Report
about the Erasmus+ 
Visit to School Center
Quellenstraße http://www.spz10.at/wordpress/
„Subject area
Inclusion, Diversity und Special Education“ 1100 Vienna, Quellenstraße 52, Tel: +43 1/602 11 48 E-Mail: direktion910013@schule.wien.gv.at
from 3rd till the 7th
of October 2022
After
former meetings in Varazdin (CRO), Heide (DE) and Belfast (GB-NIR), twenty-five
colleagues from five European countries (GB-NIR, SLO, IRL, DE and CRO) from the
field of special education met for the fourth time in Vienna from October 3 to
7 to exchange experiences within the framework of the ERASMUS+ project
"Get to know us".
The
main focus of the meeting in Vienna this time was the professional area of the
Austrian special education system as well as the implementation of inclusion
and diversity especially in the educational area of the Viennese special
schools. In addition to the possibility of observation in inclusion and special
education classes at different school locations in the 10th district of Vienna
(Campus Monte Laa, VS Klausenburgerstraße, MS Leibnizgasse, OMS Absberggasse
and FIDS Quellenstraße), the international guests were able to get a
comprehensive picture of the didactical and methodological parameters of
differentiated instruction in different school levels as well as multi-level
classes on site. The subsequent exchange of experiences in individual and group
meetings as well as the two presentations of system-relevant officials of the
Vienna Directorate of Education in the areas of "school quality management
in the Vienna school system" and "special educational needs in the
Vienna school system" enabled all project participants to gain a deeper,
substantial and sustainable insight into "Inclusion, Diversity and Special
Education" in Vienna.
Alongside
the professional and educational topics of the stay, the participants also
learned about the cultural characteristics of the cosmopolitan city of Vienna
during a city tour and an official reception at Vienna City Hall. A guided tour
through the 1st district of Vienna as well as guided visits to traditional
Viennese sights (Naschmarkt, Danube Park and Tower, Vienna Prater with a ride
on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel and the Museum of Art History) rounded off the
cultural program for the 25 participants.
The
Austrian evening in traditional folk costume and the performance of traditional
Austrian folk songs as well as culinary delicacies may certainly be termed as a
highlight. The evening was highly complimented by all attendees and
characterized an excellent success.
In
the context of the project in Vienna aimed points and goals are mentioned below:
The
objective of the project was to share best practices and knowledge among the
six partner schools. Furthermore to improve social inclusion of our pupils and
increase their social skills through staff-training. This allows them to
communicate more effectively within school, their social environment and with
society in general; can thus be seen as implemented and fulfilled from the
host's point of view. In concrete terms, the following program points were
implemented during this week in cooperation between hosts and guests.
Activity report of mobility in Vienna
in the period from 3rd till the 7th of October 2022:
Monday, 3rd of October (Day 1):
Welcome of all our colleagues from Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland
and Slovenia at School Center Quellenstraße at the library with coffee, tea,
snacks and Smalltalk. Afterwards, our principal Katharine Ostermann welcomed
the guests and subsequently the school center Quellenstraße for students with
special educational needs was presented to the guests by means of a PowerPoint
presentation. This was followed by a presentation on "School Quality
Management in the Viennese School System" by Barbara Würzelberger. Finally,
the premises of the school site were visited by all guests in small groups and
the equipment, furnishings and room layout of the site were discussed in
initial professional talks.
At
the final meeting the weekly schedule with all planned activities (lectures,
courses, excursions, ...) were presented again and last adaptations were made.
At the same time the Erasmus+ coordinator Mr. Colm Burns shared with the latest
news about our project. While the individual country coordinators met
afterwards, the remaining participants went on their way to the agreed common
dinner.
Tuesday, 4th of October (Day 2): On this day, the first technical study and
teaching groups were scheduled. In order to be able to offer the participants a
good insight, three rotating study groups A, B & C were formed in order to
evenly distribute the group size of the international guests among the planned
teaching focuses as well as contents. The three main focuses could thus be
visited and intensively experienced by all teachers.
Group
A: Motor skills parkour with Peter at the playground: Sports therapy aims to
improve our students' motor skills and get them more engaged with activities as
well as the world around them, with an emphasis on the five senses.
Group
B: Technical work with Mario and Silvia in the workroom: Fine motor skills,
creativity as well as the safe handling of different tools and materials are in
the foreground as well as the cooperation of the two teachers
"team-teaching" in dealing with school children with special needs.
Group
C: Music and singing with Doris in the classroom: Musicality as an expression
of the personal mood and individual personality of each student is the focus of
this course. The individual creativity as well as the social behaviour in
heterogeneous communities by means of music, singing and performing play on the
basis of a school class with children with special needs were illustrated to
the colleagues in this lesson.
After
the completion of the three rotating study groups, a joint lunch, prepared by
the school children in the school kitchen for our guests and served in the
school library, was followed by a guided tour of the sights in Vienna's city centre
before the Erasmus+ Team Vienna invited to a traditional Austrian evening with
classical folk songs, local delicacies and regional clothing (traditional costume,
dirndl, lederhosen) in the premises of our school location.
Wednesday, 5th of October (Day 3):
The third day started with all participants from our partner schools directly
at Karlsplatz. During an informative walk along Vienna's Ringstrasse, the colleagues
gained valuable knowledge about the impressive historical buildings along the
world-famous boulevard on their way to today's destination "Vienna City
Hall". After the official reception
of our delegation in the Vienna City Hall and the welcoming words, the visit of
the extensive and well-known library with numerous precious exhibits from the
Austrian contemporary history as well as the visit of the contemporary history
exhibition "The Wedding in Ausschwitz" took place in parallel. An extraordinary,
historically documented, story from the time of National Socialism.
Thursday, 6th of October (Day 4):
On the fourth day, our guests were able to visit four different school
locations and types (Campus Monte Laa, VS Klausenburgerstraße, MS Leibnizgasse,
OMS Absberggasse and FIDS Quellenstraße) to see how inclusion works together in
the Viennese school network on site and to learn useful information about the
operation, the learning content, the goals and ways of inclusion, diversity and
team teaching directly from the colleagues/teachers. In order to adapt the
group sizes to the classes, a division was necessary for this and the
distribution of the respective nations to all four offered school locations. The
sustainable exchange of information and the lively discussions between our
guests at the following lunch made the morning a successful example of a
"best practice" when a broad spectrum of expertise can be offered to
give interested colleagues a broad overview of "Special Educational Needs
in the Viennese School System".
After
lunch (preparation and presentation by students from our school), the morning
program was followed by two very informative presentations on the topics at the
four inclusive school sites: "Inclusion, Diversity and Special
Education" and "Special educational needs in the Vienna School
system". Both lectures served as a supplement as well as a deepening of
the focal points already conveyed during this week. The contents should help
the colleagues present to better understand the key points, goals, difficulties
and solutions for inclusion, diversity and schooling in the field of special
education and to recognize the similarities as well as the differences in the
national school systems (Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland and
Slovenia). In the afternoon, guided
visits to traditional Viennese sights (Naschmarkt, Danube Park and Tower,
Vienna Prater with a ride on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel and the
Kunsthistorisches Museum) were on the program. The evening ended in a typical
Viennese restaurant in the Vienna Prater.
Friday, 7th of October (Day 5): On the last day of the mobility in Vienna, there was a lively exchange about the impressions and experiences gained. During the visit we achieved the goals we had set and all activities took place as planned (this time without COVID restrictions). The group cohesion was strengthened as well as deepened, which allows us to implement experiences in our future work, but also promotes the relationship within the schools. All partners expressed great satisfaction with the organization (especially the home evening!) of this week and with the experiences/insights they gained in working with students with limitations and special needs and the possibilities of their integration into the community.
