IV Interregional Scientific and Practical conference “Strategic directions for the creation of a modern active socialization system of children and youth with disabilities” that included international guests and participants, was held on October 8. One of the topics of the reports on “Psychological and pedagogical support of professional development of young people with disabilities” section was the basic principles of the Portage methodology.
The conference was held online. There were discussed the problem of employment of graduates with disabilities, issues of long-term care and support for children and youth with disabilities and other related topics. The conference was attended by representatives of state authorities, municipal authorities in charge of education, commercial enterprises representatives, educational and public organizations representative, and employment agencies.
The conference was organized by the Department of Education and Science of the Kostroma Region together with the Regional “Abilympics” Center, Kostroma State University and Kostroma Regional Institute for the Development of Education as part of the business program of the IV Regional Championship in Professional Skills among Disabled People and Persons with Disabilities Abylimpics 2020 in Kostroma region.
Elena Volodina, the head of Diema’s Dream Fund, explained the Portage methodology to the audience in the report “Basic principles of the Portage methodology in individual work with children with disabilities” on behalf of our foundation that develops the Portage methodology in Russia.
Elena told the audience that the Portage training model was founded in Portage, Wisconsin (USA) in the 1970s. The methodology was developed based on the research of Professor Sydney Bijou. Portage methodology recognized the limitations of learning at different centers and suggested moving the learning process to the children’s home. Portage’s success in the UK and USA has led to increased demand of the methodology usage in many countries around the world, such as Gaza and Arab countries, Namibia, Georgia, Netherlands, India, Peru, Jamaica, Philippines, Japan, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, Latvia, Lithuania, Zambia.
Elena noted that there are more than 200 certified Portage specialists, more than 15 pilot projects and Portage practice teams in 5 regions have already been trained and are working in Russia. In 2016, the Conference on Innovative Practices was held, that mentioned the Portage methodology. Four years later, a significant event took place in Russia; the IPO “Portage Specialists Association” was established.
Elena Volodina revealed the list of documents that is used during the work process by the Portage specialists. Among them are the test sheets, activities cards that help to improve the effectiveness of training, and working tables for the collaboration with children’s parents on the exact learning step.
Speaking about the basic principles of the methodology, Elena mentioned that the child’s home is the initial learning environment for the child, and the key role is assigned to the parents and / or teachers of the child.
At the end of her speech, Elena A. Volodina refer to the reasons why the method is extremely valuable for children:
- The child becomes attached to a significant adult and, as a result, a common trust to the world grows;
- The child receives more positive emotions and gets more individual attention while lives in a group;
- Every week Portage specialists collegially discuss the child’s progress and details of his further growth;
- The child’s individual profile accumulates not only the child’s results, but also photographs and recommendations of various specialists involved in the project.
And the most amazing thing is that as a result of many years of patient work using the Portage methodology, children who were previously considered hopeless acquire new skills that were inaccessible to them.
“With the help of Portage specialists, children master the skills of self-service, speech and communication, movement, cognition and socialization,” concluded Elena Volodina. – “There are 624 such skills. Portage allows the nurses, teachers, and parents to teach children the basic things: to wash and dress, to chew and swallow food, to drink, sit and stand, to distinguish colors, to count, and also to acquire and develop speech skills, to communicate with adults and children, to get to know themselves and the world around them, to learn to play by themselves and in a group.”
We hope that the acquaintance with the principles of the Portage methodology has complemented the picture of the active socialization system for the children and youth with disabilities and was useful for the audience of the section that is scientists, teachers, specialists of municipal authorities in charge of education, managers and deputy heads, teachers of educational organizations, psychologists of educational organizations and social services, representatives of social organizations for rehabilitation and social protection.