Director

PaedDr. Petr Štainigl

Education

The Institute’s premises host an Elementary School and also an Apprentice School of Zbůch which provide education to pupils with various disabilities or with varying levels of disability. Some pupils suffer from dual sensomotoric disabilities. As the Institute cooperates closely with physicians, these specialists can work with children suffering from behaviour disorders and recommend relevant medical intervention, if necessary.

Currently, the children can be placed into preparatory classes of an auxiliary school for the intellectually disabled, basic and intermediate levels of the same school and of its more advanced type; into an elementary school, practical family school and apprenticeship where they learn gardening and sewing. Presently, there are 17 classes organized for education of children and youth with a disability. The practical part of education is provided by the Institute and arranges for excellent working conditions in the local greenhouses and tailoring workshops. Further practice continues at workplaces where the clients are likely to be employed later.

Pedagogy

The aim of the special education provided here is to arrange for the clients such conditions that will allow the highest possible degree of harmonious and versatile personality development with suitable social and working integration. The pedagogy staff have got the key and crucial task: in cooperation with other experts they are supposed to describe the clients’ correct diagnosis and to focus on the desired pedagogy work. Consequently, they are to determine the educational plans of the clients and to follow them in the course of the whole year.

The other task is to concentrate on how to stimulate the clients properly, to ensure suitable supply of stimuli that are in accordance with the client’s intellectual disability. Further, the pedagogy workers try to induce emotional security and safety, create the need of self-realization and lifetime prospects. They prepare job opportunities that conform to the clients’ disability. The educators’ work must abide by scientific principles, must be operational and must be based on the elementary principles of pedagogy ethics.

The educational activities themselves take place in specific classes. On average, the educator works with groups of 6 to 7 clients. The work concentrates on all aspects of education that are mutually intertwined. However, the main task is to substitute a family, thus adapting everything to the client.

The working plans include also cultural and sports events, visits to exhibitions, excursions and so on. To provide for satisfaction of hobbies, the clients can join relevant classes the purpose of which is to concentrate on developing individual interests or hobbies of the clients. In the educational section of the Institute we have got 7 such specialized classes: cooking, futsal, table tennis, basketball, skittles, bowling and pottery course. The clients attend these classes regularly. The involvement is also motivated by their participation in various competitions in which they get the chance to match their experience with other children.