Today the Seminar on the basic principles of Portage has started in Pskov.
First, we talk about the fact that the method appeared in the USA in the 70s of the last century and is now successfully used in more than 20 countries of the world, including Japan, Great Britain, for example, And despite the difference in cultures and traditions of different countries (somewhere eat with a spoon and fork, and somewhere with their hands), the Portage system allows you to teach children with TMNR more than 640 skills of an infant, cognition, movement, speech and communication, self-service and socialization.
Today they taught to determine the initial profile of the child – which skills have been worked out, which ones are at the stage of emergence, and which skills are missing and can be put into the work plan,
We talked about the importance of partnership with the child’s family and other professionals, For example, in Portage, we recognize that the capabilities of one specialist are not limitless and cannot be sufficient to help the child and when the opportunities, the specialist’s knowledge ends, that is, the system of involving other specialists and how it works, This is both a huge plus for the child and his family, and an excellent help in the prevention of specialist burnout. After all, even now, for 1 speech therapist, there are 100 children in an institution, but it should be different,
Much attention was paid to the issues of the correct description of the child’s behavior, because there are still labels in society that stigmatize children with disabilities. However, with the right consideration of the meaning that people put into “hanging” labels, you can better understand what exactly is meant, what kind of specific behavior. And this specific information becomes a resource for the development and assistance of the little person.
And of course, a special topic is the correct setting of pedagogical goals. Portage has a special formula for setting a goal, and this is a standard that allows you to get guaranteed results,
The participants of the seminar were greeted with an opening speech by Andrey Mikhailovich Tsarev, head of the Center for Curative Pedagogy and Differentiated Education in Pskov. He noted how he appreciates and how important it is that the specialists of the center and the orphanage present at the seminar continue to improve their qualifications and study different and new methods of working with children with disabilities.
Thanks to Nina Weddell and Ekaterina Krasnokutskaya for the elaborate presentations for the trainers and the new edition of the Participant’s Manual and the Trainer’s Manual!
Thanks to Elena Volodina and Nina Weddell for preparing and organizing the seminar!
Great start!
