HOSPITAL PEDAGOGY: INNOVATING INCLUSIVE PRACTICES TO TRANSFORM THE HEALTH AND QUALITY OF CHILDREN'S LIVES
C. Cristancho Giraldo
In Colombia, the Decree 1421 of 2017 established a list of actions focused on Inclusive Education, in order to ensure learning conditions in different contexts of diversity. One of these initiatives is Hospital Pedagogy, which integrates education and health sectors aiming to guarantee the constitutional Right to Education. As a result of these initiatives, since 2022, El Bosque University, through its Faculty of Education and its Bachelors degree in “Early Childhood Education”, has consolidated The Hospital Pedagogy Project. That is aligned not only with the stipulations of 1421 Decree but also with the UNESCO and Red UNITWIN proposal which determines three action lines for Higher Education Programs: Practice, Academy and Research.
According to these lines, the main goal of the Project is to establish pedagogical actions focused on needs and realities of children in hospital environments and their diversity, from an interdisciplinary perspective. These actions have been implemented through agreements with several medical centers and child protection institutions, such as Colsanitas - Keralty Medical Clinic and Proyecto Unión Foundation as well as entities allied with Secretary of Education .
The pedagogical practices have been developed by means of research educational methodology, with planning, action, observation and reflection phases. These phases involve pedagogical resources and research tools, such as field journals, focus groups and interviews that leads as a result the creation of didactic materials.
Some of the outcomes accomplished by El Bosque University executing this project are:
- The establishment of partnerships with seven medical and educational entities in Colombia.
- Around 100 bachelorettes in “Early Childhood Education” have acquire knowledged on Hospital Pedagogy.
- The development of 30 products like didactic materials, academic papers and pedagogical guides.
- About 1500 children and youth have received educational experiences for example Logic mathematical thinking, language, science, emotional skills among others.
- A creation of a diploma degree called “Hospital Pedagogy: Learning process of inclusion and equity of education”.
Over the past two years, the project has produced significant conclusions and projections. One of the main conclusions is the need to strengthen the profile of hospital teachers by: integrating specialized pedagogical knowledge, like disabilities, didactic materials, and the creation of learning environments based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) focusing on hospital contexts for kids. It is also important to enhance skills of early childhood educators through interdisciplinary collaboration with health professionals, including those in nursing, psychology, and medicine.
Finally, the project has impact in two areas. The first one is the Quality of Education and enhancement on Inclusive Education according to the Sustainable Development Goals number 3 (SDG). The second one, by contributing to the fulfillment of the quality standards established of the Joint Commission about the patient care in hospitals. As a consequence of these two impact areas, there is a positive effect on children's health education.
Keywords: Education, Inclusion, Hospital Pedagogy, Children.