Submission form

UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize to Promote Quality Education for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

1. Basic Information Nomination submitted by the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO

Nomination of: Organization’s work For Organizations, please specify: Administration of Primary Education of Serres, GreeceName of nominee implementing organization: Administration of Primary Education of Serres, Greece, Head of the Programme, Mr Ioannis Poulios, Director of the Administration of Primary Education of Serres, Mr Christos KrystallisTitle of programme/project: National Network for Students’ Audiovisual EducationCountry and City/Town: Greece, SerresTimeline of programme/ work : Starting year: 2011 Ending year:2015 Ongoing:

Operating at : Primary and Secondary Education LevelNational and International level

Main partner(s): Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT S.A.), ERTworld, ERT3, the Short Film Festival of Drama, Directorate of Educational Radio Television2. Contact Details Name of nominee (individual or implementing organization): Administration of Primary Education of Serres, Greece, Head of the Programme, Mr Ioannis Poulios, Director of the Administration of Primary Education of Serres, Mr Chistos KrystallisJob title (or position): Head of Educational, scientific, and cultural Programmes

Country: Greece

Full address: Kerasountos 2, 62100, Serres, Greece Web site: www.dipe-serron.gr Telephone/Fax: (0030 )2321047515 / (0030 )2321047504E-Mail: ysd@dipe.ser.sch.gr

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3. Description of nomineeFor nominations concerning organizations please describe the history, aim, mandate and governance structure of the institution and include any other relevant information (minimum 250 words):

The Administration of Primary Education of Serres in Greece is a local educational organization under the supervision of the Regional Administration of Primary and Secondary Education of Central Macedonia and the Ministry of Education and Religions.

It is in charge of the smooth functioning of 200 school units (primary and kindergarten) and 1500 teachers of all subject matters, functioning as a mediator between the central government and school units at local level

The Administration functions according to the international quality model ISO: 9001, 2004 etc. Within this framework it participates in European programmes (e.g. Comenius, Leonardo da Vinci etc), designs and undertakes actions and initiatives in education, communication, I.T., culture and the sciences and cooperates for their implementation wiith national institutions and public organizations.

Moreover, for the implementation of its work the Administration of Primary Education is supported by educational, administrative and managerial staff, School Advisors, responsible for the educational guidance of a number of schools as well as the Head of School Projects, in charge of the design and implementation of projects linked to Education, the Sciences, Communication, the Environment, Health and Cultural issues.

The main duties of the Administration of Primary Education of Serres are:

-- safeguarding of the implementation of legislative regulations;-- updating teachers on all changes in the educational field (e.g amended guidelines for teaching, new educational regulations/laws etc).-- support of teachers for providing high quality educational services and practices; -- employment and payment of staff;-- transfer of teachers; -- signing of agreements with external partners; -- signing and establishment of collaboration memorandums with local or national organizations; -- organization of educational projects, meetings, seminars and Conferences;-- financial inspection of school units and the supervision of parallel structures such as the Special School, the Centre of Environmental Education in Poroia, Serres and the Centre of Diverse Diagnosis and Support of Special Educational Needs).

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4. Summary of work/programme Describe the vision, rationale, main goal and the particular problem or issue that your work/ programme seeks to address. Include specific information pertaining to: a) The involvement of people with disabilities or their families at the conception, planning or implementation stage, b) considerations of the gender dimension; c) the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).(minimum 300 words):

The Administration of Primary Education of Serres, taking into consideration the role of visual and audiovisual stimuli in students’ every day life, the importance of students’ education for effectively dealing with the aforementioned domain as well as research (Jensen, 1994, Rothstein, 2009) underlining the distinctive impact of audiovisual education on students with intellectual disabilities, has designed and implemented a program entitled “National Network for Students’ Audiovisual Education”.

This unique program which aims to bridge a gap in research, bibliography and educational practices, both in Greece as well as internationally, functions as a creative, powerful and cross cutting tool linking general primary and secondary education school units with Special Education schools of the same level e.g. students with no disabilities to students with intellectual disabilities.

The main goal of the program is to foster equality and inclusion by helping students with and without intellectual disabilities to learn to elaborate the content and messages of audiovisual stimuli/products (e.g. tv serials, advertisements, films, news etc). Its ultimate goal is to teach students to see audiovisual products as only some of a number of available means and ways for understanding the world.

Moreover, the programme focuses on the interaction and cooperation between students with and without intellectual disabilities and the promotion of critical thinking for the cultivation and strengthening of a balanced, holistic and fluid audiovisual literacy based on personal criteria and not imposed on students by the current sociological, political, cultural and educational conditions.

Up to the present, the audiovisual educational kit, 11 booklets, 1 cdrom, 4 dvds, 1 national conference and 18 training seminars have been used as tools for the training of over 700 schools, 48 of which were Special Education Schools (http://serreschools.blogspot.com).

Moreover, within the aforementioned program we have additionally designed and implemented a variety of actions linked to tv, cinema and the internet with the collaboration of a significant number of important organizations (see section Main Partners).

Two of these initiatives worth mentioning since they provided the opportunity for the participation of Special Needs Schools as well as for their cooperation with general schools is the organization of the First International Short Film Competition for Schools as well as the Fourth Panhellenic Student Short Movie Contest (which has been repeated for the past 3 years).

The First International Short Film Competition for Schools under the theme “Discrimination and Diveristy” is addressed to Special Needs

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Schools’, general primary (4th, 5th and 6th grades), and secondary education in Greece and Cyprus, schools abroad with Greek students (1st, 2nd and 3rd generation) as well as to foreign schools in Greece.

The main aims of both Competition as well Contest are: to promote creativity; to offer students with no disabilities and special needs students the opportunity to express themselves through art; to familiarize students of primary and secondary education with the cinematic narrative and form, as well as with the filming

process; to help students develop and showcase their audio visual skills; to examine, to study and to reflect critically on their environment; to become sensitive to the need of decent living conditions for all human beings;

It is worth mentioning that the opportunity offered to Special Schools for their participation in the aforementioned two competitions was received with great enthusiasm by both the educational staff as well as students. This is proven by the fact that the number of Special Needs Schools which participated in the International and Panhellenic Competition reached 15, while the organizational committee has agreed on the formation of a special category of prizes, particularly for these schools and a channel on you tube where all of the awarded films will be uploaded (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Kh3DPnrd7oQAokjM04VhQ

An indicative example of the high level of productions and of the fruitful cooperation between general and special needs schools is the short film “Beyond Silence” which was created by the Special School for Deaf in Serres in cooperation with the 18 th primary school of Serres and won the third prize in the Pan-Hellenic Student Short Film Contest

5. Objectives List and explain the specific objectives of the programme/project (150 words):

--to promote equal opportunities and strengthen inclusion through the cooperation of primary and secondary education students with and without intellectual disabilities for the production of Short Films;

--to cultivate and develop students’ audio visual education offering them the opportunity to express themselves creatively through art, to reflect on their audiovisual environment and to sensitize them with reference to audiovisual literacy issues (what is entertainment, what is education, the element of choice, critical reception of stimuli etc);

--to familiarize students with the cinematic narrative and form by trying on different taska and experimenting with different roles ( script-

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writer, photographer, actor, musician, stage-designer, costume designer, montage editor etc.);

--to help students become more sensitive to the needs, capabilities and skills of Special Education students;

--to create communication and cooperation channels between general and special education through the coproduction of short films;

- to motivate students with special needs through the use of image, internet and new technologies in order to strengthen their creativity and critical thinking;

- to formulate an original and powerful pedagogic tool for the educational community and for people with intellectual disabilities;

- to transform students from passive message recipients to active and creative producers of audio visual products;

--to involve students with intellectual disabilities in the process of short film production helping them to build up their self esteem centered on what they can do and offer in the process;

6. Focus area of educational provision (tick where appropriate): Early childhood care and education Primary and lower secondary education Upper secondary and higher education Continuous and adult education Technical and vocational education and training Non-formal education / literacy 7. Nature of educational support (tick all those that apply) : Classroom-based activity Additional in-school learning support Out-of-school activity Please specify and describe

Training Please describe (e.g. training directed to families, educators, other professionals etc.):      Policy development Research Please specify the area of research: Curriculum Teacher training Learning environment Costing and financing Early childhood care and education Education/ social policies Other Please specify: Family services Assistive devices or technologies Advocacy Community Based Rehabilitation

Other Please specify:      

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8. Target Groups Indicate the target group of your work/programme:

Learners (tick according to the age group): Children (0-18) Youth (15-24) Adults Ενήλικες

Policy makers Practitioners Teachers/educators Parents/ Care givers Civil society Other Please specify:     9. Results and Impact

List and describe the key achievements of your work. In particular, provide evidence of the impact of your work on enhancing the educational experiences of persons with intellectual disabilities, and / or on structural, organizational or attitudinal changes (minimum 150 words):

--a youtube address was designed for uploading all short films that participated in the Competition as well as the awarded ones;

--educators have added to their knowledge and experience in using audiovisual material for teaching students with intellectual disabilities;

--teachers have exchanged best practises and shared the difficulties faced in the process of involving students with intellectual disabilities in short film production;

-- the programme was supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Education and was granted the patronage of the Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO which proved invaluable for the dissemination of its results and for its ongoing implementation;

--children with intellectual disabilities have been given the opportunity to make use of their individual skills to cooperate with each other as well as with students with no disabilities;

Describe how your work has advanced the right to education for persons with disabilities in consistency with the principles of inclusive education(minimum 100 words):

--By providing students with intellectual disabilities access to work with contemporary educational tools, namely image, video and internet therefore strengthening their audiovisual literacy;

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--by engaging them in a creative process making use of their different and distinctive skills (e.g. sight, hearing, creativity, image reception);

--by promoting cooperation, integration, solidarity and by strengthening friendly bonds: a) between students with different intellectual disabilities (e.g. blind, deaf, down, autistic etc) and b) between children with and without intellectual disabilities;

--by creating a unique, decentralised and participatory tool for audiovisual education that can also be used as the basis for teaching in other domains and subject matters;

--by introducing teachers and children with intellectual disabilities to the use of a variety of strategies including curriculum and instructional adaptations, peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and layered curriculum for the implementation of the programme;

--by stimulating students and stakeholders to the fact that disabilities should not be perceived as obstacles but a means of adding to the wealth of the educational community;

--by strengthening the cognitive and social development and integration of students with and without intellectual disabilities which in turn promotes learning for both groups;

--by promoting mainstreaming of children with intellectual disabilities and decreasing segregation, prejudice and stereotypes;

10. Funding Κονδύλια List the main funding sources of your work/programme

Government (national or local) Private Sector National NGO National Television and RadioInternational NGO Bilateral Donor Multilateral donor University/Research Centre National Council for Radio and TelevisionSelf-financed Other (please specify):

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11. Accompanying materials List documents or materials that will accompany this application*: Films, audio visual material available about programme (in DVD or CD-ROM):

1.DVD (with audiovisual products of children with intellectual disabilities)

2.The audiovisual educational kit that includes: 11 booklets, 1 cdrom, 4 dvds:-Booklet 1: Guide with class activities (First volume)-Booklet 2: Guide with class activities (Second volume)-Booklet 3: Instructions for the parents (about their children’s viewing habits)-Booklet 4: Proceedings or the 1st National Conferrence about television and children (that we implemented, 2008)-Booklet5: Book with the results of the research that we have done about the television habits of our students (Karavasilis & Poulios, 2008)-Booklet 6: Fairy tail about the television-Booklet 7: Board game-Booklet 8: Researching the TV (Edition of Instutute of Audio-visual Media)-Booklet 9: Lets go to Cinema (Edition of the Film Festival of Thessaloniki)-Booklet 10: Film Archive (a list of films that are suitable for young children)-Booklet 11: The rights of small viewers (edition of Unicef-Hellas)-DVD 1: Television children's products-DVD 2: Supporting material for teachers (videos)-DVD 3: Digital material (Smart Media, Power points, etc)-DVD 4: Greek television frauds -CD 1: Sounds game about television The abovementioned innovative educational material and the proposed programme has had a crucial impact on students and the educational community and we are therefore in the process of translating it in English.

3. Poster of the National Contest: Children write and draw about viewers’ rights

Documents, published research studies / reports available about the programme:

Document 1: Document of the International Short Film Competition for Schools(program description, objectives, procedures, dates)

Document 2: Application form

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Internal or external evaluations of the programme, reports on impact assessments:      Teaching and learning materials:      

(*NB: Supporting materials in a language other than English and French, must be accompanied by a brief explanatory summary in either language

Date of submission Ημερομηνία υποβολής (MM/DD/YYYY):      

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Internal or external evaluations of the programme, reports on impact assessments:      Teaching and learning materials:      

(*NB: Supporting materials in a language other than English and French, must be accompanied by a brief explanatory summary in either language

Date of submission Ημερομηνία υποβολής (MM/DD/YYYY):      

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