Stella Maris College participates in Socrates programme in Norway

The Parent-Teacher Association of Stella Maris College, Gzira, has again participated in a project carried out with the support of the European Community in the framework of the Grundtvig Action of the Socrates Programme.

The project, named "Centre for International Parent Co-operation", focuses on the development of programmes for the education of parents.

This was the second year of the project and the other participants were the Pedagogical Institute of the Archdiocese of Vienna, an institute for further education from Finland, two teacher training institutes from Norway and an educational institute working with children with special needs from Estonia.

The main activities that took place during this year were a video conference and a conference in Norway. The project also has its own Website and chat forum.

The Website (www.cipco.info) includes reports on meetings held and papers presented at the conference, as well as other information about the project and the participating organisations.

The theme chosen for this second year of the project was "School Democracy", reflecting an ever-increasing need across Europe to involve parents to a more significant extent, as key stakeholders in the country's educational system, the education of the child and the governance of the school.

The conference in Norway had a varied programme and included a visit to two schools, one of which was a kindergarten, a visit to a teacher training institute, the presentation of papers by participants and a discussion led by a child psychologist.

The visit to the two schools was very enlightening indeed. In particular, when we visited the kindergarten, which takes students up to age seven, we noticed that the main thrust of the school was to help students learn by playing, thus making the learning process an enjoyable one.

The school's decor was very similar to that of a home, turning the school itself into an extension of the home, making the students feel more comfortable.

Maybe the biggest surprise was that there was not a single computer in the school; not because the school could not afford it, but because it is felt the teaching process for students aged seven and younger does not require the use of a computer.

We also had the opportunity to attend part of a concert given by students. The approach here was to seek to include all students in the activity, irrespective of their ability.

Another activity we observed was an outing for young children. There was no fear at all that the children would get dirty, as it was not seen to be a problem if they did.

It was quite apparent from the visit to the two schools and the activities we observed that the underlying principles that were being used to help the children learn were fun and empowerment.

The part of the conference that included the presentation of papers was self-styled "Speakers' Corner". The PTA of Stella Maris College participated quite actively by presenting three papers.

One was by Mrs Violet Vella entitled, 'The experience of a parent of a child with dyslexia'; another was by Mrs Louisa Grech, entitled 'Creating Inclusive Schools - the Maltese Experience'; and the third was by Dr Charles Briffa, entitled 'Parents and Children's Exams'.

Another presentation was made by Dr Shaukat Anjam from Finland, who discussed the reasons and symptoms of challenging behaviour in students.

Mag Hannelore Strouhal discussed the Austrian experience with gifted children and how her institution helped to set up a centre for such children, where they could further their studies, apart from attending school.

Mrs Nina Tandberg from Norway described her feelings as a parent of a child with special needs in a presentation entitled 'How do you feel as a parent when your child will never be able to take care of himself'.

The role of fathers in education is becoming increasingly important and in this regard we had a presentation by Svein-Ole Sataoen entitled, 'Men in Kindergarten - how to cope with the challenge of often being the one and only'.

The expert's input came from Dr Magne Raundalen, a leading Norwegian child psychologist, who is also an adviser to the Education Ministry.

His presentation/discussion covered a number of areas and provided much food for thought. The first part centred on the new trends in society, the changing values, the new lifestyle of the family and how both children and parents are trying to cope with the demands that are being on them from these changes.

He then contrasted these with the policies being adopted by governments across Europe in the field of education and argued that these policies do not take into account modern day realities.

So he created the contrast between "new children", "new parents" and "old politics".

Dr Raundalen then discussed the various programmes adopted by governments in the area of family support and parent guidance, and the relevance of these to the issues that arise in the relationship between parents and their children.

The role of fathers was discussed also at this point as it is felt that governments are doing very little to support fathers in taking a more active role in their children's education.

The broad message that one got from this conference was that although Europe is made up of different peoples, different cultures and different social and economic realities, the problems facing parents with regard to the education of their children are common to all.

This makes it crucial that programmes are set up to help parents take a more active part in the educational formation of their children and, equally, to ensure that teachers are given the necessary training to assist parents in taking up this role in a meaningful manner.

The partnership between students, school and parents that guarantees school democracy needs to be redesigned to make it more relevant to today's society.