“The Power of Animal-Assisted Interventions” is a 21 months' project that is coordinated in Lithuania with a partnership among Macedonia, Turkey, Portugal and Slovenia. Numerous studies have proved the benefits of animal-assisted interventions for school aged children, particularly children with the autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit, speech and learning difficulty, psychiatric problems, and developmental retardation. Animal assisted program is an alternative path for students with special needs. Our objectives are: 1. To facilitate learning difficulties, to develop reading, speaking, math, social skills, to improve personal progress, learning motivation, academic success and self-confidence of students with various disabilities or special needs using animal assisted programs. 2. To integrate animal-supported educational programs into the curriculum. 3. To explore the best practices and experiences with animal-supported interventions, and the usage of various activities encompassed different animals in different environments. 4. To encourage teachers to use innovative, effective and creative teaching methods and techniques. 5. To increase teachers professionalism and strengthen the competences of in the European dimension on integration of animals into the educational process. 6. To raise the quality standard of our institutions and to cooperate more in the international dimension. Four teachers from each partner school will participate in learning, teaching and training activities. Transnational meetings include special education teachers, psychologists, teachers who have disabled students and staff to benefit from animal-assisted education in the coming years. During the 21 months project, there will be 80 mobilities from partner schools (16 mobilities for each school). The main activities of the project are: presentation of partner schools, cities and countries, interviews with therapists and parents who have disabled students, dog therapy, equine assisted interventions, dolphin assisted therapy, classroom activities with animals, teaching activities with birds, rabbits and fishes, preparing effective lesson plans which include animal assisted activities, exchange of good practices. We will use methods such as therapy programs, observation, teamwork, sharing good practices, teaching using creative methods, interview, seminar, and surveys. The concrete results we would like to produce are: -More positive attitude and motivation towards learning, reduced feeling of depression or anxiety. -Students with special needs will boost their listening/understanding skills, attentiveness and positive social behavior. -The quality of students’ social interaction, communication with peers and adults, fine motor skills, coordination and motivation will be improved due to animal assisted activities. -Animal assisted education will ensure physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functions of special needs students. -The best methods and experiences will be discovered in animal assisted interventions and the usage of different activities that included various animals in a variety of environments. -Our schools’ capacity and quality will be increased on academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. -This project will help teachers identify key steps in effectively using such activities to teach socially important behaviors to students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and autism. -The competence and professionalism of teachers will improve through the exchange of good practice and participation in activities at animal-assisted therapy centers and partner schools. With this project, the participants will learn various methods about animal-assisted education using different animals. So, interaction with animals will provide important contributions to the social, emotional and physical development of students and help develop their skills. Learning, teaching, training activities will bring the international dimension to the professional development of participants. The participants will have a deeper knowledge and experience on animal-assisted programs in the European dimension. They will use this experience and knowledge in their professional life. Thus, they will improve the quality of life of students with disabilities and facilitate their social integration. Participating schools will become higher quality educational institutions with staff that have learned different practices in the European dimension in the field of animal assisted interventions and activities, have participated in human-animal interaction programs for professionals. They will be able to solve emotional, social, physical and mental problems of students with learning difficulties. Partner institutions will continue to provide school-based animal-assisted education and improve the learning environment further.
“The Power of Animal-Assisted Interventions” was a 36 months' project coordinated in Lithuania with a partnership among North Macedonia, Turkey and Portugal. All planned Learning, Teaching and Training Activities were implemented. 67 participants (special education teachers, teachers who have disabled and special needs students, school administrators) took place in LTTA activities and 500 local participants (teachers, parents, students, speech therapists, teachers’ assistants, therapists of animal-assisted therapy centers, psychologists, local media). The main activities of the project were: presentation of partner schools, educational systems, cities and countries, interviews with therapists and parents who have disabled students, dog therapy, equine assisted interventions, dolphin assisted therapy, classroom activities with animals, teaching activities with rabbits, birds and fish, preparation of effective lesson plans which include animal assisted activities, exchange of good practices. We used methods such as animal-assisted therapy programs, therapy and lessons observation, sharing good practices, teaching using creative methods, seminars, interview, and surveys. The concrete results we produced are: 1. The project’s logo. 2. The project’s website. 3. Animal assisted education handbook for parents and educators. 4. The booklet of lesson plans. 5. The conference "Animal Assisted Education for Disabled Students". 6. eTwinning project “The Power of animal Assisted Interventions”. 7. Questionnaires to evaluate the quality of each LTTA activity and to measure the impact of animal-assisted therapy on students. 8. Videos, which demonstrate the impact of animal-supported activities on students. The dissemination of the project was done by local, regional, national and international levels. This project raised the quality standard of our institutions and cooperation in the international dimension. The competence and professionalism of teachers were improved through the exchange of good practice and participation in activities at animal-assisted therapy centres and partner schools. The best methods and experiences were discovered in animal assisted interventions and the usage of different activities that included various animals in a variety of environments. The participants got a deeper knowledge and experience on animal-assisted programs in the European dimension, saw the impact of animal-assisted therapy on students, learnt various methods and different techniques of animal-assisted education or programs using dogs, equines, dolphins, birds, fish and rabbits. Due to this project, teachers are able to integrate different animal-supported educational programs into the curriculum and to produce new methods and plans. They used and will use this experience and knowledge in their professional life. Animal-assisted therapies improved the quality of life of students with disabilities. Were affected areas of disabled students such as motor skills, sensory processing, emotional, social, cognitive, educational, and behavioural skills, ensured positive emotions. The animal-supported integration into the curriculum showed a great impact on students with difficulties and special needs. Students, who interacted with the animals, had learned faster and retained the information better. It helped to develop reading, speaking, and maths, social skills, to improve personal progress, academic success and self-confidence. Students boosted their learning motivation, attentiveness, comprehension and interest. It increased positive social behaviour and self-esteem, reduced feeling of depression or anxiety. Hyperactive students became more concentrated and calmer. The LTTA and surveys showed the substantiated impact of animal-assisted intervention on students. But we understood that these activities must be done regularly to seek the long-term impact. Partner institutions continue to provide school-based animal-assisted education and improve the learning environment further. We will use lesson plans with animals in the coming years, which we prepared via partnership during this project and aim to create new lesson plans – at least 1 by each partner school. We will cooperate with parents and animal-assisted therapy centers and benefit from the therapist's programs on appropriate terms. The partner schools will contact psychologists and therapists for the development of students with difficulties and invite them to school. We will plan seminars on “Animal Assisted Interventions at Home” for parents who have children with disabilities after the project’s end. After the end of the project, in 2022 December, we aim to meet in TwinSpace application on a similar issue with our European colleagues and share our experience for the sustainability of the project. Anyone who wants is be able to reach into the results and outcomes on partner schools’ websites and project’s website and can use or download project’s materials.