the children are not able to prepare for the classes properly and they
are distracted.
"...even though in some cases it is not about learning disorders, but the behavior
plays an important role. I have such a composition of my class, that sixty percent of
my pupils come from divorced families and, unfortunately, the children are marked
by this very much. None of the marriages ended up in a friendly atmosphere. So there
really are girls who don't see their fathers for a year or two and who would love to
see him. Or some of them are very angry with them [their fathers], because they live
with their mother only. I also have a girl who lives with her father; her mother is a
heavy alcoholic." (Math teacher)
There are also children from economically disadvantaged family backgrounds, even
though in this school these circumstance do not seem to be overlapping with the Roma
ethnicity of the children, as is often the case in the other schools in this region which are
often attended by Roma children coming from segregated and impoverished Roma
settlements. The exact number of Roma pupils in the school is not known, because the
ethnicity of the children is not being filed. However, based on the interviews and
observations, the Roma ethnicity of children does not seem to play any role at school
and Roma children are treated equally.
Presently, there are no children with a physical handicap. The school principal assumes
that the lack of the interest in school from the side of the parents of disabled children
results from the fact that there is a special school for children with disabilities in Poprad,
where they tend to go automatically. In spite of this trend, the partial reconstruction
leading to the removal of the barriers is planned in the near future so that physically
disabled children could eventually get enrolled in the school, too.
When it comes to human resource capacities, at the time of the research, there were
eight teachers and one teaching assistant in the kindergarten, thirty-three primary
school teachers, two teaching assistants and thirty teachers in the elementary arts
school. The school also employs two special pedagoguesand a school psychologist. The
post of the latter is relatively new - theschool had no psychologist before March 2014.
According to the school management, however, the above-mentioned capacitiesare not
sufficient.During the interviews the lack of human capacities was pinpointed by the
school principal, her deputy and by most of the other teachers. Although the school has
enough teachers for the regular teaching process and to some extent for the individual
work in the classes, in which there are the most demanding children, the school could
definitely benefit from more teaching assistants and special pedagogues. The lack of
their availability in some classes limits the teachers' possibilities of individual work with
the children with SLN.
"Last year it used to work quite well, the children had reeducations with Marcela1,
the special pedagogue, who is supposed to be working on the second-stage. So they
had the lessons, at least once a week, in Slovak language and also in Math, in which
she worked with them according to their needs. She prepared exercises for them that
corresponded to the topics we had covered earlier. Unfortunately, despite our
request, it had not gone through this year. There are problems with the schedule on
1
The name of the teacher has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
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one hand, the children simply could not have more lessons, but she is also very busy
[with lower grades]. The school principal immediately sent a request to the Ministry
[so that we could get funding for another person], but we did not get anybody new."
(Math teacher)
Whereas in the case of special pedagogue the school management has not succeeded in
overcoming the financial and institutional barriers, in the case of teaching assistantsthe
school principalwas able to at least partially compensatefor the lack of capacities.
"So we took the advantage of the cooperation with the local Office of Labor, Social
Affairs and Family2 and we got two teaching assistants and employed them as a part
of the school graduate practice. So we tried to improve our financial situation a bit
as these people are working as the assistants at our school, but are being financed by
the Office of Labor. So we managed to get two additional people." (School principal)
The proactive approach by the school management and a good command of legal
possibilities, a system of social support and a variety of funding schemes seems to be
crucial in overcoming the institutional shortcomings, which are quite common in the
Slovak educational system and could significantly impede school's pro-inclusive
attempts.
School management - creating the frame for inclusion
In the Friendly School the principal plays an active role when it comes to shapingthe
school's philosophy and teaching methods. She has been the school principal since 2009.
Before that she was a principal of the elementary arts school. The decision to create an
associated school in which the three respective parts could cooperate together was hers
- in the long-term she aspires to create a school that could provide a solid all day
education for the children. Such a school should provide not only general education, but
also many opportunities for afternoon extracurricular and community activities.
"...therefore we aim to create the system of all day care. In the sense that the child
finds his or her place, where he or she would like to be, in a community of their peers.
So that they could communicate with them, talk, read, play, spent time with the arts,
attend discussion with interesting personalities... this is how we plan the life of our
school in the future. It shall be called School for all - school for everyday life." (School
principal)
The principal clearly sets the tone of the school's development and has a strong opinion
about the necessity of inclusion of children with specific learning needs.
"... so that the well performing children realize that disadvantaged children have a
backpack on their shoulders that they need to carry for their whole lives and,
therefore, they need some help. So that they [well performing children] can be glad
and happy that they do not have such a problem, but they can help their
[disadvantaged] friend, can't they? So I welcome it [inclusive education] and I agree
that inclusive education will have a chance, so we do not raise people like in a
greenhouse. This means- if you have a handicap we are going to protect you here
from the real life.... this is not going to work." (School principal)
Cooperation among the teachers and the school management
To get all the team members on board, especially when the excessive workload often
accompanying inclusive efforts is considered, might not be an easy job. The school
principal, however, does her best to succeed. In this regard, intensiveand effective
2The
state body, the regional office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family.
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communication seems to be one of the most important pillars of the Friendly School's
daily mode of operation and it plays a crucial role in the school's inclusive efforts.The
good communication flow betweenthe school management and the teachers, as well as
among the teachers themselves, is being assured mainly throughregular weekly team
meetings.
"We have a team meeting every week, always on Monday. We either meet up
according to the respective sections - that means first-stage [1-4], second-stage [59], the arts school department - in a micro level ... and we talk about teaching
techniques that the teachers had tried, how they have been satisfied with them, or
we prepare something new, what is "in" right now according to the new trends and
research, that we can apply." (School principal)
To have a team meeting every week is quite unusual when compared to the other Slovak
primary schools, in which the team meetings generally take placeonly quarterly. Such a
high frequency of meetings puts an extra burden on the teachers; they are, however,
willing to understand the importance of the practice.
"It is necessary. If the school is to work well, we also have to work in the same way.
But it is very demanding." (Class teacher, 2nd grade)
The team meetings provide an important space for discussion about the pupils and
their achievements. When the child goes through a difficult period of life, the school
management as well as the other teachers are being informed by the class teacher
immediately, so that they are better prepared for the situations in the classroom.
Moreover, when there are the children with SLN, the teachers are able to crosscheck
on teaching methods and their effectiveness in the individual cases.
Involvement in the projects and international cooperation
The approach of the school management is generally very proactive towards the
possibilities of various international grants and projects. During recent years, the school
got involved in a couple of educational projects, which resulted in the significant
adjustment of teaching methods. One of the projects, the international joint project with
the school in the Netherlands, especially seems to be very significant for the current
teaching trends in the Friendly School. The project allowed the teachers to visit primary
schools in the Netherlands, which are generally among the most inclusive in Europe, and
exchange information, experience and teaching methods. Despite its relative demand
(the teachers were supposed to work on the project during most of the summer
holidays), all of them value the benefits the project brought to school very much.
School atmosphere – the rules that are not on the walls, but between
the walls
The school has not been awarded its research nickname accidentally - from the first
moment of entering into the school one can feel the friendly atmosphere that is
omnipresent. Our understanding is that this is a result of both, the overall physical
setting of the school, which is quite welcoming, and more importantly of the friendly
partner-like approach of the whole school team towards the children.
School like a living room - the material equipment of the school
As mentioned in the introductory chapter, due to the close cooperation with the arts
school, the corridors are nicely decorated by the children's drawings and a variety of
school projects. In some places, there are sofas in the corridors so that the children can
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sit down and chat during the breaks. At the edge of one of the corridors, there is a freely
accessible table tennis. This seems to be something that the children appreciate very
much. During our observation of recreation time, the children were hanging out in the
corridors and the game was being played all the time.
The importance of the overall material background of the school is being fully
acknowledged by the teachers and its impact on the school atmosphere is not to be
underestimated.
"And also that school equipment - I assume that it is also enriching. When my
daughter came to the school for the first time she said: Look mom, the classrooms
are much nicer than my bedroom. Why couldn't I have been so happy [to go to such a
school]? It might be banal, but it is important. The child has his or hers own safe
corner and he or she is not afraid to say something. And for me, as for the teacher
who has had so much behind and who had experienced all the different sorts of the
communist approach to children's upbringing, and who still remembers how we
used to stay straight as a ruler, this is huge progress." (English teacher)
In the above-mentioned quotation the teacher uses the expression "safe corner". By that
she refers to the space with the carpet, the sofa and pillows at the back of the classroom,
which is used partly for the education activities that should be done in a circle, or should
entail movement, and partly for the community reflections and games during recreation
time. Each child has his or her own pillow, which they can take and sit on. It could be
assumed that for children this contributes to the overall sense of safety and wellbeing; it
determines their place in the class. Moreover, the colorful pillows brought from home,
each of them quite unique, are the bridge between the two milieus - school and home and they can help the children to connect these otherwise separate environments.
The example of the Friendly School also shows that there is no necessity to invest
valuable financial resources in additional furniture - all of the sofas and most of the
other equipment, such as the table tennis, were donated by the parents or other
members of the community and they serve their purposes equally well.
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Expressing the opinion - participatory principles in practice
Much of the school's philosophy builds on the participatory principle, according to
which the children are not only an object of the rules, but also their co-creators. This
could be illustrated by the following examples from the organization of the school.
First of all, in each class the children create their own rules of behavior. Even though
there are some rules that should always be incorporated (such as listening in silence
during the class or preparation for the following class), the ability to play with the
formulations and form of expression (the rules are usually painted on a poster and
tacked on the door of the classroom) grants the children the sense of responsibility for
the rules and helps them to make them their own.
The children also have a chance to choose the name for their class. Instead of the
classical name of classes (most commonly1A, 1B and 1C), each class has a specific name
that the children can choose when they start school and eventually alter as they are
growing up. For instance the classes that we visited during the observation were called
3.F (Farbičky = crayons) and 7.B (Bádatelia = explorers). These names are used in
everyday communication when talking about the class, so instead of the third graders
and seventh graders the teachers always refer to the Crayons or the Explorers. This
practice not only translates the school structure into more child-friendly language, it
also enhances the children’s class identity.
Last, but not least, there are also some cases in which the children try to alter the
school's mode of operation to a greater extent. The school principal mentioned a case in
which some higher graders came to her to complain that they would prefer to stay in
their homeroom classroom all day instead of moving to other classrooms for subjects as
English or Chemistry. Instead of turning them away automatically, she explained in
detail why the teachers need to work with them in a special classroom and agreed with
the children on a three-month trial period after which they could talk about this again
and eventually change the rule.
Communication, or what could be learned in communities
An important element of the school’s approach towards the children is the existence of
communities- regular meetings with children that take place twice a week, usually on
Monday and Friday mornings. This is how one of the teachers described the form, the
content and the meaning of these meetings:
"The communities work in a way that the children are sitting in a circle and they are
doing some activities prepared by the teacher beforehand. These activities focus
either on [strengthening] some skills, or the children just simply bare their souls.
Sometimes we just talk in a circle about how the children feel, or how their weekend
had been. It could be very different, but we have plenty of activities for this. We have
the books. Many times, during these communities, active listening is being practiced,
or when there are problems in class, for example, with the acceptance of some.... I
don't want to say, but it occurred to me...a Gypsy, or the pupil with a different
nationality, so I focus on this, I find some activities, for instance, the balloon of
friendship, so that I address it and the child understands that diversity is something
that is no one's fault." (English teacher)
Besides the possibility to address tension and conflict, the communities help to build the
atmosphere of acceptance and safety. It also helps the teacher to tune in to the class; the
teacher easily understands if there are some serious issues in the families going on that
could eventually prevent the child from properly preparing for the classes.
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"If the teacher feels that there is some discontentment in the class, for instance now,
after the holidays, it is fine if we devote an hour to the holidays. So that the child
feels that this is also a family, that there is space for this in school. And how they
complained...[during the last community]. That the parents were arguing, that they
were divorcing... the child needs to let it out. And when the child speaks about this, it
is almost like he or she gets rid of it." (English teacher)
The capacity to actively listen to each other is clearly present in the classes. During one
of the research activities, the children, in this case the third graders and the sixth
graders, were to draw a picture of their school and explain what they liked and what
they didn't like about it. Both groups of pupils were rather articulate, even though
among the teenage children the ability to listen to each other was a bit lower. However,
what was quite surprising was the attitude of the younger children towards their
classmate, who is severely disadvantaged and has communication problems. When she
overcame the initial hesitation and started to talk, the children immediately started to
clap and cheer in support. It was a spontaneous reaction that was not provoked by the
teacher.
Tolerance and social skills - important byproducts of inclusive efforts
One of the strongest and most often articulated assets of inclusive education is the
capacity to develop social skills and tolerance among children. The English teacher
attributes these capacities mainly to the humanistic approach they are using as a part of
their inclusive strategies.
"I don't know, it is all interconnected, but I think this goes with inclusion, it results
from the fact that we have a different approach towards the children. We definitely
do. We try not to do hrr, hrr and let's go. We try to talk about things first. It is
humanistic approach, to talk with them a bit, how they feel. But I think this
humanistic approach is visible in our school. Our children don't realize it, because
they are growing like this from the first class, it is natural for them. But for those in
other schools, it is not natural. [Our children] are being taught the skills from the
first moment, so that they will be able to accept the others. To be honest and friendly,
to accept the opinion of others...and many more, it should be mirrored somehow."
(English teacher)
The school seems to be successful in this regard, as was suggested by the teachers and
parents, and did not go unrecognized during the class observation.
"I would go to the classes a lot and when I compare this school to the one where he
[my son] was going in the past, I clearly see that these children view themselves and
the group in a completely different way. They are amazing how they can help each
other, how they know each other, who is capable of what kind of stuff, and so on. And
it is calm and silent here in this school during the breaks. When I compare it to the
other school, where the children run and shout, here it is somehow organized, but
not by force, somehow.... naturally. The children are somehow raised to this." (Father
of the second grader with Asperger syndrome, focus group)
"The children, in this case the pupils of the 3.F, in which there are three children with
various diagnoses, were actively encouraged to express their opinion during the
group activity in the English lesson. The three pupils were very hesitant in the
beginning, but they managed to overcome their anxiety and started to talk. After
answering the teacher's question they were awarded by spontaneous applause by
the children themselves, without any encouragement from the side of the teacher."
(3.F class observation)
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During the focus group, some of the parents mentioned that they did not even know that
there were some children with a diagnosis and specific learning needs in the class. Their
children never spoke about their classmates as of being strange or different in any
sense. On the contrary, one of the parents explained the situation in which their
daughter did not want to go to the school and sat in front of the school on a bank. She
was not to be persuaded by the parents. This only changed when one of her classmates
stopped by and eventually made her come to school with her. The parents perceived this
story very positively as it symbolized the acceptance their daughter gets in school.
Teachers and teaching process - every day inclusion in practice
"I assume that the working tempo is quite high, but everybody benefits from this.
This means that despite the tremendous amount of work, it enriches us all."
(Geography teacher)
The above-mentioned quote nicely summarizes what most of the interviewed teachers
have agreed upon. Even though the work load exceeds the typical one for other schools
and requires long work hours and occasionally involvement during school holidays, the
overall cocktail of demand and high expectations on the one side and self-realization
and rewards on the other seems to be blended satisfactorily - the teachers are enjoying
their work and the possibilities for self-expression the school offers.
"There is a space for self-expression and self-realization in this school, I am very
happy that when a person wants to be active, the principal is always open to new
things. And our school... yes, the teachers have to work a lot, we had been in a
project, at that time I was not involved, but still I could have seen and perceived that
my colleagues had had a lot of the work with it [the project]. We really work here, I
think they [the teachers] try hard so that we are not only exceptional, but so that we
are helpful, so that the atmosphere in the school is good." (Special pedagogue)
By the teachers themselves, the school is considered to be innovative and progressive.
The teachers are constantly being encouraged to apply new teaching methods and then
share and reflect on their experience at regular team meetings. These reflections seem
to be a crucial element of the school's capacity to develop its own teaching
methodologies. In doing so, the teachers are granted support from the school
management. The principal claims to be regularly inviting the teachers to observe her
model classes. She also regularly visits the classes of her colleagues.
"I welcome it when they [the teachers] invite me, when they are well prepared. So I
do not go there to catch them unprepared. Quite on the contrary. When one prepares
for the class carefully, he or she invests the energy; it might make them feel good
when someone appreciates their work, when one gives them positive feedback. (...)
We visit beginning teachers especially, but even in such a case [when something
fails] there are no reproaches, it is more about me sitting with them in the office and
preparing the strategies they can use in the following classes. They are given the
time so that they can apply it. And only then, when we see that there is no flexibility
and it [their teaching style] is not working, despite our coaching and support, than
we rather say goodbye to the teachers and they leave." (School principal)
According to the school principal, such a situation is not uncommon. During the last
year, three teachers left the school for various reasons. However, this is not assessed
negatively by the school management because ability of teachers to adopt the school
philosophy and meet the working tempo is seen as crucial element of the school's efforts
to pursue an inclusive model of education. The Geography teacher also commented on
this approvingly when she said that the newcomers are usually much more capable of
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fitting into the team and meet the demands the school lays on the teachers than the
teachers who decided to leave.
Teaching process - searching for the wider context
The school approached the teaching process creatively. The overall curriculum in the
Friendly School is organized according to thematic topics rather than according to
official structures and guidelines. This allows the teachers to work on one topic (e.g.
water or nature) concurrently as part of several subjects and as such provide the
children with a more complex understanding of the issue. In this sense, the school
overshadows the standardized Slovak educational system and creates a new teaching
methodology, which the school management would eventually like to offer to other
schools.
"The thing is that even though the Ministry of Education created the topics, the
respective subjects do not meet at all some common goals the children could reach.
The standardized outlines were created and the Ministry tries to bind the schools.
This is not good from my point of the view. There should be a basic outline of what
should be learned and that should be divided according to the thematic topic, that's
all. We have created a model based on the revised taxonomy and we apply this model
in each subject. So we have the general thematic topic, the topic of the class, the
goals of the class, learning activities, and so it goes on and on and in a year it nicely
fits together and we would have successfully covered thematic the topic with the
goals. So I assume it is going to be a very good [lesson plans document] for other
schools, too. Also for the schools in which there are more Roma pupils. (School
principal)
Moreover, besides teaching one topic at one time instead of fragmenting it across
subjects and grades, the teachers also attempt to make reference and find connections
with everyday life, so that children can truly understand the purpose of learning.
"Last year we arranged it, so the Math teacher would not teach the curricula in the
sixth grade which the Physics teacher would need to teach in the seventh grade. So
we talked about who needs to teach what and when he or she needs to teach it and
we integrated the curricula. And now, we are trying to find the thematic
interconnections and links, so that the pupil can feel the purpose and meaning of
what he or she is supposed to learn and so that he or she knows in what situations in
a real life it can be used." (School principal)
Adjustment of the teaching methods
In order to make all of the pupils participate in class, the teachers often adjust the
content and form of the classes so that all of the children can catch up.
"Me personally, during the Math classes, I allow them [the pupils with SLN] to use
the calculator much more often, I make the tasks easier for them. When I think about
the other class, in which the children are cleverer, I raise the level of difficulty. So in
this class I focus more on simpler tasks and I repeat the curricula with them more
often. I also try to do more playful activities because I am aware that their attention
is disrupted, too. So I always have at hand a game with cards, we go to sit on the
carpet and we repeat the curricula. They think they are playing. And this year - the
tablets - they are the most perfect tools. Because I have some math applications in
there and the children always think they are playing. Even when I am testing them
through the tablets, I can clearly see that also the weaker pupils repeat the tests
back at home." [Math teacher]
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There is also another common practice, which helps the teachers to engage all of the
pupils into the activity. In the Friendly School the children often work together in
couples or in smaller groups. So called co-operative learning helps to balance the
different performance levels in the class - the cleverer pupils always help their
classmates who are lagging behind. As the teachers note, this system not only helps the
weaker pupils, who often understand the curricula explained by their peers easier, but it
also helps the clever children, who have a chance to get the curricula really under their
skin only when they pass the knowledge on.
Auxiliary team members - roles of the school psychologist, special
pedagogues and teaching assistants
Besides the school management and the teachers, the school benefits from the presence
of several auxiliary team members - the school psychologist, special pedagogues and
teaching assistants.
The post of the school psychologist is relatively new in the school. It was created in
response to the actual needs when the atmosphere in one of the classes became
unbearable for the teachers.
"Last year, during the transition of one class to the second grade, we had such a "I
can't stay in that class anymore" moment. So based on this, we decided to employ the
school psychologist starting in March [2014] because we were not competent
enough to discover the causes of such behavior [of the children]. So we simply
realized that the teachers could not continually be the third eye in the classroom. We
must bring the children towards the responsibility." (School principal)
This decision required a certain determination by the school management, as well as
acceptance by the teachers, because the school operates with a very limited budget and
a creation of a new post is not without consequences for the other members of the team.
"And this is the thing that actually disadvantaged my colleagues financially, because
I could have given them something on the top of their salaries, but instead, with my
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colleagues we decided that we would employ the school psychologist because all of
us felt this need. We were not prepared to address all the issues with the relevant
expertise." (School principal)
The psychologist herself underlines the school's efforts: "Even though having a school
psychologist is recommended [by the Ministry of Education], it is not obligatory and
most of the schools do not have one. So even the willingness to have a psychologist is
indicative of some extra effort."
So far, this decision seems to be valued very much by all of the teachers, as the
psychologist can not only address the critical situations in the classroom, but can also
work with the children systematically and help to improve the school climate in the long
run. The school psychologist is often consulted by other team members and teachers
tend to call her to do some activities in the classroom as soon as there are some conflicts
among the pupils emerging.
Also the parents assess the presence of the school psychologist very positively. They
understand the decision to hire a psychologist as another positive step of the school and
they understand it has value.
"Another positive thing came just now, when the school decided to spend the money
and employed a psychologist" (parent of the third grader with several SLN, focus
group).
For children, the office of the school psychologist creates one more point in the overall
school network where they can eventually seek help. According to the psychologist,
even though most often the children are sent to see her by the teachers, sometimes they
also come on their own initiative. In order to support this, she has created a special
briefcase, which is called "What's on my heart?", in which the children can leave letters
for her.
In the school there are currently two special pedagogues. Their tasks mostly include
preparation of the individual educational plans, reeducation with the children with SLN
and individual work with the most demanding children who come to see the special
pedagogues when they are not able to work in the classroom.
The special pedagogues work in close relation to the teachers, who consult with them
and assign them topics they should cover.
"I cooperate with the homeroom teacher - the teacher tells me what the pupils
should learn and I do it alternatively, in line with the child's current capacities depending on what kind of day the child currently has. Because with such children
[with specific learning needs] sometimes the work must be adjusted according to
their current well being. Sometimes we can aim high, and sometimes when the child
is agitated, or when I see that he or she is not willing to cooperate much, then I
try...he [a particular second grader diagnosed with Asperger syndrome that the
pedagogue works with] likes encyclopaedias, books...so he reads. I try to calm him
down, so that he can get back to the system." (Special pedagogue)
However, as was emphasized by one of the special pedagogues, her role is sometimes
misunderstood and underestimated by her colleagues. This can be a potential source of
distress for her.
"Due to the fact that we are not classroom teachers, that I only have that one
particular pupil, someone could assume that I am doing nothing. But that one pupil
sometimes wears me out completely, much more than twenty-four pupils in one class
13
could eventually do. And only some people, those who have such children in their
classroom, can understand my work of a special pedagogue." (Special pedagogue)
There are currently 2 teaching assistant in the primary school. Even though the teachers
would definitely benefit from more teaching assistants, the current status quo at least
enables the school management to place the teaching assistant to the most problematic
classes. Even though sometimes the extent and severity of SLN bonds one teaching
assistant to one child, they are generally able to work and support several children with
SLN at one time and contribute to the enhanced comfort of the children in the class.
During our observation, for instance, there was a boy who is very demanding and
requires the constant presence of someone by his side. During one of the activities
taking place in a less formal environment on the carpet, he asked the teaching assistant
to hold him for a while. As a response to this request, she gave him a short massage and
kept holding her hands on his shoulders during the activity. As a result of this, the boy
calmed down completely and was able to concentrate on the tasks.
Pupils – all of them different, each of them unique
The basics of inclusion - individual approach to the children
As outlined in the introductory chapter, the school is attended by a wide range of
children with different talents and different learning needs. Therefore, one of the most
important building blocks of the school's inclusive approach is the respect for the
individuality of each child.
"I think it can be said that we have an individual approach to each pupil. Everybody is
informed about who has the papers [for specific learning needs], or some examinationso we approach them [the children] individually- this child is like this, that child is like
that - and we communicate with the other teachers all the time about how they perceive
the child and if these perceptions differ." (Geography teacher)
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The children are accepted as individuals, all of them different, each of them unique. As
already mentioned in the previous chapters, the children are understood to have a
variety of talents for different things, as well as different starting positions. This
approach seems to be effectively preventing the teachers from looking down to the
children who are not performing very well in the classes and are not obtaining high
marks. The Math teacher for instance brought up an example of her class, which was
among the weakest in the second-stage. Even though the children did not perform very
well in the Math classes, they were immediately capable of using the tablets that she
introduced as a part of her teaching methods. The better performing classes, according
to the teacher, had much greater problems in understanding the new technology. She
used this fact as a reason for applause; she wanted the children to feel good about their
technological capabilities.
IVKO - the system of early assessment
The school attempts to work with the children startingfrom kindergarten. The basic idea
is that if they get to know the children at an early age, their talents and weaknesses, they
can work with them more effectively and respond to their needs accurately.Therefore,
an important part of the school's philosophy and teaching methods is the early
assessment of the child's talents, which takes place in the associated kindergarten at the
age of five. For these purposes, the school has developed the assessment system called
IVKO. It is an abbreviation in which "I" stands for intellect and multiple intelligences, "V"
for characteristic features and temperament, "K" for competence in cooperation and
acquisition of social contacts, and "O" for suggestions for the school, the teachers and
the parents about which competences and talents they should focus on in order to
stimulate and support the child. To get a complete picture, the child is observed and
assessed by the teachers, arts school teachers and a psychologist and based on these
observations, the parents are advised about which class the child should be given and
which arts activities bests suits the child.
"... so when the child enrolls inthe first grade, we already know in which area he or
she needs to be supported and which competences should be more developed. So we
already know with whom the child enrolls in the first grade and our teachers are
already familiar with the children. And based on this, we try to stream the children
into similar groups so that they can be educated well." (School principal)
IVKO has less to do with the assessment of the specific learning needs,which, according
to the school principal, mostly crystalize continuously during the course of the
education process.IVKO has more to do with getting to know the child. As the school
principal says, the particular diagnosis, whatever it is, does not mean much in the final
picture; more important is the good command of child's abilities and capabilities so that
the activities can be custom fit and this is, as they believe, something that IVKO can
bring.
Specific learning needs as a source for further development
In the Friendly School the specific learning needs are not understood as the final station
of achild's progress, but as a source of further development.
"So sometimes it [SLN] crystalizes continuously. But you know, the handicap is only a
handicap. It is a certain disorder that won't disappear. But when the good approach
is chosen, the handicap could be used as a source for self-development of the child. So
that's what we are trying to do. So we do not only shout at the child: "Why are you
writing so ugly? But that's why we should know [about the child's specific learning
needs], so that all the others write, but this child just fills in the keywords in the
15
printed text. So this is what working with the child with SLN means for us." (School
principal)
What seems to be more challenging for the teachers is when the SLN are combined with
the demanding behavior. Such is the case of the two Asperger boys, the first and the
second grader, who got enrolled into the school relatively recently. According to all - the
school principal, the teachers, the special pedagogues, as well as the school psychologist
- working with these two children takes a lot of capacity, as the behavior of both of them
is quite demanding and sometimes they simply require a person exclusively for their
own. As such, this is framed as a challenge for the school.
"This is a huge problem, because these children have such specific behavior that it is
very hard to work with them. So we have teaching assistants. We have combined
this. We have a special pedagogue and a teaching assistant present during the
classes and when the child has the problematic attitude; he or she just takes the child
away. And those are extremely hard situations. But just because of this, I would say,
it is very important so that the healthy children see that someone could have
problems and he or she is not to be blamed for that, just born like that. And we can
just work with it, it never really diminishes. Just because of that I am for inclusion. So
it's worth the effort." (School principal)
Despite the challenges that educating these two boys brings, the school principal sees
the importance of thepresence of these children in the school very clearly. Also the
teachers have already found their ways of working with the boys. This is how the class
teacher of one of the boys described her ways of solving the critical situations:
"When he gets angry, he starts shouting. He runs around the classroom, or he
eventually throws something, so that he calms himself down. But he has already
learned that when he gets angry, he should go to the corridor, let off steam there and
then come back. Or he goes to visit the special pedagogue - he already knows that he
has his place there. But still, it sometimes happens that he is running all around the
school and shouting,depending on the intensity of his anger. With me, it works in a
way that when I am too tired, I probably make terrible faces. But when it is at the
beginning of the week, or he has a better day, or when the other children are fine
and calm, then I try to calm him down, or I let him to shout, or he leaves, and we go
on. (Class teacher, 2nd grade)
Besides the honest acknowledgment of the hardships, the above-mentioned quotation
clearly shows the importance of a variety of possibilities to calm down and seek help the
child withAsperger syndrome needs in order to perform well in the class. The mutual
understanding between the teacher and the child about what these possibilities are is
crucial - they are both aware of what can be done so that the situation is solved and the
child eventually calms down and continues with the learning process.
Pupil – teacher relation
The teachers seem to understand the specific situation of each child and climates of the
respective class. In the teaching process, as well as in personal development, the goal is
not to excel. Even though the overall assessment of the schools in the state examination
of the ninth graders serves as a certain reference point, the goal is not to beat the other
schools. The individual progress seems to matter more.
"And this is a value for me because it shows me that none of the children went under
the 20% in any of the subjects [in the nation-wide examination of the ninth graders].
And we told ourselves that this time we are going to take the children to 40%. We
told ourselves we could do it. Because we used to have weaker children [in the past],
16
but with the systematic work and understanding, we altered their attitude towards
the learning a bit, we told ourselves we could reach the 40%. So everything is
possible. It is only necessary to see the goal towards which one climbs." (School
principal)
Modes of evaluation - acknowledgment of individual progress
As already suggested in the preceding lines, in the Friendly School the strong emphasis
is put on the participatory element of education and on individual progress. This is
reflected in the learning progress and modes of evaluation. Rather than following the
general standards, each class as well as each pupil sets a learning goal for himself or
herself. Therefore, in the final picture it is not the marks that play the crucial role, but
the individual progress of the child.
"Every teacher decides with the class, as well as with the children he or she teaches,
where they want to get, they set the criteria. ... We try to do this for each class
separately and then evaluate the amount of progress done. ... Our task is so that
anyone who sets a goal also tries to reach it. When he or she fails to reach the goal,
they should try to identify the cause of the failure." (School principal)
Focusing on the individual progress of the child instead of focusing on the marks plays a
major role especially when it comes to the assessment of the performance of children
with SLN. The teachers are fully aware of the fact that these children are often not able
to reach the high marks, but when they focus on their individual progress instead, they
can provide them with positive feedback and applaud them much more often.
Trust and understanding
All of the teachers interviewed emphasized the importance of a good relationship with
the children. Some of them described it as something that they are systematically
building (sometimes through out of the school activities such the pancake party
organized by the English teacher), the others as something that occurs more naturally,
simply as a result of their capacity to listen to the children.
"It is not that I explicitly wanted them to have such trust in me, I sometimes even had
had problems to get them out of the classroom after lunch[laughing]. I am working
17
here [in the classroom], I am preparing for the next day, and they come and start
talking to me and I am like a willow for them, they want to talk to someone, to share
their troubles about what they experience at home. And some of them really have a
situation in which they are moving in and out every two weeks. And then the person
gets it, I had even told one of my pupils: "Milka3, if I have ever raised a voice on you,
because you were completely distracted, now I understand how difficult you have it
at home. I admire you for being who you are in the light of all these circumstances."
(Math teacher)
The above-mentioned quotation nicely summarizes how important the communication
with the children can be when it comes to understanding theindividual situation and
learning capacity of a child. At the same time, especially for the children from
disadvantaged backgrounds, such an attentive approach and reassurance may play a
major role in their motivation to learn and perform well at school.
During the observation of recreation time, we had a chance to witness a couple of
situations in which the children approached and started to talk to the teachers in a
friendly manner. The topics were not always with direct relevance to the school, but also
included thechildren’s personal interests and hobbies.
The atmosphere of trust and understanding is also very connected to the principle of a
second chance, which the school tries to promote. This principle helps to de-stigmatize
the children, who, undernormal circumstances, could be labeled as bad behaving or
weak performing.
"Now we have such a new rule. In the past we used to have a rule that if you made a
mistake, there was a punishment. We have decided not to be so strict, that I punish
you immediately after you do something wrong, but like in the traffic [you make a
mistake, but you can go to the exams and it is forgotten, you can drive again]... so we
wanted that the child who made a mistake could have a chance to come back, you
know?" (School principal)
Relationship between the school and the parents
The school's capacity to communicate and work with parents effectively is something
that is being pinpointed as one of the school'sstrong characteristics.
"Besides the fact that we are constantly improving our skills and we are learning in
blocks, we also have a different approach to the parents. Because we also have
informal meetings with parents which are...which are important, because then the
parents behave quite differently towards the teachers." (English teacher)
The intensive cooperation with parents is also emphasized by the school principal who
lists it as one of the necessary pre-requirements for the successful education of the
children, as "without the parents the school won't be able to reach much, parents are the
most crucial element in their children's learning process."
Each teacher organizes at least four PTA meetings during the school year, at least one of
which is untraditional and attended by the teacher, the parents, as well as by the
children themselves. The teachers have their own ways of preparing the program for
these informal meetings. For instance, the English teacher speaks about inviting the
children with their parents to her home and organizing a pancake party.
"When I organize the pancake party there is no one missing. As the pancake party
behind the sofa...you could have this only with your class teacher." (English teacher)
3The
name of the girl has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
18
The rather intense communication from the side of the school is assessed positively also
by parents. Not only are they regularly updated about the progress of their own child,
but also about the situation in the class and in the school in general. This enables them
to understand the processes going on at school more precisely, especially when there
are some conflicting situations.
To some extent the parents can also participate on the decision making process. During
the focus group, such a situation was mentioned by one parent, a mother of a third grade
girl. She spoke about the discussion in which the parents were asked to decide if the
class should get new windows or an interactive board. The parents could not decide as
they thought both of them were equally important for the class. They decided to request
both.Even though the homeroom teacher was very hesitant at the beginningand
suspected it would not go through, finally the class got both - new windows, as well as
an interactive board. This success is being framed by the parents as an important
achievement resulting from the productive communication with the school.
Vital communication and well-established rapport can be productive for both sides - it
can also bring unexpected benefits for the school. For instance, it can lead to the parents'
willingness to contribute to the school tasks and activities on a voluntary basis.
"I have had such a nice experience. We were rather preoccupied by the
[administration] processes and there was one mother who came and said: You have
the color slowly disappearing from the monkey bars at the children's playground, so
I can come with another mother and we can paint it for you.' And I was delighted, we
could buy the paint, but we were so busy that we had no chance painting it alone."
(School principal)
Situations of conflict
Based on a focus group with three mothers and three fathers, the parents generally
consider the school management and the teachers to be forthcoming and responding
accurately to their suggestions and the needs of their children.Only one situation of
conflict was discussed during the one hour-long talk with the parents. In that case the
school did not allow the girl with ADHD syndrome and epilepsy to take part in
swimming lessons. The school justified its decision by the fact that there was no
possibility to take the teaching assistant along, and it might had been dangerous for the
girl and also for the other children to let her in the swimming pool unattended. Although
this decision madethe girl's parents angry, as they felt their daughter was excluded from
the other classmates, they eventually understood the argument and accompanied their
daughter themselves so that they could make up for the lacking capacities and she
couldparticipate in the activity safely.
On the other side, the school principal spoke negatively about one incident in which the
parents complained about the teacher who was paying too much attention to the child
with Asperger syndrome and consequently did not pay enough attention to the other
children. The parents complained that "the Asperger boy would not behave" and the
teacher had to "chase him down the corridors."The school principal expressed her
disillusionment with this attitude while making reference to the importance of mutual
understanding among the parents, especially when it comes to the situations that could
be caused by a child of someone else. She also expressed her disapproval with the
consequences such an attitude could have for the school's reputation as "bad rumors
spread quickly."This situation was, however, addressed quickly, quite in line with the
school's proactive approach. A PTA meeting with presence of the school principal was
planned immediately.
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"We are going to have a PTA meeting. I want to go there in person to have a
dialogue with the parents, so that any of them can say anything about their child,
how they behave, and they inform each other and get to know the other children in
the class. So that they, for instance, also realize how they can help each other. So we
are going to make a sort of an untraditional PTA meeting." (School principal)
The above-mentioned example is illustrative of how conflict can be addressed
immediately and effectively, and how it can contribute towards the further development
of the rapport between the school and the parents, as well as among the parents
themselves.
School – community relation
The school seems to be realizing the importance of community outreach and the
interconnectedness of school life with daily life in the community. The children are led
to pay attention to the things that are taking place outside of school. This is mainly done
through regular excursions to the sights and institutions where the learning process
sometimestakes place. For instance the Chemistry teacher spoke about the trip to the
observatory where they took the children and where they had a joint lesson of Physics
and Chemistry.
When it comes to active contributions to the community, one of the most significant
achievements of the school in this regard is the publication of the book "Poprad mám
rád" ("I like Poprad"). The book is a tourist guide to the different quarters of the city
created by hundred and twenty pupils of the arts school together with nice teachers.
Besides the information about the respective sights, it is full of small exercises for
children and their parents.The publication is not only informative, but also richly
illustrated and, therefore, visually very appealing. One of the teachers explained that the
impulse for such an initiative came after the children had said there was nothing
interesting about Poprad as a city. The book tries to prove the opposite and bring
children's attention to the rich cultural and architectural heritage of the city. The book is
currently being distributed to schools in other parts of the city, too.
Obstacles yet to overcome – what does not work well with respect to
ideas of inclusive education
In spite ofthe many school's achievements in the field of inclusive education, the most
significant of them being described in the previous pages, the research also identified
some potential areas of further development.Two of them with the greatest relevance to
the principles ofinclusion will be mentioned in the following lines. They are the mutually
interconnected problems of streaming and the lack of teaching assistants and auxiliary
team members.
Streaming
Despite the inclusive philosophy of the Friendly School and many seemingly successful
practices in equal approach to allof the children, streaming is still somewhatpresent.
Based on IVKO andother psychological assessments, the children are being streamed
into different classes in one grade based on their learning performance and talents. The
number of the classes differs from the grade to grade, but usually there are at least two
classes - one attended by the intellectually gifted children and the other oneby the
children who need a slower working tempo. Although this form of streaming does not
completely segregate the children with specific learning needs, as in the less performing
classthere are always children who could be classified as standard performers,and in the
more performing class some of the pupils have specific learning needs connected to
their higher intellect. Nevertheless, such practices still divide the children into two
20
unequal groups. Consequently, the classes are perceived as different by the teachers and
the school psychologist.
"The intellectually gifted children are grouped together and the children with
specific learning needs are also grouped in the different class in the same grade
which sometimes creates too big of a difference between the two classes. So there are
successful achievers and there are the weaker ones." (School psychologist)
Even though this practice can be seen as problematic when considering the definition of
the inclusive education, the fact of which the school managements is well aware, it is
being stronglyjustified by the school principal as well as by the teachers. This
justification is more practical than ideological - the partial streaming is seen as the only
plausible option to work with the children with the variety of learning needs ranging
from the high intellect to a variety of disorders. Although the school management does
not plan to change the practice of streaming in the near future, some of the teachers
admitted it would be possible to work with all of the children regardless of their talents
if there were teaching assistants available in allof the classes. However, the possibilities
are very limited, as due to the lack of human resources not all the classes could get a
teaching assistant.
"On one [side]...in my point of view it [the streaming] is not bad. Because the children
in the more talented classes are moving forward quicker and I manage to go
through more of the curricula [with them]. If it was not for these cleverer classes
then... then the teacher would have to work much much harder, then he should be
provided with an assistant. Because it is very hard to work with the weaker children,
then with the talented ones and then there are also the average children.... this is
irreconcilable. When I teach the talented class I have no one who would be
completely lost. I might have one or two weaker children, but they are being pulled
on [by their classmates]. And I teach completely differently, I teach different
curricula, I can speak in English during the entire class. But of course it [the
streaming] also has its negatives. Because in the weaker classes there are some
talented pupils and they always... they are always disadvantaged by this because the
curricula for the mark one is different in that weaker class." (English teacher)
Lack of teaching assistants
As mentioned elsewhere on the previous pages, the Friendly School's inclusive efforts
are often limited by the number of teaching assistants available. Unfortunately the
number of the auxiliary team members is highly dependent on the assigned budget of
the school and, as such, the school management does not have direct control over the
issue. Despite the fact that it is a structural problem, it is still important to mention it,
because the lack of teaching assistants undermines the inclusive efforts not only of the
Friendly School, but also of most of the other schools in Slovakia. If the teachers really
wanted to address the individual needs of all of the children, the number of teaching
assistants would need to rise significantly and the Ministry of Education would need to
get more involved in this process.
"Because I feel it mainly from the side of the state that even though the inclusive
education is desired, there is no support. If I want to hire a teaching assistant, a
special pedagogue or a psychologist, the support [mainly financial] is completely
amiss." (School principal)
Moreover, the teaching assistants areusually available for the children only during the
educational time. The school has neither personnel, nor financial capacities to arrange
the assistant during the afternoon club time or, as the focus group with parents has
revealed, for the extracurricular activities. As a consequence, the children with SLN are
21
often excluded from what is happening on top of the regular classroom activities and as
such never fully included.
Conclusion - where there's a will, there's a way
The Friendly School is creating an outstanding learning milieu for all of its pupils. The
school management and the teachers are clearly committed to put forward the best
interest of the children and are not only guiding them through the learning process, but
also teaching them necessary social competences and posing as important role models.
The Friendly School, with its proactive approach towards overcoming all kinds of
obstacles, its vital communication among the school management and the teachers, its
extension towards the parents and the wider community, and its inclusive and highly
supportive approach to its pupils, could be an important example for the other primary
schools in Slovakia. More than anything else the case of this school shows that when
there is a will at the side of the school management and teachers to promote inclusive
approach and creative teaching methods, there is always also a way of achieving it.
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Case study no. 2
The Welcoming School in Smolenice
Basic information about the town and the school
At first glance, the elementary school in Smolenice is a completely ordinary village
school. It does not rank among the smallest or the largest in the country; in terms of
appearance and number of pupils, it practically does not stand out from any other
school in Slovakia. Its specifics do not become apparent until later, once a visitor enters
the school and takes a closer and deeper look at what kind of pupils it educates and how
painstakingly it tries to accommodate the needs of those children that could hardly
receive education at other ordinary Slovak elementary schools.
Sprawling at eastern foothills of Small Carpathians some 80 km from capital Bratislava,
Smolenice is a small township with a population of 3,370. It is a popular tourist
destination because of its castle that dates back to the 15th century when a medieval
fortress stood here. It began to dilapidate in late 18th century due to the lack of
maintenance funds and was burned down during Napoleonic Wars; a new Smolenice
Castle was built in its place at the beginning of the 20th century. Surrounded by beautiful
meadows and a period park, the castle has become a much sought-after leisure spot.
The primary school currently has 237 pupils, including no fewer than 32 individually
included ones. That alone sets the school apart from other schools in Slovakia, as it is
relatively successful in educating children who would otherwise have to attend special
schools for pupils with mental or physical disability. As we shall demonstrate later on,
the school has gradually become known for its obligingness toward children with
different educational needs, which is accordingly reflected in its pupils’ make-up.
The school has ample experience educating children with various disabilities, including
physical and minor mental defects, autism, Asperger syndrome, visual or hearing
defects, children diagnosed with Down syndrome, cancer, etc. This makes the school
23
truly unique as ordinary primary schools typically include only children with minor
mental defects and even their integration is usually formal, without sufficient expert
assistance and true participation in the educational process. Many included pupils who
finished the Smolenice elementary school later successfully graduated from vocational
and trade schools and even went on to study at universities and find regular jobs, as
long as their disability allowed them to.
The school’s overall rate of diversity is truly outstanding, as it is also attended by
children with different ethnic background, foreigners’ children who did not have a
sufficient command of Slovak upon enrolment, and children from poor families. This
presents the school with formidable challenges it must cope with, and it does so
relatively successfully. The present case study shall describe its educational methods
and other factors that determine its success rate.
Most importantly, all children without exception take part in curricular as well as
extracurricular activities such as amateur clubs, organised performances, educational
visits, school trips and sports events.
Despite the great difficulties the school must overcome, its pupils achieve relatively
good study results. In the 2013/2014 academic year, more than half of all children
(54%) passed with distinction and further almost one quarter (22%) passed with very
good marks. In the nationwide testing of primary school pupils, the Smolenice pupils
regularly rank above the national average. The school principal views the nationwide
testing of pupils as problematic especially because it is based on absolute results
without taking into account children’s various specific needs. She argued that a school
that educates children with various physical or mental disabilities can never “score” as
high in the testing as schools that only focus on enrolling the best pupils. That is why the
school refrains from exacting the best study results from its pupils; instead, it strives to
help every child succeed as much as possible and constantly progress within its current
limits. That is an important indicator of the inclusive approach and simultaneously one
of the reasons why we decided to include the school in our survey.
“Other schools may have more talented, simply because they do not integrate… and I
would love to scream to all directions of the world that we are a good inclusive
school and what not… but the fact is that we still lack a lot to actually be one and
nobody here seems to care. Here in Smolenice, it is being taken for granted, sort of.”
(School principal)
The school in Smolenice takes great pains to make its pupils feel comfortable. It has
officially become a “children-friendly school”, which is an honour bestowed by UNICEF
to schools that strive to create an environment in which every child feels safe,
comfortable, self-confident, happy and fulfilled. The rights of the child are at the centre
of attention. Participation, mutual respect and accountability are the key; the all-school
approach is a must. A children-friendly school does not merely teach its pupils about the
rights of the child but it actually lives them in everyday practice, setting a desirable
model of mutual relations between teachers, children and parents. All these qualities are
scrutinised via seven criteria that must be complied with in order to be recognised as a
children-friendly school.
The school benefits from a whole network of various experts and auxiliary employees
who help it achieve all its inclusive goals. For the past 11 years, the school employed
assistant teachers who either work individually with pupils or act as regular teachers’
helping hands. Naturally, the school employs a school psychologist and a special
pedagogue who according to all survey respondents is the prime mover behind most
activities and without whom the inclusion of such a vastly diverse sample of pupils
would never have been possible. In cooperation with other auxiliary employees, they
24
have created a teamwork that allows all children to satisfy their educational as well as
personal needs so that they can truly feel included.
The school’s teaching staff comprises of thirty-nine teachers, including school managers
and educators. Like in most Slovak schools, it is dominated by women as there are only
four male teachers.
Atmosphere at the school
The Smolenice elementary school may easily be described as a quiet school. While other
primary schools all around Slovakia typically reverberate with the hollering of teachers
and pupils during classes and breaks, this school is dominated by rather peculiar peace.
The teachers speak to the pupils without much agitation and children in the hallways
treat one another with respect and understanding. An astute observer would soon
notice that children with disabilities are normally helped by other children in
overcoming the physical or symbolic barriers around the school.
Another unusual hallmark of the school is that it is not locked during the day. Many
regular schools greet visitors with a sign such as: “Dear parents please do not enter the
building during classes!” Here, a visitor cannot see any such signs and would not have to
buzz a doorbell in order to get inside. On the other hand, this may raise questions
regarding the pupils’ safety and the need to protect them from outside risks. The school
management is currently preparing to introduce a system of chip cards in order to allow
all pupils and their parents enter the premises without hassles and simultaneously
prevent entrance of anybody who might harm them.
Members of the teaching staff are equally accommodating when dealing with outsiders.
They would often stop by us, the researchers, introduce themselves and start a
conversation about the institution’s regular modus operandi and their children. During a
focus group session, the pupils’ parents also corroborated that atmosphere at the school
was better compared to other schools they had known.
“The pedagogues are communicative and accommodating; they listen to you and try
to be obliging; they often stop by and start to chat with you. Upon our first arrival, I
was very surprised to be greeted by the kids standing in front of the school. Complete
strangers were saying “Hi!” to us. In the [previous] school, nobody ever responded to
a greeting. We were actually forbidden to enter the [building] at all and had to [wait
for the kids] outside. Here, the principal or deputy principal would offer me to use
their office to [put my things].”(Father of a girl with Down syndrome who spends
entire days at school with her)
The voice of the children is truly heard here as bulletin boards and most common areas
are viewed primarily as the children’s turf. The large bulletin board in the mezzanine
contained information about the rights of the child, the make-up of the pupil’s
parliament and the children’s views of various issues. The entire school is ablaze with
colours and decorated in pupils’ works. It is obvious that the children are at the centre of
attention here, and not only the most successful ones who represent the school at
various competitions. A mere walk through the corridors would reveal just how many
included children with various educational needs in fact attend the school. Nobody is
trying to make their presence pass unnoticed by a visitor; quite the contrary. The
inclusive approach also shows through the commonly shared feeling that all children are
welcomed at the school and belong to the same community.
The calm atmosphere may also be perceived during classes. Our observations have
revealed that the pupils are inquisitive; they are not afraid to communicate and are free
of any stress whatsoever in the classroom. The teachers, for their part, respond well to
25
their needs. Especially when dealing with younger children, they frequently use short
physical exercises during classes if they feel that the pupils are becoming tired and
distracted. If the pupils fail to understand the subject, the teachers often resort to
various alternative teaching aids that are naturally very popular with the children.
When explaining the rules of dividing words into syllables, for instance, a Slovak
language teacher did not hesitate to use rap singing while the kids did not hesitate to
sing and dance along. The Biology teacher, for his part, presented short video clips to the
pupils and encouraged them to join the lecture and share their own nature-exploration
stories.
During interviews, several teachers pointed out that the atmosphere at school during
classes was a significant factor affecting the pupils’ overall composure and their relation
to the school.
“The atmosphere in class is essential. When I look at it globally, every child feels
secure and prepared to receive information in a pleasant atmosphere.” (Female firstgrade teacher)
The school management
The Smolenice school management saw some major changes four years ago. Before
them, the school’s reputation was rather negative according to several respondents. The
parents preferred enrolling their children to schools in surrounding municipalities. The
teaching staff’s attitude to the pupils and their parents was authoritative as there was no
sign of partnership that would allow different actors (i.e. teachers, parents, and
children) to have a say in shaping the school’s modus operandi. The school strove to
focus on integration of children with various disabilities but that was largely the merit of
the special pedagogue who worked there at that point already; unfortunately, she could
not rely on the management’s support back then.
Nowadays, members of the teaching staff perceive the current management as
accommodating and supportive of their own initiatives and ideas regarding various
activities, projects, etc. Perhaps the most profound change the new management
introduced was the already mentioned shift in the school’s overall atmosphere. The new
26
principal set the overriding objective to transfer the school into a children-friendly
institution, including children with special educational needs, which has affected every
single aspect of its development ever since.
That, of course, has amounted to additional strain on the teachers. Working with such a
diverse community of pupils is extremely challenging and requires not only specific
preparation, but especially support and encouragement from other pedagogues. If a
single class includes particularly gifted pupils on the one hand and children suffering
from autism or physical disability on the other, you can hardly begin to imagine how
stressful it is for the teacher to adapt his preferred lecturing method to all of them.
Luckily, local teachers can rely on great support from the special pedagogue and
assistant teachers who play a very active role in the educational process. Their
participation allows most children with special educational needs spend most of the
classes in the company of other pupils. When going through specific issues or anytime
the need may arise, the special pedagogue or assistant teachers work individually with
the children.
The current school management comprises the principal, her deputies and heads of
subject commissions. During regular meetings, which take place once a month, teachers
outlines work schedules for the upcoming period and decide on a large number of
extracurricular activities or projects in which the school intends to participate. The
principal considers the teachers to be exceptionally active, which is why the school
management reduces its involvement to coordinating their capacities in order to make
them stick with the curriculum for the upcoming period and simultaneously keep them
free enough to be able to pursue activities in which the children are interested.
Pupil assessment meetings at which the pupils’ study results are reviewed take place
equally regularly; nevertheless, a great number of decisions must be adopted ad hoc, as
the school’s situation at requires.
These meetings simultaneously provide a suitable platform for continuous assessment
of the progress of individual pupils’ inclusion. The teachers inform the management
about the course and success rate of inclusion and outline individual study plans. In
regular intervals, they also report on the degree, to which a concrete child has been truly
included into his or her collective, discuss the problems that have arisen during the
examined period and propose viable solutions. Last but not least, they identify various
pressing problems or needs of children that have not yet been fully included.
“Every time we convene for a quarterly meeting, we always deal with the entire
class. We separately discuss the included children as well as those that have not been
diagnosed but still may experience certain problems. So, [these things] are always
brought to our attention and since the special pedagogue and the school
psychologist are present, we always find a consensus over who will be responsible for
concrete children.” (Special pedagogue)
The principal and one of her deputies regularly inspect classes. Our interviews with the
teachers indicated that this is a relatively formal process dictated by the valid Slovak
law. During these classroom visits, the school managers observe the course of the class,
sticking to the curriculum and the pupils’ progress. In Slovakia, these inspections
continue to be perceived primarily as the means of controlling teachers rather than the
platform to encourage feedback and provide necessary support. In this area, it seems
particularly necessary to change the overall modus operandi and introduce mechanisms
of mutual support among teachers in order not only to stimulate better relations within
classrooms but especially facilitate individual pupils’ progress and enhance schools’
overall inclusiveness. For the time being, Slovak teachers provide more or less informal
support to each other; in other words, those who teach identical subjects or same
27
classes in lower grades help each other and exchange experience. Largely due to this
systemic failure, the school in Smolenice has yet been unable to create a complex
mechanism of mutual support among the teachers as well as between them and other
school experts.
The teachers in focus
Teachers are undoubtedly one of the most important factors that affect the overall
inclusive approach at any school. The way they behave vis-à-vis their pupils, how they
treat them and what educational methods they choose to apply are of essential
importance to all children’s effective participation in the educational process.
All this goes even more for schools like the one in Smolenice, which is attended by
relatively many individually included pupils. If there are several pupils with different
special educational needs sitting in the classroom, the teacher must adapt the method of
education individually to every single one of them.
As we have said, the Smolenice primary school has a special pedagogue who helps the
teachers achieve that goal. Her principal mission is to take individual care of children
with special educational needs whenever they are not in classes. Her office is specially
adapted and equipped to this task. The special pedagogue strives to identify every
child’s special educational needs as soon as possible, preferably at the first stage (i.e.
grades one through four), in order to take it under her wings, so to speak, at the
youngest possible age. She is often forced to abandon her intended schedule because she
must immediately react to the situation at hand and attend to the child that needs it the
most. Besides great flexibility at work, this requires effective coordination with other
pedagogues.
When dealing with included children, the special pedagogue also applies various special
pedagogical methods. But she says the most effective approach is to motivate them and
appreciate them for even a slightest progress because it is important to them to
experience success and for their classmates to see them progress. That is why she
strives to praise included children not only privately but also in front of their respective
classes. Praising an included child amounts not only to appraise the objective knowledge
it has acquired but especially appreciate the progress it has made. In this respect, other
survey respondents described the special pedagogue as very successful.
“She knows exactly how much she should push a child. Not every teacher can do that.
It is a great accomplishment when an [included] child is able to improve her
handwriting that much, although it is still a catastrophe compared to a normal
child. But how can she not appreciate the child? I mean, it has made a tremendous
progress for his standards.” (School principal)
According to the special pedagogue, it is equally important to ask about included
children’s opinions and together with them come up with specific individual ways to
approach the learning process.
“I communicate like this a lot with them. I ask them for their opinions, whether they
are doing fine, how they perceive their accomplishments, and what is new in their
lives in general because, quite simply, life is really not all about school. So I try to ask
them what’s new.” (Special pedagogue)
Every included child has an individual teaching plan elaborated. With some of them, the
teachers work with reduced curricula; with others, they only use different methods of
explaining the subject matter. All individual teaching plans are constantly updated to
take into account included children’s needs as they arise.
28
For any school to be perceived as inclusive, it is crucial for all teachers to adopt an
inclusive approach, as opposed to merely the special pedagogues who specifically deal
with included children.
Several respondents, especially those from the management ranks, emphasised that
teachers at this school were very active and strove to adapt their attitude to the
children’s needs. They do not always succeed as it largely depends on individual
teachers’ willingness to get out of the rut and alter their attitude to pupils. The content
of the curriculum inflates by the year and has reached extreme levels; the teachers have
less and less time to explain every subject matter in sufficient detail and simultaneously
deal with unexpected problems as they arise. Most respondents pointed that out as one
of the greatest shortcomings of Slovakia’s education system. The moment the pupils
become interested in any discussed topic and start asking questions, the teacher begins
to run out of time to go through everything that is required. It is even more complicated
with included children as the teacher must also attend to their special educational
needs.
“I wanted to tell them about the Trojan War and about the beautiful Helen; I had
prepared a special presentation at the interactive board. But as soon as we began to
discuss the issue… we simply got entangled in a discussion somehow. The children
grew inquisitive, they wanted to know why the things happened as they did… and I
ran out of time to go through previous subject matters and write down the notes. If
there was an inspection, I would have a problem.” (School principal)
Both respondents from the management ranks agreed that the teachers are able to cope
with described time constraints especially at the first stage where a single teacher
teaches all subjects and is able to establish a very personal and intimate relation with all
the pupils.
“I’m not saying that there is nothing to be improved, but these teachers are truly
hard workers who are bold enough to explore the unknown and accept it as a
challenge.” (Deputy principal)
These words were corroborated during our interview with a female first-grade teacher
as well as our inspection in the second grade. Both teachers were clearly aware that the
children are different and that they as pedagogues must adapt to their needs. Some
children need more physical exercise than others during classes, for instance, which is
why it is necessary to alternate their activities in order to keep them focused. An
effective solution to this seems to be teamwork where the children are encouraged to
create something together and teach one another in the process. The children naturally
create partner relations and learn to respect and listen to each other. When dealing with
the youngest pupils, the teachers argued, it seems very important to detect even the
slightest deviation in their behaviour as they may indicate personal or educational
problems.
“A child must be kept in the kind of composure that allows it to perceive and
overcome its timidity; otherwise it develops a block. There are too many of these
children who need terribly little to get blocked. [Sometimes, I] do not even realise
what I have done but suddenly I see that [the child] has become jammed.” (Female
first-grade teacher)
Our findings from the interviews were soon corroborated by subsequent observation.
During her two classes that were attended by us, a female second-grade teacher was
very attentive to individual children’s needs and adapted the course of the lesson to
them. Working in groups, the children actively participated and responded to her
stimuli with great enthusiasm. It was also interesting to observe the method of including
29
Zuzka,4 an individually integrated girl with mental disability. For the first part of the
lesson she sat behind a separate desk, attending to her own assignment based on an
individual plan; however, that assignment was closely related to other children’s
activities.
“In the meantime, Zuzka will prepare for us the words we will be working with.”
(Female second-grade teacher)
When Zuzka completed her task, she joined her classmates and spent the rest of the
lesson together with them. It was obvious that the teacher had done her homework
preparing for the lesson and what she intended to achieve with the children. It was plain
to see that her ambition was to get all children involved, not just the most talented ones.
During the Slovak language lesson that followed, the teacher would frequently ask the
children about medicinal herbs they had learned about during the natural science
lesson, thus revising their knowledge. The children circulated around the classroom,
using its entire area to the full for various activities. Apparently, the children viewed
learning as fun that is completely free of stress. Only some of them showed signs of
dissatisfaction at times, for instance when the teacher chose to address somebody else
or when they did not finish their task in time.
The parents who attended the focus group also confirmed that the teachers’ attitude to
individually included pupils was friendly and above-the-board. The Math teacher, for
instance, consulted the parents of a girl with Down syndrome regarding the most
suitable methods of educating pupils with special needs.
“For instance, I was surprised by Mrs. Deputy Principal [who] teaches
Majka5Mathematics. When we first came here as Majka began to attend the eighth
grade, she asked us how we had taught her before. She was interested from the
professional viewpoint, maybe because she had some children in the class who
probably needed to step up their efforts in Mathematics and she was not sure how to
explain it to them. In return, she explained to us what methods she used. So I brought
her some teaching aids that I had manufactured at home.” (Parent attending the
focus group)
Despite many praiseworthy examples, there are several areas in which the teachers’
inclusive approach could use some additional work. Several respondents pointed out
that especially at the second stage (i.e. grades five through nine) there were too many
teachers who still struggled to change their overall attitude and used teaching methods
that fail to accommodate special educational needs of included children. According to
the school principal, the school needs special assistance from the outside – i.e. an expert
who would review the methods and forms of education, assess the school’s overall
approach to satisfying children’s educational needs and help improve all teachers’
attitude to children in general.
The pupils in focus
The process of identifying pupils with special educational needs takes various forms.
Some of the children have been diagnosed while attending kindergarten; the needs of
others have been identified by their parents in cooperation with children’s clinics before
they enrol to the school; identifying the needs of others is up to teachers in early grades
of primary school.
4The name of the girl has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
5The name of the girl has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
30
“Well, it is usually during the first or second grade when a teacher sees that despite
[working individually with a child], the child is lagging behind, does not make any
progress at all or shows clear signs of some disorder.” (Special pedagogue)
Since the school in Smolenice has become widely known for its willingness to accept
children who would under “normal” circumstances have to attend special schools
almost anywhere else, the school principal and the special pedagogue are often
contacted by parents who would like to enrol their children to their school. The special
pedagogue views the ability to express independent opinions to be one of the most
praiseworthy achievements in the process of educating individually included children.
“Included [children]… I am certainly proud that they are also able to express their
opinion, that they have learned to speak up, come to the fore and are not afraid to
tell the teacher that they see this or that differently or that they have agreed on
something differently.” (Special pedagogue)
If children feel other people’s confidence, they are capable of great accomplishments no
one would ever expect them to achieve. This is particularly true of included children
from the Smolenice elementary school. Thanks largely to this confidence, children with
different communication barriers have learned to manage various tasks (e.g. travel or
appear in public without assistance) on their own and help themselves through learning
to communicate as equals with their teachers and schoolmates. Thanks exclusively to
his own tenacity and teachers’ confidence in him, for instance, a boy with Asperger
syndrome scored better results in school-leaving tests (the so-called Monitor) than his
healthy classmates. A girl with Down syndrome represents the school in swimming
competitions.
As we have mentioned earlier, the school is placing an increasing emphasis on helping
the children’s voice be heard. This is the one thing that sets the current school
management apart from its predecessor. The nature of the school’s communication with
the children and their parents has improved significantly, which is generously repaid
with their increased confidence in the teachers. It is this confidence that makes it much
easier to make the children included, identify their special educational needs or
correctly detect the time for a teacher’s intervention.
31
The methods used by the teachers who took part in our research largely succeed in
obliging various children’s special educational needs regardless of whether they are
included or not. The school’s Mathematics teacher, for instance, prepares different
worksheets for various categories of pupils, making them correspond to their
momentary abilities and their preferred pace of progress.
Unfortunately, not all teachers at the school are able or willing to focus primarily on
included pupils and appreciate the positive aspects of children’s diversity. One of the
respondents said the school’s greatest forte was that there were some exceptionally
smart children to be found. He has apparently made it his mission to lead them,
motivate them, help them improve, and encourage them to take part in extracurricular
activities such as representing their school at pupils Olympiads and various other
competitions.
“For instance, I have this one pupil who does not need to study [at home] as he
understands everything during classes. He even tells me: ‘I study during classes.’ So,
when I spoke to his mother, I told her about his exceptional talent and [offered] that
I would lead him along. Recently, we attended a pupils Olympiad; this time it was a
geography one. There I told him – in fact, he is older and should have been in a
higher grade – and his mother: ‘Marek6, you are bored here, that’s all right, but you
should get rid of some of these lower grades because that’s pure laziness [on your
part].’ Actually, it was rather a sort of order to him.” (Male second-stage teacher)
On the other hand, perhaps the most inclusive attitude was demonstrated by one firstgrade teacher. During our interview, she constantly emphasised that the school should
treat every child individually. Since this is a village school, she argued, the teachers are
quite familiar with the children; they usually know their parents personally and are able
to respond properly to periods or situations when the children are going through
difficult times. This teacher repeatedly demonstrated her ability to find something
positive in every child.
“The children can be good at anything. The only [problem] is to find that one thing
as every kid is exceptional at something. Children nowadays have a very broad
horizon. You can start a conversation on some subject with any of them, they will
catch on.” (Female first-grade teacher)
The teacher-pupils relations
The teachers’ access to the children, the way they perceive them and treat them,
naturally affects their mutual relations as well as the overall atmosphere at the school.
Several respondents to our survey emphasised that teachers should strive to act
primarily as role models for the pupils. Since early childhood, all human beings tend to
learn especially by emulating their examples. Logically, it is difficult to expect the
children behave in a certain way and respect certain rules if they cannot see their
teachers behave in the same way and respect identical rules. If the teachers’ words and
actions are in discord, the children will tend to emulate their behaviour instead of acting
upon their words without thinking too much about the broader context.
The teacher’s role is even more important with respect to included children, particularly
in terms of shaping their behavioural patterns within broader society. That is perhaps
the main reason why integration of children with special educational needs to regular
primary schools is so important: it forces them to interact with a very diverse group of
teachers and an even more diverse group of schoolmates and learn to cultivate mutual
relations with them.
6The name of the boy has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
32
The special pedagogue presented a rather interesting view on how the teachers’
behaviour vis-à-vis the pupils can also serve as a role model for included children.
“I also see this with included children [who at first] don’t know how to behave and
always tend to back down to their classmates and tolerate them everything… then,
when they see us imposing certain limits on them without fears of open
communication and always give them space to speak out their minds, then these are
the [social] skills they emulate.” (Special pedagogue)
When speaking of their relations with the pupils, the teachers generally described
themselves as very strict but at the same time as obliging and respectful. They admitted
they were relatively demanding with respect to the pupils and expected them to abide
by the set rules. According to them, if the children did not respect mutually agreed rules
it would play havoc not only with the teaching process (“It would break the lesson
apart”) but also with mutual relations and the school’s overall atmosphere.
When building teacher-pupil relations, it is also important that the latter do not feel
pigeonholed either as “incapable and disruptive troublemakers” or as “always prepared
and attentive good pupils”. That may be easily prevented if the pedagogue makes sure to
evaluate the pupils’ momentary performance or behaviour instead of their personalities.
“It is important to show certain respect to a child, even though it is being truculent
or insolent at the moment… [You tell them something like:] ‘Although you are not
acting kindly to me right now, my attitude is this and that. Now I must draw
conclusions from your actions.’ And I often see that they have gotten used to it
because it tends to stop them.” (Special pedagogue)
Other teachers also described themselves as very demanding vis-à-vis the pupils. But
most of them explained their strictness by the effort to identify individual children’s
potential and make sure to use it to the maximum possible degree. Not only do they feel
they have an authority but they also feel that the children respect it; the deputy
principal publicly praised them for the ability to keep order in classes. Some of the
children do not appreciate this strictness until several years later, for instance once they
enter the labour market.
“I believe I will be appreciated [eventually]. The fact that I believed in them or
demanded them to believe in themselves, believe that they can achieve, often gets
appreciated in retrospect. When they come of age, many of them visit me to thank
me. Yesterday too, I had here [a former pupil] whom I used to teach Mathematics; he
was also integrated but I kept him on the trot. And now he tells me that he is about
to graduate from a vocational establishment, that he has taken the A levels exam –
he actually has been proposed to pass as he only had three C’s – and that he does not
have problems with Math anymore. He came to thank me in person and even bought
me a rose – what an apprentice!” (Deputy principal)
Quite paradoxically, our observation revealed that adherence to the strict rules of
conduct was the source of generally good atmosphere at the school. Unlike most other
schools where pedagogues normally shout at pupils, the elementary school in Smolenice
is almost completely free of that; the children were not too loud in the hallways and the
teachers treated them calmly and smilingly. The atmosphere in classes was very similar.
The children respected the teachers even when several of them spoke at the same time;
the teachers, for their part, remained calm and managed to coach the situation in class
so that everybody felt heard. That the children were not afraid of the teachers also
showed in the fact that they did not have problems asking any questions, digress from
the subject matter or ask to go to the toilette.
33
During informal interviews, the children described individual teachers in different ways.
When asked to draw what they liked and disliked about their school, as well as during
the final discussion, they mentioned several pedagogues who are too strict and difficult
to get along with. It seems some of them try to make up for their inability to teach by
even greater strictness, which eventually poisons mutual relations between them and
the pupils. But most teachers were perceived as very friendly, respecting and listening
because of their ability to teach effectively without stress and yelling.
As for the parents of included children, most of them described the teachers’ attitude to
their offspring generally positively.
“I believe the teachers are pleasant; very pleasant. I mean, Simonka 7 is looking
forward to going to this school. Last week there was a lot of snow and my wife was
afraid to drive. But Simonka insisted on going because she had been ill and couldn’t
stand the notion of staying home for another day. So I took her instead and when we
drove by the school she used to attend before, Simonka said: ‘Daddy, don’t turn here.’
And when my wife asked her why, she said there were bad teachers there. This is
what she said two years after she had stopped going there.” (Father of an included
girl with Down syndrome)
The school, the parents, the community
As we have said earlier, the parents’ voice at the school is heard much more clearly since
the change in the school management several years ago. Previously, the parents had
virtually no say in the school’s decision-making mechanisms and mutual relations
between them and the teachers were very tense. This is now changing rapidly. The
parents raise their voice as they have many more opportunities to communicate with
the teachers; the teachers, for their part, do not hesitate to turn to the parents anytime
they need to talk about their children. According to the school principal, a thorough
change to the model of communication with the parents was inevitable. There was a lot
of scheming before and the parents would often discuss their children with the teachers
in the hallways or during classes.
“I have spent a lot of time trying to change this. Now when parents want to come, I
don’t schedule to meet with them during classes, or [early] in the morning, but in the
afternoon. Then we meet in my office and talk. The rule is never to discuss the pupils
in the corridors. That was probably my biggest nightmare [when I arrived here],
before everybody got used to the idea that there must be some school culture.”
(School principal)
The increasingly informal relations ensue from the fact that the school is located in a
relatively small village where everybody knows everybody. Some parents are in charge
of amateur clubs at the school; others try to come up with ideas for various joint
activities that bring together the children, the teachers and the parents; yet others take
part in the projects pursued by the school. But the degree of participation is always up
to individual parents to decide.
“Yes, they have built a playground here, founded a mothers’ club there. I know they
take part in various other activities, take pictures, etc. … I myself cannot go to most
of these activities because we moved out of Smolenice and I don’t have my children
here with me anymore. But when my children [attended this school], I was one of the
initiators who tried to invite [and activate] the parents. But even now, if I know [of
some project], I tell them about it and ask them to join us.” (Deputy principal)
7
The name of the girl has been changed for privacy protection reasons.
34
The parents also use the institution of open classes; particularly in the first stage, they
get involved in the teaching process relatively often because the children are still small
and their relations with the teachers are more intense and emotional.
Just like there are different kinds of pedagogues at the school, there are different kinds
of parents as well. Some of them are able to establish a mutual partnership and
communicate in the best interest of their child. Others view the school primarily as their
enemy and enter the mutual interaction with a propensity to conflicts. According to the
special pedagogue, these parents believe it is their prerogative to dictate the school’s
modus operandi without listening to other parents or the teachers.
Nevertheless, the deputy principal is convinced that communication with the parents is
crucial and is critical of the teachers who avoid it.
“Unless we don’t speak to the parents, we will never be able to understand them or
their children, for that matter, because the parents may have [legitimate opinions]
that are completely different from ours. We are destined to getting to know each
other and communicating together.” (Deputy principal)
When the parents’ interests or ideas clash with those of the school it is important that
this conflict has no “winner”. Finding a consensual solution to any problem is always in
the children’s best interest. This philosophy was also subscribed to by a female teacher
from the first stage who appreciated very smooth communication between the school
and the parents.
The parents who attended the focus group described their relations with the teachers as
cooperative. They view the teachers as tolerant and responsible toward their children.
Many of them agreed that whenever they had any demands regarding the children, the
teachers are willing to meet with them and discuss anything. This also works the other
way round: if a teacher sees that a child has begun to stagnate, she contacts its parents
and then they calmly and peacefully try to identify the cause of the problem and seek the
best solution together.
Naturally, the parents and teachers are not the only actors who affect the school’s modus
operandi. Since the school is involved in a number of various projects, it also cooperates
with a multitude of organisations from Smolenice and neighbouring villages. For
instance, it organises ecological days together with local companies. It actively assists
the municipal authorities in organising various cultural and social events in the village.
The school also organises numerous other events on its own, for instance on the
Children’s Day, the Apple Day or sleepover days when the children come to the school to
read books in the evening and spend the night there. These activities are very positively
perceived by the teachers and most of the parents, but especially by the children.
The fact that the village has a castle provides further possibilities for community
activities. The castle hosts an annual pupils’ conference at which the children present
the results of their projects and activities. The conference does not exclude the school’s
pupils with physical or mental disabilities, which is extremely commendable because it
is particularly important for these children to be able to present their achievements
together with other children.
Some parents attending the focus group called for even more community activities. They
said they would be glad to meet with the teachers at informal occasions more often and
get to know each other better through discussing something else than grades and
problems of their children.
35
“It would be great to organise a sports day featuring competitions of parents and
children; or some kind of Easter [festivities]. When we were in Switzerland, we saw
children from the entire neighbourhood get together and look for eggs all around
the meadow. You know, organise something like that. Another thing I noticed is
missing is [a village ball]. My husband and I like to go out and dance. It [would be
good if] the school threw a Catherine’s Day dance party.” (Mother at the focus
group)
While focus group participants realised not all parents were too eager to take part in
similar activities, they agreed it was important to create a better platform for mutual
communication between the children, teachers and parents on various issues, things
that could be improved at the school and activities that could help forge a more informal
bond between the school and the broader local community.
What is there and what is still missing
Although it would perhaps be far-fetched to draw a conclusion that the elementary
school in Smolenice shows all hallmarks of inclusive education, our interviews with
school leaders, teachers and parents indicate it is certainly on the right track. A crucial
stimulus in this direction was the school management’s decision to become childrenfriendly and include even those children who would otherwise have to attend special
schools for pupils with mental or physical disability. The current diversity of pupils
already allows the school to create the atmosphere of a joint community; gradual
involvement of other actors may be instrumental in materialising this ambition. The
school’s overall atmosphere together with its teachers’ engagement and willingness to
change things for the better makes this school more inclusive compared to most regular
primary schools in Slovakia.
The great number of projects in which the school participates is another indicator of its
progressive vision and endeavour to improve. For instance, the pupils’ conference that
is held annually at the Smolenice Castle is a unique opportunity for all pupils to present
their achievements and demonstrate their abilities in front of their teachers and parents.
At the same time, it grants voice to the children, which is another important factor of
inclusive education.
The included children with various learning disorders or disabilities are encouraged to
feel as members of the school’s academic community as they are fully involved in all of
its activities. Our observation revealed that mutual relations between regular and
included pupils are very good; the former help the latter and strive to accommodate
their needs without being told to. Friendly relations at the school are further cemented
during so-called project days when all the pupils and teachers meet, have fun together
and thus establish mutual bonds. In the course of a single academic year, for instance,
the children jointly wrote a school novel; they were assisted in this endeavour by a
renowned local author.
A very effective tool designed to improve communication with the parents is the
school’s official website. Not only can the parents find all necessary information on
recent developments at the school but can also use it to communicate with the teachers.
The website is regularly updated and allows the parents to follow their children’s
academic progress. The website also features various exercises, tests and other
activities the parents can use when studying with their children at home.
On the other hand, the respondents identified several areas for potential improvement.
According to the special pedagogue, the school tends to lack consistency and persistence
36
in its actions. For instance, the agreements on concrete improvements between the
teachers and parents are not always followed through.
Due to the immense bureaucratic burden that must be shouldered by teachers in
Slovakia, the school continues to lack the means to improve mutual relations and
cultivate the atmosphere of mutual respect and trust among all academic actors. It
seems extremely important to eliminate excessive bureaucracy in order to allow the
teachers to spend more time educating children, mediating conflicts and strengthening
mutual relations.
Some time ago, the school principal applied for a state budget subsidy to carry out a
project called “Respect and Be Respected”, which was aimed at improving mutual
relations between teachers, parents and pupils. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education
refused to support the project, arguing that the project’s target group (i.e. a single
primary school) was way too small.
Also, several teachers in our survey complained that they did not have enough time to
work with the children. The curricula stipulated by the Ministry of Education are so
broad and complex that the teachers do not have time to explain every subject matter
thoroughly to the pupils and discuss it with them long enough to arouse their interest
and make them understand it.
On the other hand, the school management certainly does not lack the drive for change,
which is an important prerequisite to improving the overall atmosphere even further
and heading toward greater inclusiveness.
Thanks largely to personal commitment of some of its teachers and managers, the
Smolenice elementary school can truly be described as a “welcoming school”. As we
have said, it is a completely ordinary village school that attracts the kind of pupils only
few other schools would want, mostly because of its engagement and altruism. Although
these children’s objective characteristics prevent them from helping the school rank
higher in comparative charts,8 the school welcomes them, works with them and helps
them achieve academic results they would hardly be able to accomplish elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the school cannot count on assistance and support on the part of the
municipality, the government and sometimes even the parents. An adequate
appreciation of its uneasy mission would undoubtedly motivate the school to step up its
endeavour and allow its teachers to enjoy their vocation a little bit more.
The charts are based on the single model of pupil testing, which motivates all Slovak schools to enrolling
especially the bright children who in turn help them achieve better results in this testing.
8
37
Case study no. 3
The School under the
Podhradie
Castle
in
Krásnohorské
Basic information about the town and the school
The primary school in Krásnohorské Podhradie, Pokroková street, is a local school and
one of the two in the town. It is situated under the castle dating from the14th century,
which is visible from the windows from the classrooms. It is spread over 5 buildings,
with 242 pupils in total, almost all of them bilingual (Romani and Slovak) or trilingual
(Romani, Slovak, Hungarian). The primary school of Krásnohorské Podhradie,
Pokroková street is the only primary school with the Slovak language curricula, while
the other school in the town have Hungarian as a language of instruction.
The school has traditionally been a local educational institution, welcoming all children
within the town district of Krásna Hôrka, whose population is currently around 40 % of
Slovak ethnicity and 60% Romani (of which around ¾ live in the local settlement).
However, due to the fact that parents can choose the school for their children, most of
the children from the majority population commute daily to the nearby city of Rožňava
(less than 10 km away). Therefore, even if historically the school had a variety of pupils
from different linguistic or ethnic backgrounds, the pupils of the school are nowadays
almost entirely of Romani origin, due also to the “white flight” phenomenon.
“15 years ago, we were the first school in the region to receive support – project
from the Open Society Foundation, aimed also at inclusion. Me and a colleague
from Bratislava, we went to Sofia for a big congress for young people from
Eastern Europe. Back then we had a ratio of 60 to 40, back then we could talk
about inclusion. We tried, we did not separate Roma and non-Roma classes. (...)
We had joys and worries, we were never perfect, nor we will be, but our
38
teachers would deserve the attention from the State, from the ministries to see
the conditions in which we have to work.” (School principal)
Roma and non-Roma relationships and the school in between
The relationships in the town of Krásnohorské Podhradie have been disrupted by an
event in 2012, when a large part of the castle was burned down. The fire was attributed
to two Romani boys who were playing with fire in the dry grass. The event has been
since then portrayed as a national tragedy with strong anti-Roma connotations. The
escalation of hateful sentiments towards the local Roma (and Roma in general) has been
intensified by the presence of the far right extremist party “Ľudová strana Naše
Slovensko” (People´s Party Our Slovakia) with Marian Kotleba as the leader of the party
(currently the chairman of the Banská Bystrica region). The group organizes yearly
demonstrations in the town as a “commemoration” of the event. However, the most
recent demonstration in 2015 were rather small, also due to the lose of interest of the
local residents of Krásna Hôrka.
While the fire in the castle disrupted the relationships in the town, the school
management responded very well by trying to protect their pupils from hatred and
distanced themselves from anti-Roma sentiments projected towards their pupils.
“Despite the burned castle you see here and Kotleba, despite all these issues, I think
that the cooperation was not bad here before. Surely it has been shattered by the
burning, the relationships became worse. (...) but we have to be here together all the
time and resolve day-to-day problems, not only big ones but also those that are
small. And the children should not be the ones to blame, not for their parents, not for
the politics. Because if the problems are long-term ignored on a higher, state level,
there is no effect here. And the children are those who suffer.” (School principal)
Moreover, the school tried to organize a powerful symbolic event – a “human chain” of
pupils and teachers from the school gate towards the castle, sending good energy
towards the renovation of the castle.
“When the castle was burned, we made a human chain of our pupils, we have sent
good energy to the castle...not everything went as we expected, we want to repeat it
again when the castle is renovated, to send a good energy, as a memento, so that it
will not happen again.” (School principal)
Organization of classes
The teaching in the school is organized in five buildings (with inside and outside sport
facilities), in classes from grade 0 to grade 9. The school also has one segregated class
for around 16 pupils with different disabilities, and around 15 pupils with disabilities
(including psychosocial disabilities or partial deafness) being integrated in to
mainstream classrooms. There are four teaching assistants (two of them through the
state financing) in classes, two of them in the zero grade.
39
The two zero grades are intended for children that are not yet advised to enter the first
grade where the education process of a primary school begins with a general curricula,
due to the lack of pre-primary education. There is also a lack of places in the
kindergarten in the town, a systemic problem in the country.
Some children have to learn Slovak as a second language, therefore the zero grade is
intended to help them with Slovak which is the official language of education. The
teachers thus regard the zero classes as beneficial and claim these pupils to be better
prepared for the first grade, even when compared to pupils that attended the
kindergarten. Despite this fact, zero grades are being criticized by non-governmental
organizations as a form of streaming of Romani children (who are the only ones
attending such classes), a separation that continues throughout the whole primary
school. However, as the pupils in the primary school in Krásnohorské Podhradie are
almost entirely of Romani origin, this aspect of streaming is not present at the school.
Teaching assistants, intended to help the teachers in the education process of the
Romani children from unprivileged background also help with the education of the
pupils with disabilitieswho are integrated in the mainstream classrooms. However,
there is still more support needed in order to successfully educate all children with
disabilities and special needs into mainstream classrooms, without the need to
segregate them into special classrooms, even if the process of educating them separately
seems more preferable for the teachers or the pupils themselves.
Atmosphere at the school
The primary school in Krásnohorské Podhradie can be characterized as a school with a
friendly atmosphere, with outside large green areas, sports facilities and openness of
space (a real benefit of having a school in a smaller town). Very friendly relationships
between the teachers, assistants and the school management add a feeling of
community. All teachers, assistants and the management themselves appreciate the
friendly relations, accessibility and mutual support.
40
“It is great when a person comes to the school in the morning and comes to a
collective of people, where one has friends and can talk and is supported.”
(Educational adviser and teacher)
“Overall, I can assess that this is a good school. The cooperation with the parents,
with the assistants, colleagues and counselling office is good. I have nothing bad to
say.” (Special pedagogue).
Even if the school buildings and the facilities are quite common as in other primary
schools, due to the efforts of the school management - especially the cooperaton with
Samsung - the school is very well equipped with modern technology. The school is
furnished with laptops, interactive boards and tablets that are being used to explain the
curriculum starting from the lowest grades, to the enjoyment of the pupils (and the
researcher). The introduction of the latest technologies at school seem to keep pupils
interested and focused and helps teachers to use more creative methods to enthuse the
pupils for the gaining of knowledge.
The school management
The principal of the school plays an important and active role in creating the accepting
atmosphere and focus on the ideals of democracy, humanity and tolerance. Due to the
fact that pupils are almost entirely of Romani origin and come from unprivileged
backgrounds, the school´s focus under the management is to reflect on the negative
stereotypes attributed to Romani pupils and try to support Romani pride. Even if all the
“adults” at school are aware and talk about the problems associated to the education of
disadvantaged Roma pupils, the teachers and management answer by trying to create a
supportive environment with a sense of school community. The school principal and a
deputy principal do talk about their pupils with honesty, pride in their achievements
and are guided by the humanist ideals and non-discrimination – virtues that are not to
be underestimated and taken for granted in the Slovak background. The management
sees their pupils as children in the first place, but also tries to protect them from the
hatred and negative comments for them being Romani. Such anchoring in the humanist
ideals and absence of racism, while reflecting on the education of unprivileged Romani
children is really what positively stands out in comparison with other schools.
The teachers themselves report beneficial relationships and the friendliness of the
school management:
41
“There is definitely a very good cooperation with the management. Surely there are
some problems. However, we are trying to agree. The principal accepts my teaching
guidance as a special educator. I have to say that when something occurs, we always
try to resolve it with him [the principal] and the deputy principal.” (Special
pedagogue)
“The principal is skilful and provides everything through the projects – we have
interactive boards, almost everyone has notebooks, he really tries that we have
everything.” (Teacher, lower grades)
The teachers in focus
Altogether, there are 21 teachers and 4 teaching assistants at the school. The principal
appreciates their endeavor in education, with some of the teachers being employed
there more than 15 years, thus reflecting also on the change of pupil´s composition. The
teaching assistants are much appreciated and understood as highly needed in order to
effectively educate children form unprivileged communities. The school management
also reflects on the lack of support and valuation of the teachers from the part of the
State:
“It is sad that these teachers are not valued and remunerated as much as they should
be. (...) I have to pay also two assistants, but the ideal would be if I had 6 – 7
assistants, there is not enough of them to help all teachers. (...) Look at the Finnish
model, they have 2 – 3 assistants in one classroom and 10 – 15 pupils like this, they
integrate them directly and they do not even have to have special classrooms, the
roles there are divided.” (School principal).
The role of the teaching assistants is, therefore, highly valued and necessary at
school.Sadly enough, finances for two of them have not been further approved by the
regional administration for the ongoing year. Taking in to account that there are also
pupils, for which classroom assistants, or personal assistants would be not only highly
beneficial, but also vital for safeguarding that they are not segregated due to their
disability, the lack of support from the State in teaching assistants, and even cut-backs in
their number is highly negative for the successful inclusion of children with various
special educational needs.
In addition to the teachers and teaching assistants, the school also employs a special
pedagogue that teaches pupils with disabilities in special classroom, four tutors for
after-school program for pupils in classes 0-4 and an educational adviser (who is also a
teacher).
The special pedagogue oversees education of children with disabilities in a separate
classroom as well as those integrated within mainstream classes and provides advice for
other teachers or parents.
The school puts focus on after-school programs for children up to class 4, that serves as
a place for catching-up on curriculum and a place to make homework, as well as general
after school leisure activities. Regarding the fact that for some pupils, this is the only
place where they do their homework, all teachers and tutors agreed that it would be also
needed for older pupils. Pupils from class 5 do not have a tutorship program, yet can
benefit from numerous after school clubs (f.e. sports, mathematics, drama, creativity,
environment or music).
The educational adviser serves as an important counsellor for older pupils in order for
them to choose well their future secondary education (the school is very successful in
encouraging their pupils to follow up on education). Some of the pupils follow on
grammar schools, pedagogy schools or commerce academies (mostly those from a
42
majority ethnicity). Romani pupils almost entirely follow up their secondary education
in the two schools in Rožňava, the nearest town, studying for a vocational three year
training, such as services or mechanics. One of the reasons why the pupils choose only
these schools is due to the fact that their parents are not sufficiently well-off for them to
pay larger travel or accommodation costs. Another reason is that the pupils tend to
choose easier subjects or follow their friends despite the fact that the vocational
occupations are not met with the job opportunities in the region.
The educational adviser created an interesting advisory technique. After seeing that the
parents of the pupils were not really interested in meeting representatives of the
secondary schools, the adviser invited former pupils, now in secondary education, to
talk about their own experiences after school. Listening to their friends or pupils of their
own age category helped them to choose more wisely, with references from practice and
not only from “brochures” of the schools.
“So they come to talk to us about how they are doing and those discussions are quite
beneficial, because they often tell the pupils much more than in the case of some
teacher or adviser form the school. And those pupils really do tell some curiosities
and interesting things from their own experience that the teacher would not tell.
And it is beneficial because our pupils then talk to them and it happened that some
changed their mind.” (Educational adviser and teacher).
In addition, the visits of the former pupils do help the teachers with feedback on their
work and provide them with satisfaction when the former pupils claim they have been
taught well and now are successful in the secondary school.
The primary school also recently helped two pupils with a fellowship for Romani pupils
in order to be able to attend pedagogical school in a city further away, thus being able to
financially cover the costs of secondary education.
In addition to permanent employees, the school is attended by a speech therapist(twice
a month). The special pedagogue expressed the need for a psychological assistant that is
missing (likewise in other primary schools).
The pupils in focus
The primary school in Krásnohorské Podhradie currently enrolls 242 pupils, who are
upon the estimates of the school 99% of Romani ethnicity. However, in terms of stated
ethnicity by the parents, 46 % are Slovak, 5 % are Roma and 49 % are of a Hungarian
ethnicity. A high majority of pupils come from families that are in material need and
therefore apply for financial assistance, such as lunches or after school activities (those
are paid by parents a small amount of money, such as 2 Eur/month).
Due to the fact that Romani is not a language of curricula in any primary school in
Slovakia, Romani pupils have to always study in Slovak or Hungarian. Those options are
also available in two primary schools in Krásnohorské Podhradie. Most of the pupils are
therefore bi- or trilingual from the early age. The primary education system also
includes a first compulsory foreign language (English. German or Russian in the school)
from the grade 3 and a second foreign language from the grade 7, which is according to
the school very challenging.
The primary school employs 4 pedagogical assistants (former so called Romani
pedagogical assistants) who also serve as assistants for the education of children with
disabilities that are integrated in mainstream classrooms.
The school in Krásnohorské Podhradie, as any other school that educates children with
different special pedagogical needs, would certainly benefit from a larger support of the
43
State, in the form of pedagogical support. However, the school management reported
the school will not be supported enough with the pedagogical assistants in the future,
after the cutbacks from the State for these special positions.
The school also asked for personal special assistants for the children with disabilities in
their school, however have been denied any such assistance from the State, which
curtails effective education and inclusion of children with disabilities in the classroom
without separating them outside or within the class.
Integrated thematic education
In lower grade, teachers apply integrated thematic education that entails cross-cutting
topics, through which the children learn different subjects. For example, one teacher for
a lower grade introduced the topic of Alice in the Wonderland at the beginning of the
school year. After watching the fairy tale with the kids, she uses the themes from Alice in
all subjects such as Mathematics or Reading. With the help of modern technologies and
most importantly, her own enthusiasm and kind approach to children, her class seems
to be really enjoying the learning process and the pupils are active and interested in the
process.
Regarding the changes in the composition of the school´s pupils, the teachers reported
the achievements and expectations have become lower. However, the legacy of a
successful school is much visible and the skills, attitude and motivation of the teachers
and management of the school is noticeable and interest in their pupils and their future
is very present.
Pupil Parliament
Representatives of the pupils from grades 4 to 9 (2 from each class) form a pupil
parliament that is being voted by their fellow classmates. The pupil representatives both
bring to the table and resolve troubles that the pupils are having and make and manage
some school activities.
One of the very interesting activities the pupil parliament manages is Slniečkovanie
(Sun-making) - a form of welcoming ritual for incoming pupils. In this activity, pupils
from grade 9 welcome pupils from grade 1, make a program for each other and create a
big paper sun with a color imprint of each small pupil´s hand and name. This paper sun
is then included in each class:
“It is an interesting activity, first grade pupils and nine graders come together; first
graders make program for them and then the 9 graders make program for the small
ones, they grab each other’s hands (...) so they know who is whose tutor and will take
care of them for the whole year (...) the small ones see them as authorities. (...) This
has been a tradition for more than ten years.” (School principal)
Another activity that the pupil parliament does annually is a charity collection for a
national cancer awareness and treatment organization, in which the pupils are very
active to the joy and pride of the school principal:
“Three years ago, despite the hard conditions we have here, we have been the best
school (in the region), that has collecting most money divided by the number of
pupils, I almost have tears in my eyes, because it made us feel so good.” (School
principal).
By these activities, the school aims to teach the children the ideas of empathy and
solidarity with others.
44
The activity of Sun-making seems to be also well enjoyed by the small pupils themselves
as it has been one of the main things they reported to be liking the most at school. Other
“most favorite things” included school technologies, informatics and green areas, trees
and flowers at school. The things small children did not like at all where connected to
the behaviour of older pupils: destroying facilities or pushing in corridors or outside and
fighting.
Older pupils, pupils relationships and truancy
The school management and teachers reported some troubles with pupils in higher
grades, mostly in the age the pupils attend classes 5 to 6 or in cases where the classroom
is almost entirely attended by boys.
“I have nine graders now, there are two classes, in one class, there is a very good
group of pupils, I can work there very well, they are trying their best and we will
miss them. In the other class, they are a bit worse with grades and behaviour, maybe
it is also that it is almost entirely a boys´ class. (...) In the beginning, when they were
attending grades 5 to 6, the teaching there was very hard, but now we were talking
that it seems they calmed down, maybe also because of the age, they want to work
more.” (Educational adviser and teacher).
The relationships between the pupils are reported to be good and friendly and when a
conflict arises, the head teachers of the classes try to resolve them with the children, or
also with the assistance of the educational adviser. In case the child is missing a lot of
classes, the school notifies the school commission of the town who tries to resolve the
problem with family. The educational adviser reported that the missing of high number
of classes also happens due to the financial reasons of the family:
“It is hard. For example, we have one family that is from Rožňava (a nearby town)
who moved from here and commute daily. And when they do not have money for a
bus, they will not come. It is hard, I believe, that when they do not have money for the
bus and they have 3 or 4 children here, at the end of the month they do not have the
finances to come to school.” (Educational adviser and teacher).
The reasons for a high number of missing classes are therefore according to the teachers
mainly due to the family reasons of their pupils. In case of more than 50 classes that
have been missed by a pupil, the school therefore notifies the town and with the help of
45
the director of the school, mayor and other people in the education commission, they
visit the child´s family. This approach is according to the school headmaster successful
in a less than half of the cases. There have been also some instances in which the school
had to ask the assistance of the police due to the behaviour of some higher grade pupils.
The special pedagogue also reported that in some cases the reduced curricula of the
special class increased the motivation and attendance of children who previously had
been missing a lot. The reason then seemed one of loss of motivation and it would then
be only beneficial that the school would be trying to apply an individualized approach to
each pupil, so the referral to special class is not needed. The flexibility and individual
approach to each pupil are necessary means for inclusion in education, though the State
does not allow or support much space in this area. The special school or special class
therefore seems beneficial for the pupils by reasons of limited possibilities to educate
children with special needs in mainstream classrooms.
Romani studies and cultural awareness
The school is engaged in numerous activities that encourage pride and knowledge in the
Romani identities of their pupils. Leisure activities include competitions in dancing or
Roma day (financed by the State project). In addition, the school curricula include
“Romani studies”, where the pupils are taught the history, culture or well-known
personalities of the Roma. School management´s idea is also to map the history of Roma
in the town with the help of the pupils as a form of awareness-raising of the Roma in the
town of Krásnohorské Podhradie:
“We want to make a history of the settlement in the town and Roma in general.(...)
We want to visit the oldest residents to gain informationand paint and make posters
about life of the Roma here from different perspectives.” (School Principal).
The school is proud on all the success of their current and past pupils and also supports
Romani pride which is to be appreciated very much and serves as a practice to be
followed. The school management also criticizes and is concerned about any instances of
racism or condemnation of their pupils, for example in cases of anti-Roma
demonstrations in town or hate speech on the web pages of their school. In some
instances, it is also former pupils of the majority population that show their back
towards their former classmates of Romani origin, events that show to be very sensitive
and harmful.
The teacher-pupils relations
Even if the time we spent at the school has been limited, the visits in the classrooms
during the classes, leisure activities and interviews with the teachers and small pupils
show high skills, motivation of the teachers, their interest in the children and empathy
with the difficulties they encounter due to the fact of being from unprivileged
backgrounds. The teachers seem to be also counsellors to their pupils and try to help
them with their personal problems:
“When we see they have troubles, or are sad, because of i.e. their parents went
through a divorce, we have many children like this, and really when I teach in that
class and I see something is wrong with the pupil, so the head teacher of the class or
me, we ask whether there is something wrong with the pupil. And if they want, they
talk to us.Or their fellow classmates talk to us, so when they want some help we help
them in case it is not a family matter that is too personal.” (Educational adviser and
teacher).
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In some instances it however seems that the teachers lost their motivation or patience
and were experienced to talk to the children in a very demeaning or insulting way. This
fact have been highlighted also by some parents. While it might be understood that the
teachers work in hard conditions and in challenging situations, such attitudes should be
entirely avoided, especially in case of very small children that can stay highly
traumatized and harmed.
The school is nevertheless to be thanked for many motivated, skilled and creative
teachers and management that work at the school for many years and try their best in
educating their pupils. This is to be underlined also due to the fact that some teachers
decided to leave the school after the change in its composition.
In questioning what are their pupils best qualities, the special pedagogue said:
“Strong qualities? Firstly that they come to school. That is of a high importance. They
are ambitious, friendly and you can build a nice relationship with them. And we
don’t take importance in that they are Roma and the teachers are white. I think that
is important as well.” (Special pedagogue)
The teachers show to be also empathic towards the daily problems their pupils might
have:
“Some of them have problems with hygiene, they do not even have basic resources
that they should have, and they do not have a good environment at home, care or
help of their parents. I don´t talk about everyone, because there are also normal
ones, but there are more of those that need help. (...) it is hard for me to look at them.
Lately I brought some clothes I do not need anymore.“(Teaching assistant)
The school, the parents, the community
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The attitude and communication between the school and the parents is rather limited.
The school management and teachers report lack of interest on the part of the parents in
the education of their children (although individual experiences vary, there are some
parents who are highly interested, there are some who have not been seen at the school
yet and tutors report that a high percentage of the parents are interested and talk to
them).
“Parents who have work also have possibilities, (...) we see this on the care of the
children. That those families are better well-off, they have more possibilities to invest
in their children, I do not think only financially, but in general, they have possibilities
that the majority do not have. (...) But there is a high unemployment not only of
minority, but also of majority. (..) I wanted to say really that it would be much better
if they have some possibilities to work.” (School Principal)
On the other hand, parents report a lack of information from the part of the school, for
example in cases of unscheduled holidays or school events. Some troubles between the
school and the parents therefore might stem from a lack of communication and
understanding. The parents suggested that they had some notice-board at the entrance
where all the announcements would be posted for an easy access for all the parents.
What is to be also recommended is that, even if perhaps complicated, the school should
not close itself to the parents. The school understands this as a form of “protection” of
the children, i.e. in discouraging the parents from coming for their small children earlier,
while the after-school is the only place where the child does its homework, or not
inviting the parents to school events:
“We had balls with the presence of the parents but according to the responsible
person from the cultural house, there was a big mess afterwards. You do not do the
event for the parents to feel well, but for the children.” (Tutor)
The school therefore stopped inviting the parents for the school completely, which is of
course critically understood by the parents:
“I am annoyed by that, because lately they had an event here in the gym and I asked
my daughter, whether the mothers can come and see their children. Because it had
been a custom that they could come. She said that the teacher told her that no one
can come. And I said how that is possible? I want to see you! So I couldn´t go there
and I did not like it. It is not good like this.” (Mother of a lower grade child)
As in any other school, the representatives of the parents are also meeting regularly in
the school in the form of a Parent´s school board and the cooperation with the school is
reported to be good. There are also many parents that are said to have very good
relationship with the school, especially in case where the teacher knows how to reach to
them. It might then be highly beneficial and welcomed that the school finds some
compromise, maybe with the help of the active parents, and the mothers can come to
see their children performing.
The parents also reported that they do not know what to teach to their children and lack
information about how to improve the performance of their children at school. The
school tries to resolve this by afternoon activities, where the children (though only until
grade 4) make their homework. According to their experience, it is the only place where
the child does their homework as the parents do not assist them at home.
„I do agree with the parents that they will read together, so they read for example
for a month and then it stops again. But a great advantage here are after-school
activities. I cannot imagine how this school would work without that. Because they
do lot of their homework there. So it is good that all our pupils in lower grades go to
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after-school activities. Even if it is paid, I think it is for 2 Eur/ month but the parents
are willing to pay that.” (Special pedagogue)
It is visible that the parents would like to assist their children and are interested in their
good performance, however, there is a lack of necessary information or assistance from
the part of the school on how to do that or what exactly their child has done wrong. This
suggests that both parents and school expect a pro-active role from the other part and
do not meet in the middle. It is then to be suggested that the school, as a provider of
education should be the one to play the role that as more active, at least in providing
necessary information even to those parents that do not come to pick their children (i.e.
in form of notes and suggestions sent to parents).
Conclusion
The primary school in Krásnohorské Podhradie is an open and aspiring school with
motivated, friendly and mostly tolerant staff. The sense of community is seen and felt at
the school or even at the canteen, where teachers eat side by side to the pupils
(researcher does not remember their teachers doing so). While the school works in
challenging conditions and lacks the support of the State that is crucial for adequate and
efficient inclusive education, it is valued that they try to stay focused and motivated on
education. While it is clear that the school cannot yet be seen as inclusive, the
management and teachers are to be encouraged for further development of individual
capacities, dreams and skills of their pupils.
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