Albrecht Dürer's Haus, Nürnberg, Susie Mallett 2002
Last week I received a programme, that I was told is not the final version, for the Konduktiven Kongress to be held in Nürnberg on November 7th.
I am sorry about the delay in posting this. Last week was long and very busy, and I have only just got round to translating it. I don't get many dots on my map from German-speaking countries so I thought it would be better if I put this programme into English.
Here it is at last. Just a peep at how the preparations are progressing, I will post the final details when I have them in my hand.
A very long time ago now someone asked me whether I would talk about my work with adults at this congress, I agreed. Unfortunately there appears to no longer be a spot for this, but I am reassured that in the time given for questions from the floor I will have time to speak, if anyone asks!
I comment no further except to say I will be sure to attend the presentation about “the use of the plinth”. And I will give a full and detailed report of it here on my blog, along with any other interesting snippets.
I am thrilled to see that our integrated Kindergarten has got a spot.
Provisional programme
Conductive Pedagogy – a path to participation and integration
7th November 2009 at the Grand Hotel Meridien, Nürnberg
9.30 Opening
Dr Rehn, Chairman of the Board of the Verein für Mencshen mit Körperbehinderungen e.V.
Welcome
Dr Markus Söder, State Minister (unconfirmed)
10.00
Training, Konductive Förderung and integration.
On the way to a synthesis, from the example of the school project in Rohrdorf.
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Lelgemann/Würzbürg
The foundations for the development of the brain
Prof. Dr. Günther Moll/Erlangen
12.00-12.45
Lunch
12.45
Operative intervention made in order to keep and improve the movement of
children and teenagers with motor disorders
Dr. Andrea Riehmer/Nürnberg
The Meaning of the Plinth – its use and advantages
Helga Keil and Bettina Tautscher/Wein
14.15-15.00
Coffee break
15.00
Training course for ppadagogic-therapeutic- conductors ( PTK)
Motives and experiences
Beate Höss-Zenker and Gabi Sosic/München, Lisa Pitz/Würzbürg,
Daniela Hetzel/Hof
The Komet Integrated Montessori-Petö-Kindergarten
Claudia Ditthorn, Adrienn Pelikán, Dr Angela Wohlfahrt/Nürnberg
16.15
Open discussion – questions and answers
Questions, experiences, opinions from the floor
17.30
Evening meal in the hotel restaurant
In the last newsletter, sent to all members of the charity presenting this congress we were told that it will cost fifty euros to attend. As this was not stated on the provisional programme that I received I cannot be sure whether this is still the case.
But at that price it could still be something worth going to. Who knows?
We will find out on the day.
2 comments:
Oh dear, you and your conductor colleagues must be so terribly disappointed.
When I read your earlier posting I though what a remarkable opportunity this would be for Conductive Education (as opposed to konduktive Foerderung) in Germany.
Now I just cannot imagine what impression people will be taking away with them:
- something about the brain
- something about operations
- something about phyios and teachers doing bits of each others' jobs
- something Pythonesque about the meaning of furniture
Such a shame that there look to be two absolute pearls being buried in all this:
- the presentation about the Montessori-Petö-Kindergarten
- the report on the school project in Rohrdorf
Such a pity that there are to be no conductors saying anything to help make sense of all this, and so terrible, yet again, that the fundamental ideas of Petö himself are not to be aired.
Still, if the conference manages to hold the price of 50 euros, for a Kaffepause in the morning and another in the afternoon (both with cakes?), a lunch and a dinner, all at the Grand Hotel Meridien, then it looks like the best-value conference that there has ever been in this sector, in one respect anyway.
Yes it is a bit disappointing for us but we are still hopeful.
I just want to put it on record that there is indeed one conductor hidden in the programme, the one who works in the Montessori-Petö Kindergarten.
An important piece of news about the conference that I received today is that there will be someone else there along side Dr Lelgemann. This is a special-school teacher who will be talking about why there was the need for her, with her special school teacher’s degree, to do a further two-year part-time training to learn about Conductive Education. She and others went on to convince the powers-that-be of the importance of working in a class of children with cerebral palsy with a conductor along side them. They became the school project on the programme
I have just heard that contracts to continue some of this work have been renewed. On the down side I heard that the second conductor’s contract was not renewed and that she is now working in a large centre in Munich.
We are still hoping that the enthusiasm in the school project presentation will light the conductive fire and will be followed by more sparks of life, from the Kindergarten report.
I am sure they will not be pearls thrown to the swine but will turn out to be the jewels in the crown.
There will be several conductors in the audience who I hope will be prepared during the time given over for questions from the floor to throw open questions for other conductors to answer.
More positive news. My colleague and I have recently been invited to talk to a group of assistants and social workers who work in the after school-groups at the school for physically disabled children here in Nürnberg . This is for us a huge step forward. The head of the unit has accepted conductors and conductive pedagogy into his state-run centre for many years. He has fought for more than six years for the funding for our on-going work in one of the groups there. We have the go-ahead for at least one more year.
And more recently I have also been invited to visit two mainstream schools to advise both teachers and classroom assistants working with the “Petö” children from our Kindergarten. This work has already begun, with many visits to our Kindergarten in the last three weeks, including a four-hour visit today. I have became very optimistic about this work as I was bombarded with many questions this morning from the new classroom assistant of one of our littlies.
The main aim of the conference I am told is to spread the word about Conductive Education in the region and to encourage such contacts as I have described above. We the conductors hope that there will be enough opportunities through poster board presentations, during questions and answers and during the coffee breaks and mealtimes, to present our various projects and to have our say.
PS
I am really looking forward to listening to the “Plinth presentation”, while Pythonesque images of John Cleese doing funny walks over slatted beds pass before my eyes.
Yes of course there will be cakes no question about that and as we are in Nürnberg in the morning there will be butter Brezen as well..
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