Shared experiences and reflections
It’s not just about playgrounds; it’s not limited to those with reduced mobility. The video is a starting point for deep reflection: there are students who, throughout the school day, interact almost exclusively with teachers, distanced from their reference group, even sharing the same space. For months, we have received a good number of initiatives and good practices that aim to respond to these situations, which place some students in a state of vulnerability and isolation. We present a brief selection of them here for their potential to make us think, and we greatly appreciate all the efforts made, of which different schools from all over Spain have made us participants.
And your center, the faculty, the families, you… what are you doing or going to do to CREATE spaces for coexistence in which all girls and all boys, without exception, are part of a whole? The work of each community to prevent that pain can be a great start to inclusive processes that extend to other school issues.
Our goal remains to create proposals for reflection and debate that foster the transformation of our schools into democratic and truly inclusive spaces where the needs of all students are taken into account and addressed from a perspective aligned with respect for human rights. To achieve this, it is essential to have people like you to demonstrate once again that Quererla es Crearla.
Some inspiring experiences
Tickling links(CEIP Nº1 of Tui)
Hello, I'm Miguel. I'm a teacher at a public school in Galicia, specifically in Tui at CEIP number 1, and I'm speaking to you about the question that "Quererla es crearla" poses to us regarding the loneliness that students experience in our schools.Quererla es crearla regarding the loneliness that students experience in our schools.
In light of this, I'll tell you a personal story about a student who had difficulties participating in the mainstream classroom and relating to his peers on many occasions. His teachers decided to address these difficulties and create spaces for connection. Spaces for cohesion with his classmates in the mainstream classroom.
To do this, we analyzed his interests and found that he loves tickling. So, during school hours, we created and structured a couple of opportunities during the day where this student, using a series of visual supports, would choose a classmate to go to a comfortable space in the classroom with a star. A space dedicated to dialogue and reading where they would enjoy a shared activity, as fun and laughter-filled as tickling each other. This activity gradually expanded, and we observed how this bond grew with all his classmates, overcoming some of the barriers that had arisen, attitudinal ones. In this case, also linked to social relationships within the school context.
This and other reflections we've had with colleagues highlight the importance of school in creating spaces for connection; spaces for affective and emotional development. And how we teachers, from public and mainstream schools, must dedicate time and resources to this, mainly because it benefits all students and prepares them for a diverse life in society. A life where all of them will have to learn that differences are what exist between people. That all people are different.
In that activity, all his differences blurred amidst laughter and giggles. A natural, horizontal moment was established where two people, where two children, enjoyed an activity together, regardless of any differences. That within all this difference lies a magic and an opportunity to learn together, an opportunity to grow and to value people in their diversity.
From here, I'd like to thank "Quererla es crearla" for these initiatives that continue to fuel and push us towards change. A big greeting and until we meet again.
Growing up together (El Gracia Public School)
Laura Maldonado - (L.M.):—Hello, my name is Laura Maldonado.
Noelia Sedano - (N.S.):—Hello, I am Noelia Sedano and we are teachers from Gracia.
(L.M.):—We are speaking on behalf of all our colleagues at the school and, well, we wanted to explain why we made this video.
From the platform Quererla es crearla, of inclusive education, at the University of Malaga, we were asked to make a video to explain what we understand by loneliness and how we address it in school.
(N.S.):—And how do we do it, well, how we usually work. We take it to the Assembly of Teachers, our space, where we share, reach consensus, and dialogue. And once we decided it was an interesting idea, well, then, we all got to work.
Gathering the words of everyone who makes up this school, we recorded the video, which you will be able to see next, and which I hope will help you, so that we can all become better people regarding, well, having a sensitive perspective on what loneliness is and how to work with and face it.
Thank you.
(L.M.)—Thank you very much.
Audio description [AD]:On a chalk board, it reads "Loneliness, RAE". As it defines the term, images of students alone in schoolyards follow.
Voice-over (v.o.)—The Royal Spanish Academy defines loneliness as follows. Voluntary or involuntary lack of company. Deserted place, uninhabited land. Sadness and melancholy felt due to the absence, death, or loss of someone or something.
How do children experience loneliness?
Audio description [AD]:As students explain their perception of loneliness, different drawings are shown in which one figure is always rejected by another figure or group.
Student 1:—When they ignore me.
Student 2:—Someone doesn't want to play with me.
Student 3:—The first day of school.
Student 4:—I feel very lonely in the playground.
Audio description [AD]:On a chalk blackboard, it reads "Assembly of Loneliness". A group of young people and a teacher, sitting on the floor of a classroom, discuss loneliness. Next, on another blackboard, the title "What do families and school staff think?" appears.
Celia:—Hello, my name is Celia, I have a four-year-old daughter who started last year at Nuestra Señora de Gracia School. We chose the school because of its special ethos. In terms of parents being able to participate, go in with her to classes, the classrooms were open, they could interact with older and younger children.
Mother 1:—... Because in this case it was a primary school teacher. Instead of dealing with the issue alone, each one with their class, they joined forces to work together with the whole class, and that made us, who were at home, feel like we were part of it.
Francesca, mother:—I'm Francesca, I'm Italian and we came to live here for a year with my family. Since my children didn't speak any Spanish, I chose a school that could be very welcoming to them because, of course, it was also an issue, loneliness, linguistic too, right? I mean, not being able to communicate, the risk of being alone is very high, honestly.
Pepi, mother:—Hello, I'm Pepi, I've had five children. I'm very grateful to the school during the lockdown, very. With none of the five I've had, I'm very happy, very happy, in all aspects: the unity in the school, the way the teachers behave with the children, the patience they have with them, and honestly, I have no complaints at all, and very good.
Teacher:—I don't see any child feeling lonely in that school. You will never see a boy or a girl alone in a corner, nor wondering or looking around with a lost gaze, wondering who to connect with. It's a whole team, whatever their status, whatever their color, whatever their haircut, nothing at all. For my part, how do I combat loneliness, so that no child feels alone. If we're walking and there's a child alone, I put my arm around their shoulder and ask what's wrong. They answer. The answers and questions are very easy for them. We make them a little more complicated.
Annie:— Hi, I'm Annie. I'm a cleaner at the school, but I'm on leave right now. But I've come to lend a hand and support in any way I can.
And I do this because I feel good. Here at school, I feel welcomed, I feel like I'm not just the cleaner. But from the very beginning. And I feel like I'm part of the family. That I'm one of them, but not just a cleaner. I'm another teacher.
Audio description [AD]: On a chalk board, it reads "What do we do at school to face loneliness?".
(V.O.):— What do we do at school to face loneliness? We carry out the following prevention strategy. We accompany the children. We mix to work in inter-grade workshops, open classrooms, gifted doors, auditions.
We include families. We listen to each other. Our priority is emotions. We do personalized work. We also work in pairs and in small groups. We promote positive language. Diversity enriches us.
And the Assembly is where all voices are taken into account and where the attentive gaze at what happens around us develops. Because that's who we are, we grow in company. Subscribe!
Audio description [AD]:Sequence of images of school assemblies.
Simple ideas that bring light (Paula Verde)
Hello, my name is Paula and I wanted to make a short video to share an experience my son had at school and, in a way, answer this question that we are posed:Quererla es crearla .
One of the most beautiful things my son has experienced at school has been interacting with his peers, and a large part of that interaction happens in the playgrounds. Héctor has autism, he is non-verbal, and Héctor has certain characteristics that often make playground games and behaviors quite difficult for him.
Why? Because he functions based on interests, like most children, but in an obsessive way. For a long time, Héctor would run away or become fixated on the kindergarten playground, and he would get into a loop that was difficult for the teachers on duty to manage.
As a result of starting to design and think about how to handle this situation, simple opportunities arose that ended up being as attractive to him as they were to his classmates. And little by little, it started with a simple basketball where they encouraged him to shoot hoops. He wasn't very skilled, and when he made a basket, he was overjoyed, and his classmates started to rejoice with him. Then, those classmates felt motivated to participate with him.
Another day, it was the rope; some pulled on one side, others on the other. Or jumping rope and encouraging him to jump. So, well, there were, and still are, wonderful playground scenes, which they often recorded and sent to me. And that gave me information, peace of mind, and confirmation that, indeed, the playgrounds were another way to learn together.
When the pandemic arrived, things became very difficult because we were at home, and that was what I missed the most. I missed it because, on a curricular level, although it's important to me, it's not the most important thing, and I knew that the bonds generated in those playgrounds would somehow be affected.
The alternative of "pandemic playgrounds" emerged. The pandemic playgrounds were initiatives led by the tutor through group activities, where each person prepared a part, perhaps a piece of a story. And then, we would meet via video conference, and each person would act or come dressed in an outfit related to the story, and everyone would do an activity almost always centered on Héctor's interests, to keep him motivated and engaged.
Now, after the confinement period, the return to school, the playgrounds are even more limited. They have to play within a specific space, from which they cannot leave.
And it also posed a problem, because he was used to moving around a bit wherever he wanted. So, they started working on it with visual support and began to design what, for me, was a complete success. Taking advantage of Héctor's interests in classic tales and the representation of scenes, they started to design, through chalk drawings on the floor, silhouettes, house settings with different rooms, means of transport, buses, simulating trips. And then, let's say, they structured the recess time with a story in which he began to be the protagonist and to which his classmates began to join in a completely natural way.
On that imaginary bus trip, his classmates got on and they do. In those house scenes, he would say who got up at one time, who ate at another, who were the ones who went out the door, who walked the dog. Other times it was the representation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or the Three Little Pigs and the wolf, and always, of course, with the initiative and support of the educational technical assistant, who is, let's say, the strength behind this whole initiative.
Well, why do I tell this? Because I believe that sometimes there are simple ideas that bring light and that simply by hearing them, they inspire us. Well, with the aim of inspiring, that's what this experience is about, because the truth is that for us it is key. Key in the day-to-day life of the school.