The Korczak conference was held in The Nivon House in Bergen aan Zee, The Netherlands. Everyone was expected to arrive there on Saturday the 22nd off September before 17.00. And the conference ended in the morning of Friday the 29th off September. Before hand we’ve been given a choice, what workshops we could attend to. As everyone came in we all registered and got a full program overview. I wanted to go to this conference because Janusz Korczak ideas interested me a lot. He was a Polish/Jewish pedagogue how set up Orphanages for street kids in Poland. He used a method where he respected the child and respected his/her rights. He has done some remarkable things ahead of his time. He died almost heroic because he was given a choice to leave the children and the deportation train to Auschwitz during the Second World War. He decided to stay and got gassed as he arrived in the concentration camp.
Before the conference I read two books. How to love a child (hoe houd je van een kind) by Janusz Korczak and Janusz Korczak about being small and growing up (Janusz Korczak over klein zijn en groot worden) by Kees Waaldijk.
These books gave me a very good impression of Korczaks ideas on the way you could bring up a child and respect its wishes without loosing grip. He specially wrote about children with difficulties. And because I work with handicapped children it was very interesting for me to go to this conference and learn more about his ideas and work.
Before the conference I read two books. How to love a child (hoe houd je van een kind) by Janusz Korczak and Janusz Korczak about being small and growing up (Janusz Korczak over klein zijn en groot worden) by Kees Waaldijk.
These books gave me a very good impression of Korczaks ideas on the way you could bring up a child and respect its wishes without loosing grip. He specially wrote about children with difficulties. And because I work with handicapped children it was very interesting for me to go to this conference and learn more about his ideas and work.
SaturdayI arrived at the conference by my self. I finished unpacking and went downstairs. There was a group of people in the lounge talking to each other. I decided to sit with them. We talked about where we came from and what kind of work we where doing. There where 18 different nationalities attending this conference and all where working in the social care in one way or another. I already got business cards from a girl from Malaysia and a woman from Bangladesh. They both worked with children. And they had an interesting story to tell.
After dinner we all got together and introduced ourselves by playing games.
We stayed up late, talking about our work and why we came to this conference.
Sunday.This was the first full day at the conference. We started with:
08.00 -09.00 Breakfast
09.00 Introduction of the day.
09.30-12.30 Workshop. I had chosen; Children and multimedia.
This workshop was about children and internet use. What the risks are and how we can give the children some safety while surfing on the net.
12.45 - 13.30 Lunch time
14.00 - 17.00 A creative workshop I choose The world of animation.
I made a short movie with 2 others, by placing lots of pictures behind one another.
17.00 - 19.00 we had free time and we went outside for a walk to the beach
19.00 - 20.00 was dinner time
20.00 – 22.00 open podium. At the open podium everyone could give a presentation about their work. Today was the first presentation, it was about street work in Paris. Very interesting The second presentation was from a Dutch girl (24 years old). She visited Ghana for 6 months and set up a business with people from Ghana and with the help of micro credit. She told an inspiring story about here stay. Afterwards we talked and exchanged numbers.
22.00 - Until late… I stayed up and talked to a lot of interesting people.
Monday
Each day we had the same time schedule but with different workshops and presentations.
Today me and a small group of nice people got up very early to see the sunrise at the beach. After breakfast there was a presentation about the Rock and water program used at schools to handle aggressive boy’s and girls. Really interesting. After that I attended the second part of the workshop children and multimedia.
In the afternoon I went to a creative workshop called Build your own environment. A architect how started a project in Holland. She would let children build their own hangout place so it wouldn’t be destroyed. Our group decided to build a bench out of wooden pellets. They became popular to sit on during the long nights.
The presentation at the open-podium was about street work in Brazil. I also talked to the lady afterwards because here project interested me very much. There was also a presentation of the lady from Bangladesh how started schools for street children on the street it self. I bought a card that the children had made. Hopefully I can visit here someday and help out or send students from our school for a training period.
Tuesday
Today I woke up early 07.30 and helped out in the kitchen. After breakfast there was a very interesting workshop.
09.30 – 12.30 the workshop Integration of disabled and chronic ill children. We talked and discussed about the different views and methods that are being used in the different countries. Off course this was a direct link to my current work so a very good learning experience. It made me realize that my project about gathering information about handicapped children could be very interesting since none of the participants from the different countries knew about the different views. I kept good contact with the lady how had organize it. She would like to have a look at my interview for the project.
In the afternoon we had an excursion to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. (there where also 3 other choices) I showed the people from Russia some parts from Amsterdam. I was getting more tiered because of the little sleep I would get during the night but nevertheless it was still impressive to visit the museum. We got back at the conference at 20.00. The Dutch students organized a stoelendans in the evening (a Dutch game) we had lot of fun. I also talked to some people but went to bed early (02.00) because I was really tired
Wednesday
In the morning the second part of the workshop integration of disabled people started. We watch a American movie about integration. It was full of situations that I thought where not in the best interest of the child. In the afternoon I wet to the workshop “from rubbish to art” I made several puppets out of rubbish It was really fun doing.
There where some extra presentations during the free time. One about street kids in Lithuania and one about the Korczak organisation in Russia.
After dinner we started with a concert of Jewish story telling and singing. The lady how sang had such a beautiful voice. I got a lot of energy out of listening to the concert. After the concert we all started to exchange addresses because we all realized the conference would finish soon and there where so many interesting people to get in contact with.
At night was finally able to send Matthijs an email saying that everything was ok. I went to bed around 03.30
Thursday
The workshop on this day was about children and aggression. The lady wrote a book about here new method of getting children to stop with their aggressive behaviour, and to talk about their fear. We had to talk about our own fears. This was for some pretty hard. After such intensive contact and so little sleep lot of emotions came out. It was a hart warming workshop and very intense (it felt like a strong connected group that new each other for many years already). I bought the book afterwards so I could read more about the method of changing behaviour. In the afternoon I decided to make the decor of the play that we where going to perform in the evening. I don’t like being on stage so I did the preparations. I had my hands covert in cement because we where making huge spoons and a tea cup. It was fun making! After dinner I really needed some time on my own. So I missed the first minutes of the play. It was really funny. Afterwards there where some more improvised music performances that we listened to. I Stayed up until 04.00 talking to the Germans I met and all the other people at the conference. We didn’t want the conference to end.
Friday
This was the last morning. We could sleep half a hour later. Until 08.00 We had to clear our room and help clean the kitchen. At 11.00 we sang some songs for the last time, hugged and said goodbye. It was pretty hard to leave. The atmosphere was so special that it felt strange to be in the “outside world” again. The people that attended this conference where very serious about their jobs. Every one of them could talk passionately for hours about it. It was great to be apart of such a group of people. I learned a lot and gained many friends from all over the world. This was my first conference but for sure not my last!
Greetings josé
Today me and a small group of nice people got up very early to see the sunrise at the beach. After breakfast there was a presentation about the Rock and water program used at schools to handle aggressive boy’s and girls. Really interesting. After that I attended the second part of the workshop children and multimedia.
In the afternoon I went to a creative workshop called Build your own environment. A architect how started a project in Holland. She would let children build their own hangout place so it wouldn’t be destroyed. Our group decided to build a bench out of wooden pellets. They became popular to sit on during the long nights.
The presentation at the open-podium was about street work in Brazil. I also talked to the lady afterwards because here project interested me very much. There was also a presentation of the lady from Bangladesh how started schools for street children on the street it self. I bought a card that the children had made. Hopefully I can visit here someday and help out or send students from our school for a training period.
TuesdayToday I woke up early 07.30 and helped out in the kitchen. After breakfast there was a very interesting workshop.
09.30 – 12.30 the workshop Integration of disabled and chronic ill children. We talked and discussed about the different views and methods that are being used in the different countries. Off course this was a direct link to my current work so a very good learning experience. It made me realize that my project about gathering information about handicapped children could be very interesting since none of the participants from the different countries knew about the different views. I kept good contact with the lady how had organize it. She would like to have a look at my interview for the project.
In the afternoon we had an excursion to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. (there where also 3 other choices) I showed the people from Russia some parts from Amsterdam. I was getting more tiered because of the little sleep I would get during the night but nevertheless it was still impressive to visit the museum. We got back at the conference at 20.00. The Dutch students organized a stoelendans in the evening (a Dutch game) we had lot of fun. I also talked to some people but went to bed early (02.00) because I was really tired
WednesdayIn the morning the second part of the workshop integration of disabled people started. We watch a American movie about integration. It was full of situations that I thought where not in the best interest of the child. In the afternoon I wet to the workshop “from rubbish to art” I made several puppets out of rubbish It was really fun doing.
There where some extra presentations during the free time. One about street kids in Lithuania and one about the Korczak organisation in Russia.
After dinner we started with a concert of Jewish story telling and singing. The lady how sang had such a beautiful voice. I got a lot of energy out of listening to the concert. After the concert we all started to exchange addresses because we all realized the conference would finish soon and there where so many interesting people to get in contact with.
At night was finally able to send Matthijs an email saying that everything was ok. I went to bed around 03.30
ThursdayThe workshop on this day was about children and aggression. The lady wrote a book about here new method of getting children to stop with their aggressive behaviour, and to talk about their fear. We had to talk about our own fears. This was for some pretty hard. After such intensive contact and so little sleep lot of emotions came out. It was a hart warming workshop and very intense (it felt like a strong connected group that new each other for many years already). I bought the book afterwards so I could read more about the method of changing behaviour. In the afternoon I decided to make the decor of the play that we where going to perform in the evening. I don’t like being on stage so I did the preparations. I had my hands covert in cement because we where making huge spoons and a tea cup. It was fun making! After dinner I really needed some time on my own. So I missed the first minutes of the play. It was really funny. Afterwards there where some more improvised music performances that we listened to. I Stayed up until 04.00 talking to the Germans I met and all the other people at the conference. We didn’t want the conference to end.
Friday
This was the last morning. We could sleep half a hour later. Until 08.00 We had to clear our room and help clean the kitchen. At 11.00 we sang some songs for the last time, hugged and said goodbye. It was pretty hard to leave. The atmosphere was so special that it felt strange to be in the “outside world” again. The people that attended this conference where very serious about their jobs. Every one of them could talk passionately for hours about it. It was great to be apart of such a group of people. I learned a lot and gained many friends from all over the world. This was my first conference but for sure not my last!
Greetings josé
For more information: check
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Korczak Genaral background information.
http://www.korczak.nl/2004/index.html Dutch organisation that organised the conference.
1 comment:
Hallo José,
ich lasse nur kurze, recht späte Grüße da... möchte gleich ins Bett gehen.
Genießt den morgigen freien Tag!
Liebe Grüße,
Katrin (Ackermann)
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