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Conductive Education
Conductive Education is a system of education for children and adults with physical and multiple disabilities that was developed in Hungary in the 1940s by Dr. Andras Peto, a physician, educator, and visionary who sought a method to teach children with motor disorders. Dr. Peto recognized that the human brain is highly adaptable and malleable—particularly in young children—and can find new paths to achieve function and movement.
Conductive Education has been used successfully in Europe for more than 60 years to educate motor-impaired children and to increase their functional skills.
Conductive Education seeks, through a holistic approach, to develop spontaneous and innovative problem-solving skills in people with physical disabilities to assist their maximum integration into society.
Central to the understanding of Conductive Education is the concept of "ortho-functioning," which refers to the learning process of achieving an active, independent, motivated approach to the problems of everyday life.
Aims of Conductive Education
- To conduct the personality to achieve activity, problem solving, self-expression, spontaneity.
- To teach a new way of coordination and perception.
- To prevent a lack of experience and negative learning.
- To teach a way of living.
What Is A Conductor?
Standing Tall provides Conductive Education through its gifted team of educators, called "conductors.” Conductors are specially trained teachers/educators who have attained a bachelor/master degree in Conductive Education from one of the three institutes in the world that offer the study of Conductive Education.
The conductors "orchestrate" the child's learning by integrating movement with communicative, cognitive, and sensory learning.
How Does Conductive Education Work?
Using verbal direction, the conductor prepares each child to mentally approach a task such as bending and stretching limbs, opening and closing hands, sitting independently, or rolling over or standing, which is then carried out to rhythmical counting, singing, or rhyme.
More complex tasks are integrated into age-appropriate activities: Interactive games and symbolic play for preschoolers and mathematics, spelling and other academic exercises for older children.
The child becomes the active participant in learning, completing tasks designed to build self-esteem and self-sufficiency.
Our conductors work with special educators, therapists, and parents to integrate traditional U.S. academics and approaches into the Conductive Education setting.
Principles of Conductive Education
- Conductive Education approaches physical disabilities from an education rather than a medical or paramedical perspective.
- Human development in children with physical disabilities should be encouraged in an attempt to master their environment rather than environments be adapted to cater to their needs.
- There is a focus on the total development of the child with particular attention to the integration and development of motor, intellectual, social and academic skills.
- Learning and development are maximized when individuals determine their own goals and are highly motivated to reach them.
- Specific motor development occurs through activities which are more than mechanical exercises - they are models of how to solve problems and become independent learners.
- It is the especially trained teacher's (or Conductor's) role to facilitate this process, by ensuring that teaching and learning are appropriate for a child's particular development level, intellectual ability and personal characteristics.
