The Development House (short: DH) - development activities for children, teenagers and adults.
The Development House is a house for children, teenagers and adults. In its space, we organized painting and handicraft workshops, primary and high school. We have created a friendly place for families in home education. We located all this and many other activities in a house in the middle of Olsztyn. The real house. With garden. With dogs with proud names: Toast and Crisp. And somewhere on the outskirts of this house we also live. Because it's a real home.
Local
Poland
Olsztyn (the capital of the Warmian-Masurian region) and the surrounding area.
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Domy Rozwoju Edukacja Sp. z o.o. Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Karol Last name of representative: Zamojski Gender: Male Nationality: Poland Function: Originator, founder of The Development House // High School Coordinator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Zakole 23B Town: Olsztyn Postal code: 10-699 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 500 546 046 E-mail:dziendobry@domrozwoju.edu.pl Website:https://domrozwoju.edu.pl/
The Development House was a utopia for us. It was supposed to reconcile the impossible. It's a home and a workplace. Home and creative space. Home and school. This is a house that is not a detached house for one small family and its few guests. This is a house where every guest becomes a member of the household. It's a suprafamily house. From the concept of home and what is domestic, new meanings were born. In this way, the house became a source of meaning for all activities of The Development House. At The Development House we care about interpersonal relations, we show a world full of empathy and understanding. We give a chance to develop several friendships: to people, to nature, to art, to literature. We believe that a man surrounded by such friends is a wise man and ready to go through life. Mission: For us, it’s important not who, but what kind of person the child will be when he/she grows up. Our mission is to accompany children in the education process, starting from the Kindergarten, through extracurricular activities, to graduation, so that they grow up to be good, smart and beautiful people. Values: In educational projects, we focus not so much on teaching the basics of the curriculum, but on "programming" students to understand and create the world in accordance with the rules of science. We understand the core curriculum not as a set of content to be taught, but as a set of rules to be programmed. People and their imagination can only be influenced by looking inside them. We reach the inside through what is outside - through thought-out, developed and scientifically supported daily practices. For better visualization: by teaching to draw and paint - in a sense we teach aesthetics and in fact we shape many other skills that we do not pay attention to in practice: we shape the imagination of seeing (including spatial), or the need for a rational image of the world around (beauty) etc.
Drawing and painting classes (Art classes)
Homeschooling
Home education primary and high school
Artisctic sleepover for children
Half-camps and half-winter camps (summer and winter holiday activities)
The key objective of the initiative was to create a friendly space for children, teenagers and entire families. We are familiar with the sustainability goals. Good quality education: we ensure equality in access for boys and girls. During workshops we educate children about sustainable development and a sustainable lifestyle, human rights, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development. Our activities are focused on comprehensive personality development, not on assessments. Gender equality: we counteract discrimination in all forms. We educate for gender equality and the importance of eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. In our daily conduct, we promote attitudes of shared responsibility in the household and family. We achieve this through daily sharing duties, weekly workshops. Economic growth and decent work: teachers and educators cooperating with us can count on flexible forms of employment and working time. DH is a place where young employees are welcome. They can gain valuable professional experience. Less inequality: DH is a place that fosters social inclusiveness of children with various disabilities. Our educational programs are friendly to people with high sensitivity. DH is a place where empathy and inclusiveness occupy a special place. It is a space free from any signs of discrimination or violence. Responsible consumption and production: in our activities we follow the principle of less waste. We use all materials that we can give a second life. We are constantly collecting materials for artistic workshops. We teach children to use plastic materials sparingly. We also prevent food waste - we buy food from local suppliers. We also care about the level of generated waste through recycling and reuse. In everyday life, we give an example and educate children and youth in raising awareness of sustainable development and a lifestyle in harmony with nature.
DH is a place of artistic activities. There are painting studios - where dozens of unusual works come off the easel every day. There are a handicraft workshops - where we turn into beauty what others have already called waste. There is a culinary studio - where pots, plates, blenders and blenders turn the world into food. There are many other rooms and nooks and crannies, and art lurks in each. Our experience in developing artistic sensitivity in young people shows that it is an important element of social education. Work on creativity and creative activity supports the development of a young person. We teach aesthetics, spatial vision, artistic sensitivity, we care about the integration and courage of young artists. We focus on individuality and development based on the personal needs of our participants. During all classes, we care about positive motivation and try to make learning a real adventure for everyone. All these educational activities consequently aim at building self-confidence and self-esteem. This is best seen in the photos of young artists - how proud and happy they are that they have created a unique work. Each work (painting or drawing) is unique - neither good nor bad - as unique as its creator. The key to the success of our classes is that we believe that everyone can draw, and art is not the domain of great masters. This is confirmed by the works of our young artists. We present them in our social media, which additionally arouses positive emotions and builds sensitivity to art in a much wider community. DH is a friendly place for home education, where we create a school: a primary school and a philosophical high school. It is a friendly school, because it is created together, where teachers, educators, students, parents and friends of the school are a community where everyone has the same hands, head and will to co-create the best place.You can join our classes throughout the year. The classes are held every day.
The educational program we use is tailored to the individual needs and abilities of the participants. Eight children with disabilities attend our school (autism spectrum and various developmental disorders). We use multi-level teaching, each time it is adapted to the needs and capabilities of a particular child: stimulating the development of a disabled student and preparing them to overcome difficulties in social life; teaching tolerance, openness to others; inclusion in work, e.g. help in the kitchen, etc.; developing social and interpersonal skills; individual education plans. We respect and support the individual development of a child: we develop the child's strengths; we allow you to experience, search, create; we care about relationships with other people. We approach the teaching process holistically: we focus on comprehensive personality development, not on grades; we create original educational programs; we do not divide the world into school subjects; we develop the skills of critical thinking about the world. We nurture the inner world of the child by: organic contact with art and nature; building environmental awareness; dealing with literature and film; care for harmonious physical development. We create a child-friendly place where: there are no bells, ratings and schemes; we do not use textbooks in the educational process; there is no homework; we provide constant access to creative spaces. We create a parent-friendly place where: always open to parents; we constantly cooperate with parents; parents have constant access to consultations with teachers; we provide psychological and pedagogical assistance (psychologist, pedagogue, special educator, speech therapist). We create a community-friendly place: we are a small but strong community; we care about a good and friendly atmosphere; we treat each other as partners; we support families in home education. A permanent element in the school program is the weekly organization of DIY classes, gardening.
DH is strongly involved in home education. In this regard, we support both children and entire families. We advise on the choice of educational path, we ensure constant contact with the ED coordinator, we organize online or stationary classification exams. As part of home education, we run a primary school and from this year we are launching a high school with a philosophical profile. Our school is a place where children who have experienced difficult emotions in a traditional school, as well as children who are highly sensitive or experience certain dysfunctions, find shelter. Our school is created together with teachers, educators, students, parents and friends of the school. DH is a place for whole families. As part of our project, we often organize workshops for families (e.g. culinary workshops, Christmas workshops, thematic workshops, birthdays). A permanent element of our project in 2022 were artistic weekend sleepovers for children. During Sleepovers, we provided childcare, DIY workshop, thematic workshops, e.g. astronomy, joint preparation of meals, a bonfire, evening stories with a thrill, a radio drama. In Poland, summer holidays last about 10 weeks. This is quite a difficult time for parents who cannot always use the help of grandparents. In order to additionally family support, we provide care for children during half-camps. It is always a time to make friends with film, theater, dance, photography or drawing. The child's skill level does not matter to us. Our proprietary program guarantees both the improvement of already acquired skills and experimenting with completely new forms of artistic expression. Our Facebook site is a place where we also influence the families, local and even regional environment. The posts we publish contain educational elements (they inform about painting techniques or the merits of the workshops), and often draw attention to social issues. They teach sensitivity.
Our project is a bottom-up initiative. In terms of art classes, we built it ourselves from scratch. School projects in their assumptions are also our authorship. Teachers, educators, students, parents and friends of the school were involved in the further development of the school project. In terms of building energy efficiency, we took advantage of the consultations of the Green Institute Foundation, which works for energy democracy. The activity of our Primary School and Secondary School is also the involvement of local authorities in giving decisions enabling us to conduct educational activities.
In our activities, we used the achievements of: pedagogy, didactics, sociology, economics, philosophy, coaching, artistic education, sensory integration, Weronika Sherborne's developmental movement method, Dennison's brain gymnastics, play pedagogy and many others.
Broken down into individual activities:
Development activities: art education, art analysis, coaching.
Primary school: pedagogy, sensory integration, Weronika Sherborne's method of developing movement, Dennison's brain gymnastics, play pedagogy.
High School: philosophy, sociological hermeneutics, pedagogy, economics, coaching.
People programming individual departments meet at weekly meetings in order to take into account (represent) their perspectives in the activities of the Development House. Then, specific topics and thematic areas are designed so that they take into account the methodology adopted by us and aim at the implementation of specific and general goals. Each time, in addition to achieving the goals of the meeting, we designed new fields of activity that enabled a different, and often better, possibility to achieve the goals. In addition, the added value was opening new cooperation perspectives.
In terms of innovation, it is worth highlighting:
The child's skill level does not matter to us. Our original program guarantees both the improvement of already acquired skills and experimenting with completely new forms of artistic expression.
At the Primary School and the High School, we focus mainly on equipping students with tools that maximize the spectrum of experiencing the world. We treat the issues of the core curriculum (taught subjects) as a tool for experiencing the world, not the goal of learning. Thanks to this, children and young people are not discouraged, because learning is not the primary goal of the school and staff.
We build the programming of the entire project on the basis of art and philosophy. This is due to the assumption that humanity develops most fully in these two areas. We have prepared the “The Development House Observatory” programme, the aim of which is to constantly monitor activities in terms of compliance with strategic and methodological assumptions. The program of each week and month is built on an ongoing basis, taking into account the results of observations.
Our way of conducting classes, approach to the student, creating an atmosphere of openness and freedom can be replicated in other places or groups.
Projects that can be transferred are: School of Drawing and Painting (Art Classes), Primary School, High School, Artistic sleepover for children.
When designing specific activities, we were guided by the search for solutions that take into account the educational deficiencies characteristic of schools and systemic approaches. The main determinant is a subjective approach to students, taking into account the assumption that "talent" is not a "gift" but a developed disposition, using a set of practiced competences.
An important aspect at a certain stage of designing measures is to take into account the climate perspective. It manifests itself, among others, in planning, for example, the quality and size of lighting needed to conduct educational activities. We always analyze the light and look for the least energy-intensive solutions. We also take into account the carbon footprint, which is why we often use second-hand materials. We segregate waste carefully. We carry out each of these activities in a transparent manner, so that it is possible for students to repeat it in their private behavior. When choosing the location of our activities, we take into account places that involve energy from renewable sources. We use buildings equipped with photovoltaic panels, heat pumps and other sustainable development technologies. An example is our second places: the building at 1 Masztowa Street in Olsztyn, where The Secondary School is located.
Drawing and painting Classes: 1,200 participants in total - 2022: 250 participants.
Home education: 26 students.
Primary school: 26 students.
High school: 0 - project in development.
Artistic sleepover for children: 12 sleepovers with an average of 24 children // approx. 288 children.
Summer half-camps: around 400 children; 2022 - 6 stays - 120 children.
Winter half-winter camps: 2022 - 2 stays - 40 children.
Our educational program includes learning for the green transition and sustainable development. An important aspect at a certain stage of designing measures is to take into account the climate perspective. It manifests itself, among others, in planning, for example, the quality and size of lighting needed to conduct educational activities. We always analyze the light and look for the least energy-intensive solutions. We also take into account the carbon footprint, which is why we often use second-hand materials. We segregate waste carefully. We carry out each of these activities in a transparent manner, so that it is possible for students to repeat it in their private behavior. During philosophical workshops, we deal with the reconstruction of contemporary human identity in the context of interspecies solidarity, post-human ethics and animal rights.
