A lot has changed in recent years in the context of inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities. In both countries, part of of the school population of special schools is passed to the regular school circuit. That is a very useful measure for those children who cope with the step. In Belgium we have the M decree, in Bulgaria the special schools turned into "centers for educational support". In both cases, this represents a major adaptation of the target group (all students who receive education in the special schools after the change).This change makes only children who need a lot of support, remain in schools for special education. In Bulgaria and in Belgium the special schools and "centers for educational support" will focus on children with very special needs. Children with autism with mental retardation possibly with a behavior disorder, children with multiple disabilities, children with severe or profound mental handicap possibly with a behavioral disorder. Children for whom the mainstream school has no appropriate response.For special schools in Bulgaria and Belgium this change has very serious consequences. What is a good step for the students may have adverse effects on teachers. For some teachers, it is very difficult that there is less visible result of their efforts (most students will never learn to count or read), other teachers are afraid of the unexpected reactions of the students, are afraid of possible aggression towards them. In addition, the schools that educate teachers to a career in special education, often do not have much knowledge of these target groups. It is important that teachers have sufficient knowledge and skills to teach these children. A good knowledge of the (limited) potential of children, gives confidence to the teacher, creates more job satisfaction and prevent burnout.During this project, we create a manual for beginning teachers. Or for teachers who have to get used to a new audience in the classroom. The new handbooks will include methodologies, best practices, experiences of experienced teachers, theory, etc. A key component is the search for suitable learning objectives for these children. The cognitive abilities of some children are so small that it is very difficult to determine what they can learn.We are confident that both schools can support each other in acquiring new knowledge and skills. The schools have the same goal: education for children with disabilities, but working from their own culture and their own context. There we find the value.We want to work around four themes.- Education of children with autism and an intellectual disability, possibly with a behavioral disorder (bulgaria item)- Education of children with very severe or profound mental disability, possibly with a behavioral disorder (flemish item)- Education of children with a severe behavioral disorder (bulgaria item)- Sexual education of children with severe intellectual disabilities, possibly with autism and / or behavioral problems. (flemsih item)Each of the schools has special professional experience in two of these items. The school is responsible for the manual for the item in wich the school has a special professional experience.During the project is attention to educational practice. Training is given and the progress of the investigation of the four items is discussed, during the transnational meetings or during Skype conversationsThe whole process is supervised by three external auditors. The results of the process are (after a symposium in Plovdiv) freely available to everyone.The search for new forms of education for these children is impossible without involving the stakeholders. Therefore, parents, parent associations, and representatives of the mainstream schools and specialists are invited to participate in this project
• Context/background of the project; Part of the school population of special schools is passed to the regular school circuit. In Belgium we have the M decree, in Bulgaria the special schools turned into "centres for educational support". In both cases, this represents a major adaptation of the target group. This change makes only children who need a lot of support, remain in schools for special education. The special schools and "centres for educational support" will focus on children with very special needs. We have to adapt our visions and educational methods. It is important that teachers have sufficient knowledge and skills to teach these children. • Objectives; We created manuals for beginning teachers and teachers who have to get used to a new target group in the classroom. The handbooks included methodologies, best practices, experiences of experienced teachers, theory, etc. The manual provides an initial security for the teachers who work with these children for the first time. We made clear to teachers what knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to teach these children, to stay motivated and to have satisfaction in daily work. We looked for achievable learning outcomes for very weak students. Together with the parents we looked for other types of learning outcomes. We investigated whether the current school system has led to behaviour problems. How can we adapt the classroom / school system so we see fewer behaviour problems. • Number and profile of participating organisations; VBS Sint-Franciscus is a primary and nursing school. Together with BuSO Sint-Franciscus (Secondary school) and BuLO Sint-Franciscus they form the VZW scholen Sint-Franciscus. At this moment the VZW have 539 students and about 200 staff-members. They give education for children from 2,5 till 21 years old 3 types of education for children with moderate and severe disability, severe emotional and / or behavioural problems, autism spectrum disorders. The school is a key provider of special education in the region and the only school offering education to children with multiple disabilities and children with severe mental disability. The school specializes in teaching children with autism. The school Stefan Karadza was founded in 1952. At present there are 110 children and 44 staff members, 30 of them are pedagogical staff. During the project the school is reformed to a centre for special educational support. • Description of undertaken main activities; We wrote a starters manual for the items: - Relational and Sexual Education (for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities). - Education of children with AUTISM and intellectual disabilities. - Education of children with a severe behavioural disorder. - Education of children with severe multiple disabilities Preparation of the 4 transnational meetings. Organising a symposium in Plovdiv. • Results and impact attained; For the schools: Teachers will be inspired to think about inclusion for these children. We found that a better understanding of the disability and the deviant behaviour motivates the teachers to find a place in society for these children. By having manuals there is more job satisfaction for teachers. They remain more motivated, less burnout. The project improved the image of the special school in Plovdiv For the teachers: The teachers from the two schools are very motivated to think together about educational problems with these children. The manuals provided more certainty to (beginning) teachers. The way in which they can respond to an acute crisis, gives them confidence. The dissatisfaction of teachers in connection with the changing target decreases, so that they will find joy in their work. For the children: The children were provided with a better support of the development. For the participating parents, it was an opportunity to have a voice in the way in which their children are educated. After the symposium we get during the workshops a lot of good reactions of the participants. They were very curious and asked a lot of questions about visions and materials they found in the manuals. • If relevant, longer-term benefits. The image of the schools for special education will be improved . For parents of children with very high care from our schools: they influenced the way of working in the school and together we looked for customized learning goals. They are an essential stake holder. The project is an important link between the schools for special and mainstream education. The professional knowledge built up over years in the special schools, will not be lost. The school is (even more than now) a specialist school for children with very serious problems. They offer their professional knowledge to the other schools in the area. The manuals will be given to schools for teachers (Appointments are made in connection with internships)