Welcome to HELPMATE – C4C’s online, educational platform for educators in children’s homes – but also useful for those who work with educators and children in children’s homes, for foster parents and other educators.
When working with children in children’s homes (CH), C4C teachers, coaches and mentors found our work to be much more effective if we work closely with resident educators. Investigating further, we found that there is only a minimum of specific educational activities specifically designed for the target group of educators of disadvantaged children and youth.
With this in mind, C4C created the HELPMATE platform as a space for self-education and community sharing. The goal is to have a long-term positive influence on the community of educators, contribute to their sustainable self-education and thus prevent their burnout and turnover.
The platform combines e-learning and online education. The core principle is online education in short chunks and available at any time. Individual topics (courses) are covered in several parts – using short educational segments, videos, case studies, tests and games.
The users can do these parts on-line whenever they have time – they usually take from 20 to 30 minutes a week. The total time allocation for individual courses is five or six hours. The courses are targeted at the situation in children’s homes or foster families.
In 2022, C4C obtained the accreditation of the Ministry of Education and Culture for HELPMATE and its educational courses.
The 2024/25 school year comes with significant changes. We are transitioning to a new technological platform and a new study methodology. Participating educators will apply for the entire school year, in which they will take at least 4 courses, 2 on-line meetings, a self-assessment at the beginning and end of the school year, consultations with psychologists and other attractive activities. Advancement to further years is conditioned upon completion of the preceding school year.
Please find the content of the courses at the following link: Helpmate content
One entire year of education for one student is charged at CZK 3,200.
HELPMATE in numbers:
Start: November 2021
Number of modules available: 11
Number of children’s homes involved: 27
Number of teachers involved: 273
Number of module completion certificates issued: 565
Number of lessons wiewed: 5,698
Average grade – feedback on how the Helpmate concept scored: 1.37 (best: 1, worst: 5)
HELPMATE Team:
Ing. Markéta Franke – Chairwoman Chance 4 Children Foundation, lecturer, e-learning specialist, actively working with children in orphanages for 8 years, experienced mentor, IT management for 25 years
Petra Erguvanli – Springboard to Life Project Manager at Chance 4 Children, working with orphanage management since 2017
Ing. Monika Kavanová, Ph.D. – lecturer, mentor, consultant, specialist in career counselling, lecturer at the University of the Czech Republic.
We’d like to add a special word of appreciation for Monika here, as she was the one who first saw the need for Pomocnik and inspired our team to get to work on it. Thank you!
Mgr. Tereza Forejtová – psychologist, has a long experience in pedagogical and psychological counseling centres, as a school psychologist, has practice in family counseling centres and at children’s clinical centres, consultant of primary prevention of socially pathological phenomena.
M.Sc. Kateřina Kopečná – psychologist, has been working for 10 years as a school psychologist, child group psychologist
Mgr. Pavel Wieser – psychologist and lecturer, 12 years of specialization in adult education
M.Sc. Jaroslava Haĺková – e-learning specialist, Co-founder of the company Zobárna (concept of e-learning education)
Michaela Skala – C4C community specialist.
Gabriel Szabó – technical support
Feedback from staff and educators in children´s homes:
Educator of the Kralupy nad Vltavou children’s home: “Everything was perfect, you are a team of experienced professionals and you have everything very nicely processed and clear, it is a pleasure to educate myself with you, it helps me a lot in self-realization and practice with children. I wish you all a lot of success in what you do, and it is quite clear that you do it with enthusiasm and verve. Thanks, thanks, thanks.”
Educator of the Kralupy children’s home: “Hello…..this course has given me the most so far. I learned not to rush into helping without asking if the person wanted it. I appreciate the opportunity to participate once a week and complete the assigned tasks and then the final chat. Thank you and I look forward to the next meeting… You’re very nice, I feel relaxed and comfortable with you when talking.”
Educator of the Žatec children’s home: “I liked the time to complete the tasks, as well as the time of the online meeting. The online meetings were amazing because we could share our experiences, observations, feelings and even hear the word of an experienced worker. Moreover, in the comfort of your home, without the need to travel somewhere. Everything we have discussed, probably each of us suspects. It’s nice to name everything and discuss it, or even remind you, but most importantly try it out. Some techniques can be used in practice, not only at school, but also in everyday life. Thank you for the course.”
Educator of the Dolní Počernice children’s home: “It has been confirmed to me again that certain knowledge needs to be repeated from time to time. Meeting you always puts me in a great mood and, most importantly, opens up the thought processes that he has stored somewhere, and therefore refreshes them again and uses them in practice. It still confirms to me that I am doing my job well, and even though I rather use life experience, I can fit in your experience. That’s why I enjoy working with you, both in terms of education and time. Thank you for that.”
Klokánek Chomutov governess: “I wish you a beautiful good day, everything was good for me. I liked the form of homework and the subsequent joint, very pleasant meeting. The whole course was conducted in a fun way, which I enjoyed very much, I got a lot of useful advice, instructions and ideas on how to get even closer to children, how to help them start in life. Thank you for the useful information and I hope we will not see each other for the last time.”
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