TWI for the CHILDREN, Inc.

The purpose of this page is to provide a  report of the October 2004 Training Workshop series hosted by TWI for the Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the towns of Srebrenica, Gorazde and Travnik.  More than 300 professional educators and caregivers attended these workshops.

 

"LEARNING DISABILITIES
 and
 ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER"

FULL-DAY TRAINING WORKSHOPS
 IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

OCTOBER 2004

 

Summary Report  

Bonnie Miller, Presenter

 

            Three full-day workshops were held in central and Eastern Bosnia in late October 2004.  Bobby Houser, President of “TWI for the Children, Inc.”, representing the Virginia-based sponsoring organization, introduced the workshops and informed the participants of other TWI activities being done in the Balkans such as their summer “Camps to Children” held in more than twenty towns throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Montenegro.  Azra Saje, administrator for TWI for the Children in Bosnia, organized the workshops and invited teachers from area schools.  Vjeko Saje served as translator and interpreter for the workshops.  Bonnie Miller wrote the materials and presented the seminars.  All workshops were organized in cooperation with OSCE headquarters in Sarajevo and with local OSCE representatives.

 

            Every participant was given workshop materials in the local language: (1) A parent’s manual (Communicating with Children); (2) A teacher’s manual (Connecting with Children in the Classroom); (3) A teacher’s guidebook on Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder; and, (4) a handout packet on LD and ADHD.  Additionally, each organization represented was provided with the 32-minute “I Can Learn” videocassette.  Participants were encouraged to return to their organizations and share the written materials, as well as what they had learned in the day-long seminar, with their colleagues.

 

The topics covered at each workshop included:  (1) "What are Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder and their specific symptoms?"; and, (2) "How do these syndromes affect children in school and in other aspects of their lives?"  Teachers were provided with concrete suggestions for identifying and helping children who have these problems.  A discussion of approaches for working as a team with parents was another important component of the workshop.  The multimedia presentation demonstrated different methods of teaching and included a power-point presentation, lectures, video, small group work, role-plays and simulations.

 

The Srebrenica seminar, held at the Cultural Center, consisted of half-Bosniaks and half-Serb educators. Many of the Bosniaks were refugee returnees and some of the Serbs were from hard-line border towns such as Zvornik.  The Goražde program, held at the Cultural Center in that town, included 40% Serbs (many from hard-line areas such as Foča, Višegrad and Rudo) and 60% Bosniaks. The Travnik seminar, held at the Travnik elementary school, was comprised of Bosniaks (50%), Croats and Serbs (50%).  Some of the participants were from hard-line areas such as Donji Vakuf, Vitez, and Bugojno and other areas where the war fighting was the fiercest such as Turbe and Jajce.  In addition to the educational goals of the workshops, these programs provided a needed opportunity for teachers from different backgrounds and localities to come together to share common problems that they face and strategies that they can use in teaching children with learning and attention problems. 

 

Workshop evaluations obtained from all 270 teachers reflected a very positive and enthusiastic response to the seminar and written materials.  Most of the teachers requested that further TWI workshops be held in their localities.  Local TV stations in each town covered the workshops, and each station was given the videocassette to show as part of their future programming.

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Updated: 11/17/2004