A smile is a positive piece of information we receive through nonverbal communication, but for a person with visual impairment it represents a lost piece of information in human interactions. »SMILE too« is an Erasmus+ project within Strategic Partnership for School Education and a follow up of the SMILE! School education Staff mobility programme meaning Social Skills Make Inclusive Life Easier. Professionals in six partner organisations from different parts of Europe, namely Royal Dutch Visio – The Netherlands, GOA – The Czech Republic, Jordanstown School - Northern Ireland, Royal Blind School – Scotland, Lega del Filo d'Oro Onlus – Italy and The Centre IRIS – Slovenia, all working in the field of education for children and young people with visual impairment, believe that social skills represent the key competences having an important impact on the behaviour, self-esteem and acceptance in society of the ultimate target group, being children and young people with visual impairment. Education in inclusive settings or mainstream schools is becoming the prevalent form of education for this group of special needs in most of the countries in the partnership. The main purpose of inclusive forms of education is supposed to be social integration but some results show that expectations do not meet the reality. Moreover, in spite of the effort professionals put into this area of work we cannot be satisfied with the results. The process of developing social competences for children and young people with visual impairment deserves a special attention. Due to loss of sight it differs considerably from the one their sighted peers undergo. The most important feature is that they cannot learn through imitation and a constant support is needed. The focus of the project is on empowering the whole system with and around the child. We, professionals, need strong partners and allies and we have found them in parents/guardians of children and young people with visual impairment and in teachers and other professionals in mainstream schools/inclusive education settings. In the project the two groups represent two direct target groups, the stakeholders, where we follow two goals. Firstly, the awareness about the importance of developing social competences should be raised and secondly, the stakeholders should be empowered to be able to contribute to the process with effective methods of solution-oriented approaches. The main outputs of the project are two training programmes specifically designed, one for the parents/guardians and the other for teachers and other professionals in inclusive education settings with modules appropriate to the age and other circumstances, e.g. teachers in boarding schools. Materials with guidelines and videos with practical advice to support our presentations will be produced. In the future these two training programmes will become part of the improved service partner organisations offer to support inclusive forms of education. However, to be able to produce effective training programmes, professionals involved in the project must acquire new knowledge especially in growth mind-set theory and solution oriented approaches to design good training programmes and new skills how to produce qualitative videos, which are often more illustrative than thousands of words. They need to find answers for some professional dilemmas they face in their daily practice. New observation tools – an interview form and a questionnaire, started in SMILE! and finalised in SMILE too will be used to obtain relevant information about the state of social skills of children and young people with visual impairment and thus provide information to set goals for our work in the future. The ultimate target group, being children and young people with visual impairment, will benefit the changes in long term. Social competences is not something that can be changed very quickly, but if the state of social competences is assessed (the tools of observation), individual plans are tailored on the base of this assessment and the environment is aware of the needs and stakeholders are conscious of their role in the process and have the knowledge to assist it, little by little all activities might result in better social inclusion. For the ultimate target group this means that they become active participants in society, enter the labour market on equal terms with their sighted peers, and have a better quality of life in general.
Raise the awareness about the importance of developing social competences in the ultimate target group at different levels: - Within professionals in partner organisations, especially those who support inclusion. - In inclusive education settings, e.g. teachers of children with VI, psychologists. - Within parents of children with VI. - Through dissemination activities draw attention to this area within different stakeholders in partner organisations’ countries and wider in Europe. Provide materials and training programmes which will enhance - professionals in partner organisations assess social competences to set the goals in individual plans more adequately, - professionals in inclusive education settings to obtain knowledge and skills to pay more attention and develop social skills constantly in their environment, - parents of children with VI to be better equipped with knowledge and skills to support the development adequately. Turn the approach of professionals into more solution oriented and open mindset one. During the project we expanded our focus to the target group of children with VI and severe additional needs (MDVI)/deafblindness. We estimate the changes will cause long term benefits for the ultimate target group.
The opinion of professionals working with the ultimate target group, which is children and young people with visual impairment (VI), in partner organisations is that social skills represent the key competences having an important impact on their behaviour, self-esteem and their acceptance in society. The process of developing social competences for children and young people with visual impairment deserves a special attention. Due to loss of sight it differs considerably from the one their sighted peers undergo. They cannot learn through imitation, besides information given by nonverbal communication is lost. Consequently, they can display inappropriate social skills, are often misunderstood and their behaviour is indulgently tolerated in society which alienates them from the final objective: being an active participant in society, entering the labour market on equal terms with their sighted peers, and having a good quality of life. The data were confirming that social competences do not receive adequate attention especially in inclusive education settings due to lack of awareness, and knowledge how to approach and deal with the area appropriately. The project aims to change the situation addressing different target groups.