Educational material
The educational material Respect 4 Me – an output of the SPECIAL project
Handbook for professionals in English, Swedish or Italian
Web site for young women in English, Swedish or Italian: www.respect4me.org
Project information
SPECIAL - Self-Protection, Education & Choice through InterActive Learning
The Municipality of Uppsala has received funding from the European Union’s Daphne II programme to implement the SPECIAL project in cooperation with CO&SO Firenze in Italy and Surrey County Council in the United Kingdom. SPECIAL – Self-Protection through Education, Choice, and InterActive Learning – began in March, 2007, and runs for two years. The project was initiated by Fyrisskolan’s upper-secondary school for pupils with learning disabilities in Uppsala.
SPECIAL is designed for young women in the 16-21 age bracket with a slight developmental disorder. Research has shown that this group in particular is at risk of sexual violence and other abuse.
Purpose
The project aims to prevent young women from finding themselves in situations in which they risk exposure to violence and humiliating treatment by their peers and other people. Our aim is to develop a set of educational materials focusing on the human right not to be exploited or exposed to abuse in any form. We wish to develop the ability to understand what exploitation is, to react to certain warning signals, and to increase awareness of various risky behaviours. In addition, we intend to develop methods of boosting self-esteem such that individuals will dare to say both yes and no and only give what they really want to give. The educational material will be developed in close cooperation with members of the target group and specialists in the three participating countries.
The project also aims to strengthen the safety net available to young women by raising awareness of the problem among those decision-makers and professionals who come into contact with these and related issues.
Activities
As part of the project, we will develop:
- A learning package in three languages comprising an interactive, computerised component and a teachers’ guide providing background information and suggesting how teaching these issues can best be done. These teaching materials will also be designed to be used outside a classroom context.
- A website in three languages on which we will post, among other things, the learning package and a knowledge and resource bank referencing research and other material on the subject.
- We will also hold four conferences with a view to boosting awareness of the problems addressed by the project in each of the three participating countries.
Partners
Municipality of Uppsala/Fyrisskolan, Sweden
With its 187,000 inhabitants, Uppsala is Sweden’s fourth largest municipality, and Fyrisskolan, with its 1,150 students, is Uppsala’s second largest upper-secondary school. One hundred and twenty of these students are receiving upper-secondary education for pupils with learning disabilities. This is a voluntary four-year course and is given either as individual programmes of learning offering work or occupational training or as national educational programmes in commerce and administration, the hotel and restaurant trade, or media studies.
CO&SO Firenze, Italy
The Consortium CO&SO Firenze was founded in 1998 as a group of cooperatives working in the Florence area. All cooperatives deliver social services on behalf of Public Authorities in the Province of Florence. CO&SO Firenze operates as a second-tier structure by offering to it’s associated cooperatives several services such as: General Contractor, Support to Development, Training and Consultancy in several areas, Technical Assistance, Development of Quality projects.Surrey County Council, Great Britain
Surrey County Council is the public authority responsible for the management and direct delivery of services to 1.1 million residents. Education for young people with special educational needs does not stop at 16. Depending on a child's interests and abilities, he or she can stay on at an ordinary or special school, or can move on to a college for further education.. Some colleges run special courses or have units for these students.