A special school in Pașcani, where many children with autism also study, was awarded by the European Commission in the “European Innovative Teaching Award”. The teachers were rewarded for their innovative teaching methods, which help the little ones to develop, socialize and integrate better into the community. The fact that the Romanian school entered the European Commission’s “viewpoint” proves only one thing: if you want, you can!
Pottery therapy, a success for children with special needs. Source: Andrei Barbir
“Art therapy for Autism”, the project with which the Pașcani Special Secondary School presented itself to the Commission, is a strategic partnership developed in the period 2020-2023 and which had a budget of over 164,000 euros, European money. “Our partners were schools from Turkey, Greece, North Macedonia, Poland and Latvia. We decided to establish a pottery workshop. The other countries focused on other activities”, Andrei Barbir, psychopedagogical teacher in the educational unit and coordinator of the Commission for European projects and projects with external funding, told “Adevărul”. Pottering, continues the teacher, is a relaxing, calming activity, a real therapy through which children learn to coordinate their movements, be patient, socialize, learn what teamwork means and how to integrate more easily into a community.
“Clay listens to us if we give it time and touch”
All school children participate in the pottery workshop, from the youngest to the oldest. “We have 18 classes and 120 students that we take from the preparatory class and take them up to the 10th grade. We are talking about children with severe and related mental impairments, many of them children with autism“, the director of the educational unit, Zinica Lungu, also told us. “In the morning we have a teaching program and in the afternoon a therapy program. It is a special education program. They do additions, subtractions, they go to the cognitive domain, autonomy, language and communication, mathematical skills. But we are very proud of our pottery workshop and the wonders that come out of our children’s hands“, the director also told us.
Pottery helps children integrate more easily into society. Source: Andrei Barbir
“I did everything step by step. In the beginning, we, the teachers, learned to work with clay. Then, I also taught the little ones. Now we make all kinds of figurines together. But our story begins 10 years ago when we obtained a source of funding through an NGO”, continues the coordinator of the program, Andrei Barbir.
“Initially we had two electric wheels. But it was difficult for the children because it involved hand-foot coordination. We have two more kilns, we have glazes, clay processing tools, clay presses. With us, the working hour is 45 minutes, and the children come to the workshop once or twice a week. And they really like it. It’s one of their favorite activities.”
Although at first sight pottery would seem like just a simple game, at the Special School in Pașcani this activity is a very serious one. “We wanted to find out what, concretely, are the benefits of this activity regarding children with special needs. It’s art therapy, which is why we tried to find out what progress our students make over the course of a year. Other participating countries chose, for example, dance therapy, melotherapy, theater therapy, puppet making, painting, etc. We potter. And we do it with passion. Because clay listens to us if we give it time and touch.” the teacher also said.
Several steps were strictly followed in the project. “We developed an evaluation grid with which we measured four dimensions: communication and language, socialization and development. This grid was applied to two groups of children. Initially, they underwent an evaluation, and then I worked with the experimental group for a year. Then I did another assessment. And a progress was noticed”. The children who attended the pottery classes became much more open, developed their motor skills, managed to manipulate the objects around them much better, developed their personal autonomy, gained confidence in themselves and managed to communicate better .
Professor Andrei Barbir is the coordinator of the art therapy project. Source: Andrei Barbir
The premiere will take place next month. “We are waiting in Brussels”
Unfortunately, the teacher says, the world is changing, there are more and more children with problems, and we as a society and school must support them with adapted and personalized services. “Our project ended last fall. Then followed the final report and evaluation of the final report. And here we obtained over 70 points, which took us to the last evaluation phase, at the national level. In June I was contacted by a representative of the National Agency for projects in the field of education and professional training. I was told that our school entered the last evaluation phase, then I was told that we were winners and will represent Romania further on”.
The premiere will take place in Brussels, in November, where Romania will receive its award at a dinner. From 2020 until now, the Special School in Pașcani has accessed almost 500,000 euros through projects with European funding. The same prize was awarded to the “Ciupercuța” Kindergarten in the 4th sector of the Capital, which won in the “Education and care of preschool children” category ” for the “Amazing Children, Amazing Nature” (ACAN) project.
Introduced in 2021, the award for innovative teaching is awarded based on four criteria: methodologies used, innovation environments, the role of teachers, impact and results. The award recognizes the contribution of the Erasmus+ Program to the European Education Area, as well as the importance of cooperation and networking between schools in Europe, explains the Ministry of Education. In 2024, the central theme was “Well-being in school”, which reflects the educational efforts that contribute to the creation of a healthy and inclusive school environment.
