In the line of major changes in the general educational system in Europe, teachers as well as pedagogical helpers need concepts and practical guidelines to work with inclusive classes and courses. By using animal assisted therapy, students with special needs can design their school career individually and more effectively in Europe. Animal assisted therapy can lead to better concentration, a goal oriented way to deal with aggression, better reading abilities, a positive influence on self-perception as well as the perception by other people, on communication-, relationship- and language skills. The right use of animal assisted therapy can therefore have a positive influence on any student´s school career . The main goal of this project is the involvement of animal assisted therapy in the support of students' special needs. It is supposed to improve the development of relationships, improvement of learning, social participation and professional qualification. Researching didactic and methodical basics of animal assisted therapy in secondary schools in Europe is meant to lead to the advancement of quality and efficiency of general European education, especially in inclusive classes, minimize social differences, and strengthen social solidarity in Europe. Animal assisted therapy as a holistic educational approach requires interdisciplinary work and interdisciplinary proceedings. In the course of the project, different didactic and methodical approaches as well as methods of teaching and learning will be tested and evaluated by the 'Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland'. The results will then be bundled into a European guideline for animal assisted therapy in classes including students with special needs. The work in this project will be accompanied by first steps leading to the creation of a European centre for the development of professional skills in the area of animal assisted therapy in Blankenheim in cooperation with our partners. This centre will offer support for teachers of all kinds of schools from all over Europe. Following the 'best practice' principle, this centre will offer a platform to discuss the most successful didactic and methodical approaches of animal assisted therapy and simulate them in workshops.
In the line of major changes in the general educational system in Europe teachers as well as pedagogical helpers need new concepts and practical guidelines to work with inclusive classes and courses. By using animal assisted education, students with special needs can design their school career individually and more effectively in Europe. Animal assisted education can lead to better concentration, a goal oriented way to deal with aggressions, better reading abilities, a positive influence on self-perception. Researching didactic and methodical basics of animal assisted education in secondary schools in Europe is meant to improve the quality and efficiency of general european education, minimize social differences, and strengthen social solidarity in Europe. A european manual for animal assisted education in classes and a documentary film with some impressions of our work are the main results of the two year project work. During the project different educational and methodological approaches were tested at Gesamtschule Eifel in Blankenheim (Germany), Neue Mittelschule Markt Allhau (Austria) and Instituto Comprensivo Alfonso gatto in Battipaglia/Salerno (Italy) under scientific monitoring by Prof. Harald Mandle and his team from Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland. The results of this project are collected in a manual of animal assisted education (see upload of documentation). The manual can be downloaded from TWINSPACE (tttps://twinspace.etwinning.net/9450/home). It’s available as well from the homepage of Gesamtschule Eifel (https://gesamtschule-eifel.de/internationals/Erasmus.) A printed version is available from the office of Gesamtschule Eifel (Finkenberg 8,53945 Blankenheim). The core of the manual is a collection of short projects about animal assisted education and their evaluations. The projects were realized in secondary schools with the help of the dogs Saga, Bilbo, Bluena and some rabbits and horses. In addition to the projects you can find an overview of the projects, newsletters and abstracts of the meetings held in Blankenheim, Salerno and Markt Allhau. Excerpts of the bachelor thesis by Austrian student Saskia Taborsky are also included. Supervised by the NMS Markt Allhau a film trailer and a short film with impressions of the projects were produced (see upload of documentation). Both can be downloaded from the homepage of Gesamtschule Eifel (http://gesamtschule-eifel.de/internationales/erasmus), from TWINSPACE (https://twinspace.etwinning.net/9450/home)