DR. PLAY Erasmus Project

Project Title

DR. PLAY

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Dr. Play is a collaboration between hospital schools and primary and secondary schools at the European level, in order to foster solidarity with hospitalized children and to alleviate the social isolation they suffer. To achieve those goals we have used emotional intelligence techniques and play as a didactic resource. In addition, the use of ICT, connecting students by videoconferences, has been the way to promote social inclusion. Finally, the cooperation between countries and good communication in English have been the key to reach the success in this project. To this end, we have exchanged innovative practices and methodologies among the four partner countries.

Portugal, thanks to its experience in ICT and digital game development, has showed us its ability to design multimedia games that will serve as an essential resource for hospital teaching units. Poland as a participating hospital school, has contributed its pedagogical experience and social inclusion methods. Furthermore, it has contributed all its experience and methodologies in the development of linguistic competence, which has been very important for the intercommunication and development of didactic material provided in the Dr. Play project.

Spain, has provided its long experience in two areas, Physical Education and hospital and home care. The introduction of the subject of Physical Education in hospital schools has been a methodological challenge within the field of educational innovation. As a whole, this strategic partnership has been designed to achieve the proposed objectives (despite Denmark’s withdrawal as a fourth partner).

The project focuses on the particularities of each student, in order to guarantee the attention to the special educational needs of those who, due to a temporary or chronic pathology, have difficulty accessing the benefits that education provides them. Group activities has been strengthened and ICT has been used to improve socialization and to achieve greater communication of hospitalized children with the outside world.

The focus of this project is eminently playful. The Physical Education subject offers a wide range of theoretical / practical contents that children can use in the hospital schools. These contents have been presented as recreational solutions to their ailments, both in the hospitalization period and in the recovery phase.

The methodology of Dr. Play is innovative because its initial focus is on the medical diagnosis. Once the health problem is diagnosed, all scheduled activities revolve around the child. For example, if the pediatric patient is hospitalized for a radio fracture, we will provide all available resources (books, multimedia material, skeleton, etc.) to study and draw the skeletal system including all of its parts and functions.

Subsequently, the child-patient will draw himself in two phases: the hospitalization phase and the recovery phase. The act of thinking about one’s own illness, with emotional intelligence techniques, reinforces positive thinking, with the objective of getting them to focus more on health and recovery than on disease.

This approach has allowed them to assimilate their situation from an emotional standpoint, and to visualize themselves practicing sport outside the hospital.

These drawings and work on the initial diagnosis, has been compiled to elaborate the final product. Children in elementary and secondary schools has developed supplementary material. The idea has been to make a handbook of anatomy handmade by the students and turn it into digital didactic material. In addition, this handbook includes a collection of games, such as Dr. Play recipes, that will help the hospitalized student to accelerate his or her recovery in and out of the hospital. To this end, the children of the participating schools have collected games of all kinds.

The motto is “To play heals”. The collection includes traditional games, emotional intelligence games, body expression games, low intensity motor games, board games, multimedia games, video games, games with recycled material, etc ….

This interdisciplinary approach work on: Natural Sciences (human biology, personal hygiene and disease prevention) -Physical Education (Knowledge and representation of the human body, motor skills, body expression, health, games and sports). – Foreign Language (specific P.E. and health vocabulary).

The activities are aimed to encourage creativity through the development of their own products. At the end of the project, three final products of high quality and collective elaboration have been accomplished: 1. P. E. and Health Handbook – 2. P. E. and Health Multilingual Dictionary -3. Dr. Play Trivia game. These products will be distributed in printed and electronic format (open license).

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 62145 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIDAD PEDAGÓGICA HOSPITALARIA SAN JUAN DE ALICANTE & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. Carlos Pinto Ferreira
• ZESPOL SZKOL NR 111 W POZNANIU