A Report on a Placement undertaken under the Professional Exchange Programme of the Federation Internationale des Communautes Educatives - the hopes, the practical problems, the positives, the difficulties and the successes
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Contents
1. Introduction – How did I find out about PEP?
2. Application process – How long did the application process
take from the first inquiry to arriving in England?3. Educational aims - What did I want to learn?
4. Placement agreement
5. Positive experiences
6. The worst experience
7. Language problems?
8. Résumé
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
1 Introduction – How did I find out about P.E.P?My main professional interest focuses on the work of residential homes for children and adolescents. When I wrote my final papers for my Master´s degree about German residential homes for children, I came across the work of FICE Europe. Since then I have frequently informed myself about the work of FICE by regularly visiting their German homepage.
Having read about the Professional Exchange Programme on the web, I wanted to know more about it and asked for some informational material. The exchange seemed the right thing to try, as I have thought about working in England before, but I did not feel competent enough regarding language skills, technical terminology, sufficient knowledge of the social and the educational system and the management of residential homes. Therefore I thought it best to learn more about these aspects by joining the exchange programme.
Additionally, I find it necessary to look at my work by shifting my perspective by travelling abroad, looking at different working styles and methods, in order to avoid becoming narrow-minded regarding pedagogic and therapeutic options. Furthermore I hold the belief that working and living in a foreign country brings new ideas and enthusiasm into my work, which is therefore a good method to counter the danger of daily tasks becoming routine.
2 Application process – How long did the application process take from the first inquiry to arriving in England?
After having received some information from the German FICE section, I started my first inquiry for a placement in the middle of May 2002 by contacting the British P.E.P Co-ordinator and sending my application form to the German P.E.P. Co-ordinator. An email contact between me and the British Co-ordinator was sufficient to register all the necessary details quickly and without any bureaucracy. Even though for a while it looked as though my placement would not begin on time, which was crucial to me, the P.E.P Co-ordinator made the beginning and the duration fit into my schedule and I was fortunately able to commence at short notice on 1st October. The placement lasted till 29th October, 2003.
Even though the British application process is different from a German application, I find it useful. Overall it made me question my motives for joining the programme and through the process itself, I could find out more about my intentions.
In Germany it is not common practice to ask for references and I found this part quite difficult, as some German employers feel sometimes very awkward about it, because it means additional work for them.
3 Educational aims – What was it that I wanted to learn?First of all I had the desire to broaden my knowledge about British residential homes in general and I wanted to find out more about other social organisations apart from the Cotswold Community. Secondly, as I have mentioned before, I think it is very important to look at my work from different perspectives and gain new theoretical and practical input by travelling and working abroad, by talking with foreign people from other institutions, and seeing new working styles, which enable me to integrate new methods into my repertoire. Thirdly, I felt the need to learn more about the social care services in general. Last but not least I wanted to have the possibility of speaking English again and studying the technical terminology.
Achievement of aims - How did I achieve my aims?
• Broaden my knowledge about British residential homes
I was able not only to visit one residential placement but three, as my host placement was a large social organisation with several institutions in England. Even though all residential homes and schools are run on the same principles, the individuality of schools and the management displayed a variety of working styles. It was arranged that I could spend time at all the schools in the surrounding area, I was allowed to join a training day for senior workers (subject: epilepsy) and I had the chance to visit the personnel department. Several topics such as personnel policy, training programmes, application processes, the QOL (Quality On Line) system and the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) system were discussed.
All staff members of all the schools were willing to show and explain their houses and their working methods to me, to answer my questions and to hand over all important and relevant papers, reports and forms etc. If they were unable to provide the right information themselves, they contacted a person who could help me. Furthermore it was arranged for me to meet with assistant psychologists, heads, deputy heads, teachers and head teachers, who discussed their tasks with me on a highly professional level.
• Different perspectives and integration of new working methodsFirst of all I was not familiar with the residential setting and treatment of autistic people. This was therefore a wholly new working field to me, which made the placement as such a completely new experience. Even though I cannot transfer what I learnt from work with behaviourally challenging children and adults who suffer from autism directly to my work with girls, who have mostly behavioural problems but are of average intelligence, I found it helpful to adopt the „positive approach“ including parameters such as dignity, respect and safety into my work at home.
Personally it changed my approach to work and I try to be more aware of possible triggers (like clothing, simple words, colours etc.) and to integrate more respect in my work towards my own clientele and their previous background. I was very impressed about the care with which staff members treated their students and how seemingly minor points like the absence of swearing can change a whole working environment positively. Last but not least it generally made me think about ethical issues and how handicapped people are seen and treated by the public.
• Speaking English - learning technical terminologyIn the beginning it was difficult for me to speak English again, but after a few days I felt more confident. Although I could express myself basically in everyday conversations, I was often not able to use appropriate technical terms. In discussions and through reading papers, I did broaden my technical vocabulary, but I had to realise that four weeks are not long enough to speak fluently, especially in professional discussions. I do recommend for further candidates to be at least fluent in the everyday language of the country they´re travelling to. Otherwise I believe that too many misunderstandings will occur and misconceptions will develop.
• Learn more about the social care services in generalThis could only be partly realised. Perhaps it was an unrealistic goal to understand a large national organisation. The British social care service and its function cannot be fully understood by reading a few papers about it. I think for a profound knowledge about the social care services, I needed to spend more time on studying it, but I got a rough understanding about the function and departments.
4 Placement Agreement
The P.E.P Co-ordinator of the UK section of FICE had arranged a draft on the placement agreement beforehand. Due to several unlucky circumstances, I studied this draft only shortly before my departure and was not able to send any comments or amendments.
First of all I have to mention that at the beginning of my placement there was no supervisor assigned for me. Therefore I tried to carry out my designated tasks as mentioned in the draft as well as possible. Even though I offered to speak about child care in Germany, it did not take place, as there were some schedule problems.
The management of my placement was arranged by one head of one of the schools, to whom I turned whenever any problems occurred. During my stay, I was fully integrated in the planning of my timetable. This gave me the opportunity to arrange my working schedule as I wished and it gave me enough time to travel on my own too. It was arranged for me to spend one week in each school; furthermore I arranged to visit the personnel department and managed to join a training day for senior workers.
I was able to observe a variety of shifts in the care and the educational section. I attended various meetings and case conferences. Unfortunately, I was not able to visit Local Authority offices. But I had full access to the whole range of documentation relating to the regulations in force and to the young people being cared for. I gained an understanding of the development work undertaken by the organisation.
Additionaly I came in contact with Goverment initiatives such as Quality Protects. I was able to discuss the impact of Local Authority registration, but again it will need more insight to fully comprehend it. Furthermore I was positively surprised about the quality of life provided by the services of my host placement.
5 Positive aspects
Mostly I was impressed about the friendliness and openmindedness of many people I met. I was able to discuss my questions about the organisation and its relevant problems with teachers, care workers, heads and deputy heads. They all took their time and patiently answered all my questions. And I think I have to point out that sometimes due to grammatical and verbal errors the meaning of the question was not quite apparent at first. The organisation had arranged a nice place for me to stay and I was very well looked after there. Most of my placement was very well organized.
Although the field of work was completely new to me, I gained profound insight into the work with people, who show difficult behavior due to autism. I became more interested in the field and will take courses at University to learn more about it.
I really enjoyed the variety of my placement. I liked visiting three different residential schools and benefited from viewing the whole organisation from different viewpoints (from the care team as well as from the education team and last but not least from the psychologist, the care manager and the management perspective).
Furthermore I was deeply impressed by the size of the organisation, the tremendous amount of staff and the smooth running of the whole caring process; the division of work, the arrangement and the cooperation of different teams (care: day and night teams, education teams); the precise documentation of work and the careful distribution of medication.
During my whole stay people in charge gave me a careful induction and never left me on my own in difficult or dangerous situations. I was placed with day teams and was allowed to shadow senior workers and assistant team managers during the shifts. I attended late and early shifts as well. Most workers seemed very keen to achieve their levels in the National Vocational Qualification scheme and showed great commitment to their work and their further training.
I was pleasantly surprised how positively staff members spoke of their work and how dedicated most of them were. In their work with the students they cared primarily for all needs of their students and explained to me how important it is to secure the dignity of each student.
Even though it seemed at first that many students did not recognise their environment, I was mistaken. I experienced how much students liked their carers, TV programmes or recreational activities. Although many carers had already experienced bodily harassment such as biting or punching in the face, they accepted these behaviours as part of their work without any visible remorse.
I felt best when I was completely integrated in the working process: when I joined school hours, a swimming class or outdoor activities like going out to a shopping mall or taking some students out for supper. I experienced how every single activity outside the premises had to be precisely planned and how security measures had to be taken in advance. I saw the excitement of the students, their individual obsessions and likings. Especially those moments will have a lasting impact on me.
My week at one school was outstandingly well organised. A special timetable was planned for me, which gave me the opportunity to visit each teacher´s lessons, including dancing and music lessons. I got to know every single teacher and could discuss his/her views on education for special needs students. I felt completely integrated, which made me feel welcome and cared for.
Furthermore I felt very honoured to spend some time in the personnel department and I joined a very well planned training day on epilepsy.
Last but not least I felt gratefully for the possibility of travelling. People willingly gave me advice about the places of interest worth seeing and I did not regret one trip.
6 The worst experience
The most unpleasant experience was the feeling of dependancy. As I did not have a car, I had to rely on being picked up by staff members, who were sometimes only informed about their task at very short notice. That made me feel being a nuisance to others. Unfortunately, on a few days it was not clear where I was to be, for how long and who would give me a lift back. This problem made these few days a not very memorable experience. I felt insecure, not knowing how to deal with this organizational problem. But overall my stay was thoroughly planned and I was well integrated in the working process.
7 Language problems - local dialect
The last time I had spoken English previously was about four years ago. Therefore I felt quite agitated about the language issue. Even though I was able to pick up the English language very quickly again, I realised that I had forgotten many expressions.
I had real communication problems with some staff members, as they spoke in a broad Yorkshire accent. As long as they made an effort to speak clearly and understandably, there was no problem, but sometimes I did not understand a single word. However, most people made an great effort and tried to speak as understandably as possible, which I appreciated.
8 RésuméMost of all I enjoyed meeting and discussing with foreign people. I liked to question my own concept of values, as I realised I had got stuck in my daily working routine and had lost some empathy and sensitivity for my clients. I was very impressed by the dedicated and committed work of all staff members. The transportation problems made me face my own deficits in adressing unpleasant circumstances and handling them.
Particularly as Europe becomes more and more united, I think it is important to get to know my neighbours and their way of working. Coming together eliminates misunderstandings and prejudices and the understanding for each other generally grows.
As I have already addressed, it is useful to shift one´s perspective, but also to become open for new ideas and working styles which might be implemented in one´s work at home. My placement certainly refreshed my mind and it enhanced my professional skills, as it gave me new strength to work with more empathy again, but it also made clear to me, that I liked working with my client group. The opportunity to travel during my placement enabled me to relax too.
This professional programme will have a lasting impact on me and I would like to join the programme again, as I would be particularly keen on learning about residential homes, especially ones which focus on maladjusted adolescents (e.g. youngsters who can not live at home due to social problems, young offenders but with average intelligence).
Finally I want to thank the FICE Europe, especially the German and the British FICE sections for having given me the chance of participating in the P.E.P.. I can highly recommend this programme to anyone who is interested in meeting and working with people from other countries.
