LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC „FRANCISC NEUMAN” ARAD ROMANIA

Liceul Tehnologic Francisc Neuman (www.liceul-neuman.ro) is a technical school founded in 1948. Beginning with 01.09.2017, the county school network has been reorganized and our school “absorbed” the ,,Stefan Cicio Pop” Gymnasium whose students are in large majority belonging to the Roma community—150 students.

The challenge given by the primary classes and gymnasium included in the structure of our organization determines us to readapt, to improve, and to understand diversity under its different forms.

There are 780 students in high school and professional school who are prepared for a globalized European labor market, distributed as follows:

High school

1. Profile Services, domain “Commerce,” qualification Technician in acquisitions and contracting and domain “Esthetics and hygiene of the human body,” qualification Hairstylist;
2. Profile Technical, domain Textile and leather industry, qualification of Technician clothing designer, Furniture and interior design technician and technician in the textile industry (evening school).
3. Profile natural resources, domain forestry, and qualifications of technicians in forestry and forest exploitation.

Professional school (3 years)

Domain: “Esthetics and hygiene of the human body,” qualification: hairdresser-manicurist-pedicurist

Domain „ Manufacture of wood products”, qualification Manufacture of wood products.

Gymnasium and primary school: 150 students. They are in the majority with SEN and come from Roma ethnicity with socio-economical backgrounds.

We have 85 teachers whose competencies and skills offer solid training; classrooms, laboratories, workshops, and libraries offer a rich learning environment. The main priorities of our development plan are the use of ICT in teaching, short- and long-term prevention of school leaving, partnerships with European organizations in the domain of education, equal opportunities for all students, good insertion on the labor market, improvement of learning results, and sociocultural inclusion of Roma students.

Inclusion at Liceul Tehnologic Francisc Neuman means to personalise the learning design and activities according to the needs of each child and involves: equal valorisation of all students, lowering the barriers to learning and participation, tackling the differences between students more that a resource that supports learning than a problem to be solved. It also means to organize a lot of extraschool and extracurricular activities, in order to shape beliefs, understandings, attitudes, norms and habits. This is mainly made with the support of 1 psycholog, 1 spech terapist and 2 teacheing assistants specialized in primary and secondary school students. They work together to insert the 43 students withh SEN in mainstream shool.

Beside compulsory subjects, students take part in extraschool and extracurricular  activities, in diverse projects, shaping beliefs, understandings, attitudes, norms and habits. There are used strategies to prevent school exclusion, models of curricular adaptations, personal intervention plans, diverse educational resources. Vocational counselling and guidance are offered to students and their parents to avoid difficulties of integration and adaptation to school and work, both in regard to the required expertise, both in relation to the motivational and relational aspects . Teachers have been using their ICT skills during study process and have improved their digital skills locally.

Every teacher needs to keep his/her practice under constant, critical review and adjust it in the light of students’ outcomes. Education quality deserves instant attention so that improvements in educational outcomes effectively translate into greater career prospects for young graduates. Teachers are motivated to share their experience and to learn from European experience.

Since 2003 we have had large experience in European projects such as LdV IVT, LdV VETPRO, Arion, Comenius, and Erasmus+ mobilities and partnerships having as main objectives: development of competencies and skills for the labor market, encouraging entrepreneurship, intercultural dialogue, diversity and multiculturality, developing personal competences and team work, counselling and guidance, methods of teaching and learning, nonformal education, interactive tools, equality of chances, valorization of parents’ involvement, green competencies, sustainability.

As a result of the involvement and participation in European projects, the school policy is oriented towards collaborative initiatives, the improvement of the school ethos, and the placement of our school in a multicultural zone (border, nationalities, etc.) constitutes a premise for a good international collaboration.

The development of a European dimension of the training activity and of a proper organizational culture represents an important objective of our school. Therefore, an effective learning environment, cooperative learning, implementation of inclusive practices, and promotion of a positive school‐wide climate confer to the team (teachers, school psychologist, and students) a sense of belonging, pride, and responsibility.