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Mental Healthcare at Kindergarten

2020-1-HU01-KA229-0787732020School Exchange Partnershipsfinalized
Countries: HU|RO|SK · Grant: €85,740
Health and wellbeingInternational cooperation, international relations, development cooperationResearch and innovation

Project summary

We continue the corporate work based on the already finished ERASMUS+"CSEPP” competition’s experiences and vocational elements. The children's, parents', educators' mental health consist in a focus again, but highlighted with targeted family therapy skills with spotlighting family protection viewpoints. After establishing the confidental contact between the family and kindergarten, the two projects acquaints the familiy’s homeostatic/dysfunctional symptoms the with partners, it helps to recognize and identify the related symptoms, makes a comparison in terms of generations, and tries to find the trans-generation consequences spanning the generations. This is important knowledge of the educators’ vocational competence, since nowadays the family functions has been changed, the family's strength giving emotional safety faded, lost, the children are anxious and fighting with different types of psychic and behaviour problems, which can lead to learning difficulties, deviance and dropping out of school. The difficulties in the families generate pathological processes, and they appear in the institutions' everyday life, not only working with the children, but in connection with collaborating with the parents. The child groups' dynamics is is fraught with difficulties; the parents, children and educatos barely have constructive solutions, and effective strategy. Their professional development in the topic is essential, not only on the level of the acute interventions, but the long-distance child and family support, and keeping their own motivation, verificate their competence and respect, avoiding burn out for the sake of the efficient helping process. Important elements of the application are children's needs-based preschool education and organization and its children's rights questions. These are all the fundamental questions of the children's development and well being in the long run! Participants of the project are high trained special examination drama educator, equal opportunity specialist, family therapist, and successfully and actively participating motivated kindergarten teachers and other helping professionals – some of them participated in resultful ERASMUS+ projects earlier. This makes this project a very meaningful and active continuation of former collaboration. We put it down in the common cooperation of our project closed already, that what kind of additional knowledge needed for to the learning process. The presence of the artistic devices are important surface not only because of the children's development, but they are supporting the helping interventions, like right cerebral hemisphere techniques, because it works with emotions, with inner pictures, and verbality is not needed. These techniques help relieving the self-expression, moderate the problems and the anxiety, and the projection of the inner feelings – with these information professionals are able to help the frustrated, anxious, even deviant child and families. These techniques - tale, puppetry, song-music-dance, doing craftwork - are worthy devices for the therapeutic work, and although the educators do not obtain therapeutic practice with this, and do not get authorisation for the continuation of therapies, after all they are capable with recognition, and assistance through identify the problems, interventions, and education. Effective and meaningful knowledge helps us to activate the appropriate helping professional, the competent cooperation with the family helpers trained for this, psychologists, because they understand and capable to identify the problems of the individual or families, and they can forward them to competent educators. This is enormous help for all participant. Beside sensibilization it is important to identify the mental condition and problems - of the socially disadvantaged, support needed children, families, families with disabled children - for the sake of proper empathic and authentic teachers ' attitudes and intervention. The experiences and practices of the different countries are not only European values, and spotlights the viewpoints of the quality of being multicultural, but questions force of the national sense of identity, our mother tongue, our folklores, in crisis the coping strategies in terms of not only the kindergarten, but for different generations as well. The two short-term training is intrinsically linked to the topics of partner's meeting – and the planned content of the meetings and the constant work between them (incase of good practices, interviewing older and younger generations) are essential part of the overall project goals. Our cooperation develops the participants methodological, psychological culture, and communicational abilities, which will affect positively each institutes and have long-distance international results. We are spreading our project results by methodological notebooks, short films, publications, conferences, web surfaces on a local, national and international.

Final report summary

Our project draws valuable insights from prior experiences in our project and other ERASMUS initiatives. Our central goal is to prioritize the well-being of educators and provide effective support for families, children, and parents, underscoring the importance of proficient communication. We aim to foster pedagogical attitudes that are not only professionally competent but also capable of implementing effective solutions for child protection and family welfare. A fundamental aspect of the helping profession involves averting burnout, emphasizing the significance of self-awareness. We recognize that the coexistence of multiple generations and the interplay between past and present significantly shape the future generation. Consequently, our project places substantial emphasis on comprehending transgenerational effects. We delve into the influence of traditions, rituals, customs, and their repercussions across generations. Preserving national identity, conserving the mother tongue, folklore, and traditions takes center stage in our work with different generations. The dynamics of family and transgenerational effects in kindergarten settings not only impact preschool children but also influence the teaching staff. Identifying the symptoms of dysfunctional families, recognizing child symptoms, and exploring potential crisis intervention strategies are critical. Competent experts enrich our knowledge during training sessions, addressing prevalent pathological processes, children's needs, and illustrating the potential consequences of neglecting those needs. Esteemed experts such as Dr. Terézia Strédl and Dr. Sándor Pálfi, university professors, Dr. Mihály Domján, a psychotherapist, and Marietta Fóris, a kindergarten teacher and family therapist, play a pivotal role. Sharing practical experiences and best practices further cultivate the professional and methodological culture among participating educators. uring the training sessions at our partner meeting in Budapest, we visited the Kindergarten Museum. This visit initiates our collective contemplation of transgenerational effects as a fundamental aspect of our professional journey. This theme later intertwines with a comparative analysis of socialist pedagogy and contemporary pedagogy. Within the framework of family therapy systems, Marietta Fóris presents on family roles, boundaries, patterns, subsystems, beliefs, and parentification. Erika Kovács, an equal opportunities specialist, enlightens us on "Families and Children in the Wider World," providing insights into socio-cultural and equal opportunities aspects, our shared responsibilities, and necessary actions. Henrietta Szélinget's presentation and workshop on the world of fine arts and the significance of children's self-expression and creativity inspire us. The related presentations and workshops not only impart new knowledge to educators but also contribute to their self-awareness, ultimately promoting an inclusive and empathetic pedagogical attitude in the long run. The "Tell, Create, Dance" program is implemented with guidance from Irénke Tifán, a furniture painter, and Béla Boros, a folk dance instructor. Gyöngyi Écsi and Annamária Kádár vividly demonstrate the significant impact of stories, which are of great significance to adults as well. Equal opportunities and working with disadvantaged children and families hold a central position in our project. Our goal is to promote integration and provide support for those catching up. Csilla Antal, an equal opportunities specialist, and Máté Isztojka, a Roma trainer, present on "Challenge or Opportunity" and "Opportunity for Them Too." Following these presentations, we visit a Roma kindergarten group, where we learn from practical experiences. Key questions revolve around the preservation of Roma identity, socialization processes, integration, generational patterns, effects, and changes. During our meeting in Kosice, our focus is on our mother tongue, tales, self-awareness, and integration. We explore puppet making, puppetry, story writing, and storytelling. We also gain insights into Roma crafts. At the Márai Sándor Memorial House, we embark on a genuine transgenerational journey by learning about Márai's life story. In each country, we organize joint afternoons with the elderly generation, reminiscing about stories and memories under the theme "Back in My Day." Subsequently, we compare these experiences with discussions we have with young people, framed as "If I Were a Parent...," thereby examining transgenerational effects and the need for conscious change. Maintaining and nurturing their national identity, mother tongue, and traditions provide a strong foundation. The refreshing and expansion of our communication skills, drama pedagogy, family therapy, and psychological knowledge contribute to the development of educators' supportive attitudes and self-awareness. This, in the long run, will have a lasting positive impact on the future generation.

Project partners (3)