Pilger

 

Social and Pedagogical Project for Individual Education

 

CONCEPT

 

What We Offer

 

The Pilger Project offers assistance in the education of adolescents using the special approach based on the individual pedagogic. The assistance rendered to the adolescents combines the foreign education stage in the Kyrgyz Republic aimed at forming, developing and improving the basis for acquiring some fundamental autonomy skills with a further social integration of the adolescents in Germany.

 

Legal Framework

 

The Eighth Book of Social Law, in particular, Paragraphs 35, 35a, and 41 (according to Paragraphs 5, 27, and 36)

Federal Social Law, Paragraph 39.

 

Scope of Pedagogic Assistance

 

Children and adolescents residing in the Federative Republic of Germany.

 

Foreign Education Stage / State

 

During the initial stage of the Project, the adolescents spend at least 12 months in the Kyrgyz Republic. The participation in the Project may be prolonged (for instance, until the graduation from school or, in some cases, until the completion of professional training).

 

 

 

Target Group

 

Adolescents of 12 to 17 years of age (in some cases even younger), who are inadequately developing in Germany due to the constitutional factors, family situations, unfavorable social conditions, or who cannot fully express their abilities, which in turn causes their regressive and deviant behavior, such as the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exceptions:

 

 

 

Admission Procedure:

 

Five business days are required to process the application on the adolescent’s admission to the project.

 

Formal Requirements

 

Waiver of mandatory school education in Germany for the duration of stay abroad;

 

All personal details about the adolescent including data on the previously rendered pedagogical assistance, medical reports, the latest grade sheet;

 

Medical certificate about the general state of health;

 

Valid international passport (should be valid at least for the next six months);

 

Document on immunization;

 

Actual Protocol of the Schedule for Pedagogical Assistance by the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the BRD;

 

 

 

Pedagogical Basics

 

General Provisions

 

Notwithstanding their level of personal development or a certain behavioral deficiencies, the adolescents are viewed as learning and equal individuals; furthermore, there should be no mandatory obedience principle used in treating them. However, there is a basic rule: one enjoys more rights only if one is ready to fulfill more obligations. Various ways of interaction are used in the social pedagogic considering the current set of circumstances and the development of the young persons. The most widely used are relationships based on the social values, the systematic and situational pedagogic approaches built on the principles of cooperation. The everyday pedagogic includes daily activities aimed at acquiring certain social skills, and also some elements of experience-based pedagogic which in addition to the routine tasks (activities) include the hiking trips, parachute jumping, cycling, and project craft, business, and social activities (described below) followed by debriefings. In

 

addition to the routine tasks (activities) include the hiking trips, parachute jumping, cycling, and project craft, business, and social activities (described below) followed by debriefings. In addition, the specifics of everyday life and new geographic, social, cultural, technical, and language environment play an important role bringing the adolescent to the ‘dead-end situation’ but at the same time encouraging the acquisition of the all-round life experience. This helps the young person feel and experience both their abilities and their dependence on others.

Kyrgyzstan is still at the early stages of social development, and this creates conditions for testing the efficiency of pedagogic approaches, developing interaction with adolescents and proving their independence. The successful education and training progress step by step, and the major conclusions are mostly made out of the personal experience.

The behavioral stereotypes acquired in Germany will gradually destruct here, replaced by the sustainable framework of relationship between the everyday life, pedagogic work, and therapists’ consultations. Through formulating natural, purposefully structured requirements the adolescents get an opportunity to reflect on the customary behavior roles, realize their strengths and weaknesses, mobilize themselves with the help of a special professional support, and thereby open new horizons for their

lives and strengthen them. The contact with the

nature in its primeval form proved to be most

useful for establishing a positive attitude toward

one’s self and others. The direct touch of nature,

where many things are contrary (sunrise and

sunset, day and night, heat and cold, wind and

still air, birth and death, and so on), encourages

the individual to grow and gives different ideas

about the life. Undoubtedly, the training process

is under the influence of the immediate cultural

environment which comprises a variety of customs and traditions of the local population (Kyrgyz, Russian, Tatar, Ukraine, Uzbek, German, Korean, etc.), the so called intercultural communication. Also of the great therapeutic value are the music and arts which are by large original and traditional, and also the local customs and rites (for instance, ulak, erkese, bayga, toy, chochok toy, bata).

 

  

 

Objectives

 

Specific objectives which outline our pedagogic work are the following:

 

 

 

 

  

 

Project Structure

 

 

 

The project runs in four phases:

 

 

 

 

Phase I. Acquaintance and initial relationships

 

 

The interaction between the young person and the tutor always start with several days of trip to the mountains, to the remote areas, by foot or on horseback (10–20 days or longer if needed). The tutor and the adolescent stay face to face, surrounded by the desolate nature.

Unfamiliar surroundings, a different social environment (quite contrary to the mentality of a German adolescent), lack of any knowledge about the country and the language – these are the ‘natural’ conditions for motivating a coexistence and cooperation between the adolescent and the tutor. The living in such conditions does not give any chance to the adolescent to distance from the relationship with the tutor. This way the adolescent plainly cannot avoid communication and withdraw into his shell, because the

everyday chores such as choosing the camp site, installing tents, cooking, cleaning up, washing clothes, etc. are performed in cooperation. Over a certain period of time, during the joint hiking trips to mountain lakes and caves, rafting on mountain rivers,

the adolescent gradually adapts and comes to perceiving everything from a different perspective. This ‘pushes’ the young person to ‘step over his own shadow’, understand and come to trusting himself, to knowing his abilities. The practice shows that the mountain trips are the most effective activities to facilitate establishing relationship between the adolescent and the tutor. After doing the joint activities, the

adolescent starts perceiving and accepting the tutor as ‘the human being’. When the relationship between the young man and the tutor is progressing well enough, the project comes to its next phase.

 

 

 

 

 

Phase II. Adolescent’s personal enrichment and ‘individual project’

 

Thanks to the things experienced and learned during the first phase, the young persons realize that ‘loafs of bread don’t grow on trees’, and their previous ‘coolness’ transforms into the realization of their own and others’ achievements and values. It gradually becomes clear that the person is appraised and perceived through his ability to interact with the environment. The cooperative life under conditions where there are no ‘Aldi’ or ‘MacDonalds’, and where people earn their living by working hard every day (stock breeding, growing fruit and vegetables) and use their efforts to maintain and improve their economic well-being, motivates the young person to try his own abilities and put his plans to a real perspective. At this point in time, considering the adolescent’s interests, desires and objectives, various activities and projects are scheduled and implemented. These projects develop and strengthen the creativity, professional skills, endurance, and social skills. Below is one of the examples:

 

 

 

Tractor project

Cooperative assembly or repairs to the tractor in order to use it for working in the field for own needs or as an assistance to the rural community.

 

 

 

 

Automobile project

The goal is to ‘put back on wheels’ automobiles that seem to be totally useless, to acquire professional skills in the course of such work (painting, body works, mechanical work knowledge), and to obtain the driver’s license that will be valid in Germany for some time without the need to pass additional tests.

 

 

 

 

 

Livestock project

Raising and breeding livestock and poultry (rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, etc.), hands-on land tilling, or farming bees give an opportunity to acquire professional, zoological, economic and commercial basics.

 

 

 

 

Social project

 

 

 

Rendering support to low-income, poor, and homeless people: supplying food, repairing homes, providing escort for visiting a doctor, heating homes (in winter), etc., providing support for street children by working together with the Project’s partners such as public associations “Strannik”, “Pokolenie”, “Rights of Youth”. At the same time, potential interests and free-time

preferences of the adolescents are identified. Where it is feasible, the adolescents are involved in the activities of the above associations and groups. If the young person gains his first positive experience through his own efforts, self-assessment of the personality, and success, the project progresses to Phase III.

 

 

Phase III. Preparation for school or professional education

The capacities developed during phases I and II, such as endurance, assiduity, trust to self and others, along with the first success provide an opportunity to the young person to look ‘over his own horizon’. The adolescent learns to realize his weaknesses and develop character strengths. More and more often he manages to achieve the set goals. The internal motivation creates conditions for the purposeful education. At this

stage the adolescent strives to graduate from the school or to acquire the profession (the

education may be conducted in German language, take the form of outreach studies, or include individual classes). The practical skills acquired during the project may be also used to acquire the professional qualification. To achieve this, the adolescent is offered an opportunity to try himself out in various professional spheres (for example, work in the bakery, automobile repair shop, farm, barber shop, carpenter’s workshop, etc.). There is an option to make contact with German

educational institutions and to take outreach classes by using the Internet. Musical and other cultural needs of the young people are also accounted for. All of the above strengthens the adolescent’s self-assurance, positively influences the educational process, and facilitates his social integration

after returning to Germany.

 

 

 

Phase IV. Acquiring independence and preparing for the return to Germany

 

The educational work abroad is based on the so called ‘extraction’ of the young person from the customary social

relationships and behavior, and aims at the total re-orientation of the adolescent. At the same time, the phase of adolescent’s preparation for the return to Germany is critical for the successful completion of the pedagogic process. This phase is precisely timed and thoroughly prepared by all members of the project team within the framework of planned assistance. A particular attention has to be paid to the positive completion of the young person’s stay abroad. In order to achieve this, the final phase of the project has to be structured and organized so that by using the abroad experience the adolescent could find the use of the acquired skills and abilities in his future life and explore the further prospects developed in cooperation with him. While the

transfer of skills and knowledge from the previous stages of the project is quite commensurable, it is especially important that the young person is initially accompanied through the new stretch of his life by a person whom he trusts.

 

Return to Germany and further guardianship

 

 

 

The further guardianship in Germany can be effected in the Project Leader’s organization located near Hannover and, if necessary, the adolescent may be integrated through the partner organizations.

 

 

Work with parents

 

 

 

The social status of the young persons depends on their further relationships which will be formed in the society and at home. Therefore, it is very important to facilitate communication between the adolescent and his family. Strategic plans of work with the parents are developed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the parents / legal guardians; these plans are documented in terms of pedagogic assistance to the adolescent considering his

development and the acquired experience. The parents / legal guardians are regularly informed about the development level of their child, because this proves to be pedagogically rational; they also have an opportunity to visit the young persons at the project site.

 

 

 

 

 

Specialists / Organization Chart

 

Management Group of Pilger Project:

 

 

The Project is also employing the following specialists:

 

 

 

Project employees / tutors as a rule hold diplomas in pedagogy which includes the qualification of an educator, with many years of professional experience. All tutors must have an additional education as Psychology Practitioners and pass regular advanced training in pedagogy and psychology in order to meet the relevant German standards.

 

For the same reasons, the Project employees usually hold additional specific qualifications, such as the following:

 

 

The pedagogic activities of the tutors are characterized by productivity, self-possession, and creative approach.

 

 

Families and Domestic Environment

 

 

The project site and the pedagogic personnel, i.e. the family, is chosen in accordance with the individual circumstances and needs of each individual adolescent, his level of development and interests. Together with the above special requirements, in order to accept the adolescent, the families qualified in pedagogy express their aptitude to organize their domestic life in accordance with the pedagogic needs, help avoid forming bad habits, and specifically focus their attention on

the individual problems of the subject of assistance.

The project sites with their diverse capacities are mostly located within a 150 kilometers radius around the capital city of Bishkek, or in the mountain homes situated in the nearby

mountain gorges. The sites are located within the easy reach of the shops, first medical aid facilities, pharmacies, schools, craft production facilities, sports centers, farms, etc. The capital is accessible by car or by bus. The medical services in the capital meet European standards.

The everyday life in Kyrgyzstan is characterized by the reverence of young people toward the seniors. The family relationships are built on respect and understanding; each family

member has certain duties and equitably contributes to the everyday life of the family.

The social environment is clearly and coherently structured.

The social control plays an important role in the rural community, which significantly facilitates the pedagogic work.

                                  

 

 

The Kyrgyz Republic. The Overview.

 

 

Kyrgyzstan (also known as the Kyrgyz Republic) is an independent country (since 1991) located in Central Asia. It borders with Kazakhstan to the North, with China to the East and South-East, with Tajikistan to the South-West, and with Uzbekistan to the West. The total area of the country is 198,500 square kilometers; the total population is about 4.5 million. Before the independence, the country was called Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic, a part of the USSR.

For comparison, approximately 80 million people live in BRD in the area of 248,709 square kilometers. Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, is the largest city with the population of approximately 760,000. It is located in Chuy Valley (in the northern part of the country), in 40 kilometers distance from the border with Kazakhstan.

Kyrgyz people constitute 52% of the population, Russians make up 22%, and Uzbeks account for 13%. The other nationalities include Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis. Kyrgyzstan was one of the first CIS states to acknowledge the autonomy rights of the German national minority. Kyrgyz is the state language, and Russian is the official language. The religious affiliation (Muslims, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelist Christians) is free for citizens to choose.

The scarcely populated and diverse mountain landscapes of Kyrgyzstan are a sort of Eldorado for those who like traveling. High altitude mountain ranges and valleys, forests and grasslands are closely intertwined. The Alai Range is in the South, same as the outskirts of Pamir Mountains. Over 50% of the country’s area is at the elevation over 2,500 meters above sea level. The glaciers and perpetual snow cover over 3% of the land area. The vegetation type of mountain valleys is desert and semi-desert, while there is a variety of grasslands, forests, and alpine meadows higher in the mountains. There are a lot of rare animals including the brown Tien-Shan bear, the red wolf, and the snow leopard. The climate is continental with a high seasonal spread of temperature.

 

  

Quality Improvement and Security Enforcement

 

 

Quality improvement and security enforcement is achieved through the following activities: