Event Description

FundaMental™ Tactile Learning Workshop June 2020

- Course in tactile training of preschool, primary school and special education children 10th -12th of June 2020

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We are happy to present the first international course in Denmark in tactile-based training of younger children, together with the associated set of training materials FundaMental™ that has been developed over a long period and tested in a real-world setting.

What is FundaMental™ Tactile Learning?
Tactile-based cognitive training differs significantly from mere sensory stimulation in the way that it emphasizes and supports an active and thorough information gathering and close interconnection between perception and cognition. The method is suitable for optimizing the interaction between bottom-up processes (where knowledge, concepts and thinking emerge from the sensory inputs) and top-down processes (letting knowledge, concepts and thinking guide the information gathering). The approach strengthens the sequential, structured and intentional information gathering and information processing and increases thoroughness in thinking and perception. By blocking vision, cognition is slowed down, which creates opportunities for a mediational dialogue that has the potential of developing attention, internalization, self-regulation and metacognition.

An additional strength of the method is that it becomes easier to observe and understand the child's cognitive processes, to identify areas in which the child has strengths and challenges and to clarify how the child can be supported in its development and learning.

Background
Children´s perception and thinking today are often dominated by fast and simultaneous information gathering and processing. This is partly an impact from the dominant digital and visual input children experience from early years development. The fast information processing dominates to a large extent at the expense of slower, more thorough and sequential ("one-thing-at-a-time") information processing. Both types of cognitive processing are important, but for many children the sidedness and the deficiency become barriers to learning and cognitive development.

Tactile-based cognitive training in FundaMental™ draws on inspiration from a lot of different resources and methodologies, including: Functional Learning and the behavioral and perceptual levels of cognitive functions (Waldon), mediated learning as cognitive enhancement interaction (Haywood, Vygotsky, Feuerstein), Systematic Concept Teaching and its role in cognition (Nyborg), active ecological nature of perception (Gibson), micro cognitive functions (Bright Start, Cognitive Enrichment Advantage, Instrumental Enrichment) as well as foundational neuropsychological understanding of perception, cognition and development.

Target group
The course materials, content and progression are aimed at children of preschool age and primary school level as well as older children or adolescents with cognitive developmental problems at similar levels or processes. A prerequisite for working with the method is, that the child can use tactile examination with both hands. The program relies on integration of different sensory modalities, but explicitly draws on the strengths of using non-visual tactile perception.

Purpose and outcome of the course
The course will provide participants with the knowledge of how to work with cognitive training of children at preschool/primary school level or older children with a non-age-specific cognitive level using tactile training materials. During the course participants will get:

• Basic knowledge of how different sensory modalities target different cognitive processes and functions
• Knowledge of and experience with the potentials of working and training through the tactile sense
• Knowledge of children's fundamental cognitive development, that is needed in order to design, organize and implement tactile-based cognitive training
• Experience with mediation and tactile-based cognitive training, including experience in identifying cognitive functional challenges using tactile processes and materials
• Knowledge of and experience with the training material FundaMental ™ - Tactile Learning, in order to start tactile based cognitive training with these or other materials.

The course does not include in depth training in working with mediated learning, and prior knowledge or subsequent training in mediated learning is recommendable. But the tactile way of working is excellent in showing mediated learning in practice, therefore serve as a good introduction to this approach.

Practical information

Date
Course dates are from 10th-12th of June 2020. Course hours are from 9AM-4PM / 9.30AM-4.30 PM.
A light breakfast will be available every day half an hour before the course starts. Detailed schedule will be sent to participants prior to course start.

Course venue
The course will be held in the central part of Odense with direct train connection to Copenhagen Airport, and in a short walking distance from the central station. Adress: Mødecenter (Meeting center) Odense, Buchwaldsgade 48, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.

Price
Course price is DKK 7,500 DKK for international participants, which includes:

• Teaching and handouts
• Breakfast, lunch, tea and coffee during the day
• Eligibility to by the FundaMental™ Tactile Learning materials (not included)

The course price does not include accommodation.

Registration and further information
You can sign up for the course online through this webpage or you can write an e-mail to course organizer: Neuroguide.dk, psychologist Jens Wilbrandt, e-mail: info@neuroguide.dk. You will then get an invoice with bank transfer information. Or you can call phone +45 22 32 44 01 if you have any questions.
Please note, that you are only sure of course admission when you have received a confirmation of payment. In case of cancellation of the course, due to few participants, teacher illness etc., the full course fee will be repaid.

Last deadline for enrollment is 15th of April 2020. After this date, please contact us and ask if it is still possible to sign up for the course.

Participants and eligibility
The course is open to both professionals and parents. The maximum number of participants at the course is 24. If you intend to use the method primarily for training your own child but are unsure if your child can benefit from the method, please contact us before enrolling.

Course format
The course is a non-residential course (accommodation not included). It is conducted as a combination of presentation, demonstration, exercises and joint reflection. The course is an international course and teaching will be in easy to understand English.

Materials
The course introduces you to the tactile training method and to the first edition of the material FundaMental™ - Tactile Learning. The material set is not included in the course price but can be acquired subsequently. The course will also enable you to use other materials in tactile training without acquiring the FundaMental™ material set.

Course presenter and organizer
The course is offered by Neuroguide.dk, and teachers during the entire course are Jens Wilbrandt and Lars Ask Røgilds, both experienced instructors and teachers.

Lars Ask Røgilds, Associate Professor in Education, MSc. and an expert in mediating learning in relation to children and adolescents with cognitive impairment. Lars has been an associate professor of pedagogy for 20 years, originally trained as a social pedagogue and subsequently graduated from the University of Copenhagen. He has many years of experience as an instructor in mediated learning and has achieved certificates in Instrumental Enrichment (IE), Cognitive Abilities Profile (CAP) and Bright Start.

Jens Wilbrandt has many years of experience in the special education field and is qualified in LPAD, DAYC, IE, Bright Start as well as CAP. He is an exponent of a development-oriented educational psychological approach and has many years of experience as a facilitator, lecturer and course teacher in the neuropsychological and educational psychological field. In addition to carrying out a wide range of continued professional development tasks, he works with dynamic assessment, cognitive training and counseling in relation to children and adolescents with extensive learning and development issues and in relation to both school, home and home care.