"I heard and I forgot.
I saw and remembered.
I did and understood."
Confucius
From February 2015 to the end of 2016, our school implemented a pedagogical innovation entitled: "Interesting guests in our school". Its main idea was to support the comprehensive development of students with intellectual disabilities by developing interests, improving cognitive skills and stimulating emotional development. These activities are also of little therapeutic importance. They carried a large emotional load, i.e. students experience meetings with new people, get emotionally involved, which makes it easier to remember and learn specific skills and behaviors in completely new situations for them.
Specific objectives:
– development of students' interests in terms of learning about different professions and passions of other people.
– developing students' ability to concentrate on the content conveyed through the use of multi-channel transmission
– developing and deepening the ability to establish proper social relationships by participating in classes with students of various class teams
– stimulation of individual senses in students through the impact of voice, image, texture, color
– developing an attitude of openness and tolerance through contact with people with extraordinary passions and interests
– health education by promoting active leisure activities in the fresh air and on the move
– popularization of healthy competition, consistency in pursuing the goal through the presentation of the achievements of the invited guests
– broadening the range of students' interests by introducing them to less common professions and interests of guests
– showing the value and importance of work
– getting to know names, concepts concerning subsequent professions and passions
– increasing the level of acceptance of oneself and other people thanks to the expansion of cognitive horizons, in particular in students with a slight intellectual disability
– developing students' imagination, encouraging creative thinking through new stimuli, concepts, presentations of specific ways of behaving
– developing good habits (greeting, saying goodbye, taking care of someone's property).
Authors of innovation: Kinga Biel, Paulina Szyszkowicz
