QUEST travelled with 6 students from Belgium to Klaipeda, and met up with 8 students from Community for Democratic Education from Bulgaria, in Klaipeda, Lithuania early December 2022.
The total group consisted of the following participants: students, teachers and staff members of Montessori school in Lithuania and Democratic schools in Bulgaria and Belgium; dolphin and horse therapists from Lithuania and Bulgaria. During the LTT2 trip participants visited Maria Montessori school and had activities with their students, and visited the Dolphin Assisted Therapy Centre in Klaipeda.
Learning programme consisted of 5 activities, which took 4 days to complete.
Activity 1: Democratic education in Lithuania.
Familiarisation and observation of the established structure and pedagogical processes in the Maria Montessori school in Lithuania. Involving the guest participants in the daily program of the school with activities representing the Culture of Lithuania traditions. The participants introduced in a self-directed educational space where the students are involved in activities that relate to their own interests.
Activity 2: Getting to know dolphins
The aim was to get to know dolphins, their behaviour forms and compare those with human behaviour forms. The meeting was based on different hands-on activities related to the purpose of the Dolphin assisted therapy centre.
Activity 3: Meeting in Social coffee shop
Group discussion with tee and sweats in one of the main supporters of Kids with special needs in Klaipėda city, sharing the different ways to improve the social life in different groups of persons.
Activity 4: Democratic education in Lithuania.
Learning methods: The students from CDE and BOS had the opportunity to talk about and share their experience (stories, pictures, videos) with the activities of the BUSTA project with Maria Montessori students. Also, to represent and share Traditions of each country.
Activity 5: Festival. BUSTA project presentation and roll up.
All students were involved in different kinds of workshops about disability and different kinds of available aids and ways of inclusion. Students tried all stations with the hand-on activities. In the festival we have shared a short video preview of the project. Regarding that in the Festival – 300 persons participated live, and almost 1800 watched online. It was a great opportunity to show all that work what different groups of peers gathered in the first year of the BUSTA Project.
