The hospital pedagogy it has a compensatory function; offers the training and help that the child cannot receive, for medical reasons, at school together with all their peers.
Therefore, it is the teachers in charge of the hospital classrooms who, adapting to the individual needs of each child, through methodologies and infrastructures different from those of a regular classroom in a public or private center, are those who teach in hospitals..
These are the ones that give the children who are hospitalized the possibility to continue learning, so that the incorporation to school and the routine, after their recovery, is as positive, pleasant and quick as possible..
In this article we will define what "hospital classrooms" are, what is the role of their teachers, how is their operation today and what is the use of ICT within hospital pedagogy.
Article index
Hospital classrooms are the school units located in hospitals. These have the function of attending to the educational needs of hospitalized children who are protected by the Law on the social integration of the disabled.
The function of these classrooms is to attend and support, from the educational sphere, the children who are admitted to the hospital for a certain time. These admissions may be due to various diseases such as, for example: psychological disorders, broken bones, various operations, among others.
We can characterize these classrooms as pleasant places that have open, happy and flexible infrastructures to meet the needs of all children, in addition to being in a quiet, pleasant and stable environment.
However, as in any educational process, hospital classrooms also propose priority objectives that must be achieved during their performance. Some of them are, for example, the following:
Ultimately, the function of a hospital classroom is to avoid the negative consequences that the child's stay in the hospital can generate.
For this reason, from the literature, it is pointed out that from the psychological perspective the function of hospital classrooms is to psychologically support the physical recovery of children, showing, for this, a therapeutic vision, since the child can become sociable, among many other benefits.
Teachers who teach in hospital classrooms are characterized as sensitive and warm people who perform their function in these contexts. Its main role is to meet the needs that children show.
These needs can begin at the same time that the influence of the disease itself affects the child's mood, causing anxiety, demotivation and boredom, among others..
In addition, it must promote an ideal climate where the exchange of experiences between the children who frequent the classroom takes place. In this way, they will make your stay pleasant moments, avoiding the possibility that they will miss the presence of some people belonging to their closest context, such as their parents..
Therefore, the teacher has the task of establishing a positive relationship with the family, where good communication is given, which is continuous and permanent, since the family must report the child's level and obtain information on the child's evolution.
The work methodologies in hospital classrooms are different from those that are usually used in any ordinary classroom. However, something essential is that, at all times, the physical conditions of the students must be counted on.
Your health is essential, because if you are well you can travel to the place, learn and have fun. On the contrary, it would be necessary to adapt to another work methodology so that the teacher moves the child's training to the room in which he is admitted.
In the first place, we must point out that the methodology must be flexible and individualized, starting from the interests and knowledge of the child. Taking into account the physical situation of the child, as we have mentioned previously, one methodology or another will be carried out.
Second, the methodology has group activities, in most cases, however, it can be worked individually, taking into account the characteristics of the child in question, since there are diseases that must keep the little one isolated.
Third, the timing of activities is subject to the regular school calendar and the reality of the hospital is adapted.
Fourth, the material resources used are also the same as those used in school. These are, for example, tables, chairs and blackboards, among others.
Finally, fifthly, the evaluation must begin before carrying out the educational intervention. The child should be given an initial evaluation to know the level from which it starts and how we should act to offer help.
However, this will not be the only evaluation that will be carried out since during the process a continuous evaluation will be carried out that will take into account the results that the child is obtaining..
It will have an observational character, since the work that the child is doing will be evaluated. And, also, an evaluation of the program will be carried out to propose improvements, taking into account the benefits that it has brought to the child and the difficulties that implementing it has entailed..
Currently, hospital classrooms, which arose to alleviate the needs posed by society at a time when children were hospitalized for a long time, are essential places in the infrastructures of a hospital.
For this reason, there are numerous hospital classrooms that are distributed throughout Spanish hospitals, and each one works in a different way. However, the objectives and the work methodology are usually similar, since at the beginning of the course the entire teaching team must meet to establish the objectives that will be pursued during the course.
The possibility of carrying out a good project for children who are hospitalized includes other factors, of which we have spoken before, the family and the state of health in which they are. These factors influence the recovery of the child and, in turn, also have an impact on the possibility of the child attending the hospital classroom with a positive or negative attitude.
Parents can influence the children's mood and, in the same way, encourage their participation in the game and in the proposed activities to continue learning outside of the routine classrooms.
However, there are situations in which parents have a negative influence, since overprotection can play an important role creating the rejection of the child to these places, since they feel helpless.
Currently, the groups that hospital classrooms serve are children:
Therefore, attending to these groups, we must point out that the educational project carried out in the child's center should be carried out. For this reason, the teacher of the hospital classroom must maintain that contact that is required with the school from which the little one comes..
Through tools such as ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) they continually receive timely information to support the child. And it is in this exchange of information where the work of parents should be given to increase this contact and support it..
Using this tool, as a resource, implies eliminating the barriers faced by hospitalized children who cannot go to the hospital classroom of their own free will.
The use of ICT implies opening the possibilities towards three relevant factors: academic-training, psychosocial and communication. Using new technologies through computer resources such as computers and tablets implies the possibility of a normalization in the lives of children.
Yet No Comments