Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002

WCLTA 2013

Special Education Tools, Concepts and Design for Children in Need

Cristina-Maria Povian a*, Vlad Gabriel Gurza b, Cristian Dumitrescu c
a ,b ,c
Polytechnic University from Timisoara, Faculty of Architecture , Traian Lalescu Street, No 2/A, Timișoara 300223, Romania

Abstract

One of the main aims of the modern world is the education of children, maybe because they represent the hope of our future.
Giving a special attention to the way we educate and form our children, we are responsible for the future generation
achievements or failures. Nowadays, researchers from different fields (psychology, education, sociology, architecture, urbanism,
politics, economics, etc.) are paying a special attention to the situation of children in need. Unfortunately, we can distinguish a
special category, with bigger problems- the street children. In 1989 UNICEF estimated the number of the children who live on
the streets at 100 million; fourteen years later UNICEF reported: "Latest estimates raise the number of street children at over 100
million”. (UNICEF 2002) Nowadays estimations are not optimistic at all: “The precise number of street children is almost
impossible to quantify, but this number comes close to tens of millions worldwide and is very likely that this number will still
increase” (UNICEF 2005). Unfortunately these children have a really low percent of recovery, less than 1%. Based on the
assumption that it is easier to prevent the appearance of other street children than to recover them, this article aims to analyse the
situation of children with special education needs, from Lugoj, a city in Timis County, Romania. For a better understanding of
the situation and the solutions found for the education of these children, this paper presents the project, the premises and the
results of a centre, under construction since 2012, dedicated to the children in need from Lugoj.
© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection
Selection and
and peer-review
peer-review under responsibility of
under responsibility of the
the Organizing
OrganizingCommittee
Committeeof
ofWCLTA
WCLTA2013.
2013.

Keywords: Special education, children in need, day centre, Lugoj;

1. Introduction

One of the most debated issues of the modern world is the problem of the children from the poor environments,
known as children in need. Acknowledging the importance of investing in children, because they represent our hope
for a better future, European Union and different organization started to developed different kinds of laws and

* Corresponding Author: Cristina-Maria Povian. Tel.: +4-074-076-7795

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCLTA 2013.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.168
 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002 997

programs in order to protect and provide access to education to all the children. Even from the beginning of
eighteenth century, the problem of education was considered a challenge for people like Friedrich Frobel (1782-
1852) known as the father of the preschool education and the inventor of the term “kindergarten”. Since then, many
things changed, new problems appeared and new educational methods, programs and special educational centres are
required.
The aim of this article is to present a case study regarding the situation of children in need from Lugoj, a city
from Timiș county, Romania, and to analyse how the appearance of a new category of children in need involves a
new educational approach and the necessity of creating a new architectural program.

1.1. Children in need

According to Children Act from 1989, a child is defined as being a child in need if “ they are unlikely to achieve
or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving, or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development
without the provision for them of services by a Local Authority”[1]. Different from ordinary children, who have a
childhood full of hope, innovation and happiness, we can distinguish a special category of children, totally neglected
in our urban space- the children in need. This category of children can be divided into several subcategories
according to children problems. The most important one, taking into consideration the gravity of the situation and
the lowest degree of recovery, is the category of children in street situation.
It’s almost impossible to tell the precise number of street children, because of their nomadic and disorganized
way of life. In 2005, according to data from Consortium for Street Children, there are more than 500 thousand of
street children only in Europe [2]. According to data from Youth Advocate Prop, Institutional 40% of them don’t
have a stable residence, the only home they know is the street, and 60% of them work on the street during the day
because of the poverty [3]. The children in street situation represent the most affected part of the category of
children with problems, having the lowest degree of recovery, less than 1%.
Because every child matters and because the recovery percentage of children who lived on the street is so low, it
is necessary to do the impossible in order to abolish the appearance of new street children. In order to prevent it is
important to identify the main causes of the appearance of street children. In Romania the children, with the highest
degree of risk of becoming a street children, are the orphans, the children coming from poor families, the children
with complex disabilities or health needs, and because of the phenomenon of migration of parents to work abroad,
their children who are left with old grandparents, neighbours and sometimes even alone.

1.2. The situation of children in need in Romania

It’s important that every child to have the chance to develop properly and to have access to education. The aim of
this article is to identify the main problems of children in need from Lugoj, a city from Timiș County, Romania, and
to analyse the importance of creating new educational programs in order to respect child’s rights and to prevent the
catastrophic situation of becoming a street child. The appearance of new educational methods concludes to the
appearance of new architectural programs, special concepts and designs dedicated to children’s needs. In order to
identify the main educational and architectural problems which appears with the new types of centres dedicated to
children in need, this article presents the project, the justification and the results of a new build centre in Lugoj,
dedicated to children in need.
In Romania, during 2004-2007, because of the issues identified in our child protection system, a new strategy,
to approach the problem of children at risk, is adopted. Along with the restructuring of the orphanages, and the
attempt of integration of children in families, there is an increase in the number of children living in the street. The
growth of number of street children is favoured by poverty, generated by the world economic crises, and by the
phenomenon of parents’ migration abroad. Nowadays the child protection system from Romania is giving a special
attention to the elaboration of new educational programs like: day centres for children in need, or "after school"
centres for children from poor neighbourhoods.
In March 2013, in Romania, there were 58 902 families gone abroad at work, and 8 2073 children with at least
one parent gone abroad, and 23 312 children with both parents away. In Timiș County, there were 2477 children in
this situation, and more than 250 of them were in Lugoj. [7] In order to create special educational programs and new
998 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002

architectural spaces, it is necessary to identify the child in need problems. Researchers have provided evidence that
children living or working in the street and children with family problems have development issues, as a result of
victimization and affection deprivation, health issues, addictions and a high dropout rate.

2. Centre for children in need, Lugoj, Timiș County, Romania

Three years ago, in 2010, the local government from Lugoj took the decision of building a special centre
dedicated to all the children in need from the city. Since 2005, with the entry into force of the Law 272/2004, the
full responsibility for providing new social services, in order to promote child’s right, it’s transferred to the local
government. The new centre was designed by a young team of architects, S.C. Rheinbrucke S.R.L, and during the
designing process, because of new data arriving all the time, the initial design was transformed, according to the
educational, social, psychological and architectural needs, several times.

2.1. Methods and Means of Investigation

This paper is based on data from the local government from Lugoj, and all the images, the architectural planes
and the information about the designing process were made available by the young team of architects who designed
the centre, S.C. Rheinbrucke S.R.L. [8] All the information about the situation of children in need in Romania is
based on data from studies conducted by the Department for Child Protection in Timiș County-Romania, and on
studies conducted by the Youth Advocate International Program Washington, U.S.A. [9][10]
This study used mainly the direct method approach, offering the possibility of knowing the entire story. It was
considered the most appropriate method in order to understand the feelings and perceptions of the children whom it
is dedicated this centre. Children with parents gone to work abroad, usually, have problems with their colleges, or
they feel marginalized, they have lots of absence and weak school results. Listening, their stories, it is easy to notice
that they feel abandoned and they need affection and a special attention. “My life is sad because I miss my mother,
but I have my grandparent’s love and they are like my parents” (Child talking about his feelings regarding his
mother absence). [11]

2.2. The Justification for a new educational type of program

Because of the economical world crises and poverty, in Romania there are lots of poor families. The social
system knew some changes, with the accession in European Union, and with the new situation created by the
economic crisis. If the social system changed and new educational programs were created in order to fulfil the
child’s needs, this change requires new principles in the process of designing for this category of children. There
were created day, night or after-school centres, but in the absence of an architectural normative. The aim of this
article is to analyse the changes made during the designing process of the educational day centre for children in need
from Lugoj, which were the causes and to enunciate some architectural guidelines in the process of designing for
this category of children.
The necessity of this educational centre can be supported by many arguments enunciated; some of them, by the
local government from Lugoj as it follow:
• One of the main reasons can be considered the lack of centres dedicated to children with special social needs.
There is only one centre, with 15 children, and no day centre dedicated to children in need.
• The impressive number of poor families, who cannot provide to their children the proper education. According
to the UNICEF study “Measuring child poverty” (May, 2012), more than 25, 5% of Romanian children are
living in poverty, the percentage is the highest of all 35 countries member of European Union and The
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, that took part in the study. [4]
• The phenomenon of families’ migration to work abroad and the sad situation of their children remaining at
home deprived of parental affection. [5]
• The alarming number of children out-of-school. In 2011, in Romania, there were 400 172 children aged
between 3 to17 not attending any form of education.[6]
 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002 999

• An undoubtedly argument is the statistical situation of children in need from Lugoj. In this category we can
include the street children, the children coming from poor environments and the children with parents working
abroad.

2.3. The importance of the design in the educational process

According to Piaget’s theory, the child development has several stages, for each stage of development it is
requiring a certain amount of information and knowledge. Taking into consideration the constructivist principles of
learning, children are active and not passive human beings, they adapt, their learning and development process, to
the environment in which they live. In the development process of a child, it’s important the balance between the
process of assimilation the information generated around and the adaptation process to the surrounding environment.
In this way children get to learn and to discover new things by playing, and the integration process is realized by
imitation. Therefore, the active presence of parents in a child life, the environment, the city in which they live it’s
important, they get to imitate when they are adults the behaviour they saw in the childhood. If when they are little
they imitate only because of the instinct of adaptation, later they will be environment generators in which other
children will develop. Thus, taking care of our generation's children we are also taking care of the next generation's
children development. [12] [13]
The exposure of children to a poor environment, and the lack of education, favours the occurrence of trauma
with long-term effect. According to Gary Evans's researches, psychologist at Cornell University, the environment,
the built space, the colours, the quality of life, are as important as the psychological factors in the development and
educational process. [14][15]

3. Architectural Guidelines in Designing for children in need

The objectives of the project from Lugoj are to create an educational and recreational environment for more than
100 children from families with social problems, during three years. The day centre for children in need will provide
educational, social and psychological assistance.
During the designing process the functional scheme of the centre suffered different changes, influenced by the
needs of the educational program. Being a new kind of program, and in the absence of an architectural normative for
constructions dedicated to children in need, the designing team, with the help of the sociologists and psychologist,
tried to improve all the time the project in order to create a build space which will stimulate the educational program
and will assure the proper conditions for a child development.
The first architectural proposal (Fig. 1. a.) for the centre included one multifunctional room, in which children
could to their homework, or do some educational and recreational activities, an administrative office, the
psychological consulting room, bathrooms with a special space for showering for children and a bathroom for the
personnel, one bedroom with seven beds, all of them grouped around an internal garden. The importance of
vegetation and gardening in the rehabilitation process is medically proved [16] and the green architectural design is
important in the educational and development process of a child, that is why during the entire process of designing
the centre, the architects, tried to create a connection between the building and the vegetation. [17]
The second solution (Fig. 1. b.) maintained the same functions but added a storage room and a locker room for
the employees. Another change to the first solution is that for the administration and for the psychologist was
created only one room in order to be shared.
1000 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002

Fig. 1. (a) the first functional scheme; (b) the second draft

Fig. 2. (a) the third functional scheme proposed; (b) the final solution

Fig. 3. (a) Final project- perspectives; (b) The architectural plan of the project

Both first two proposals weren’t answering all the needs of the children, because the centre is opened all day
 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002 1001

long and it requires a space were children can eat. The third draft (Fig. 2. a.) included a kitchen where the food can
be stored in proper conditions, and the bedroom got smaller, from a 7 bed capacity to 4 beds.
The centre is dedicate to children aged between 3 to 11 years old, so in order to can manage the activities
properly it is necessary to separate them in two groups by age, first group with children aged from 3 to 7 years old
and the second for children aged between 7 to 11 years old. This separation by groups had determined the
appearance of a new multifunctional room. For a better psychological assistance it was decided that it is better to
have an administrative office and a consultation room too. The final project (Fig. 2.b. Fig. 3. a, b.) approved, had
finally: two multifunctional rooms, one bedroom, a kitchen with a dining room connected to the garden, bathrooms,
a locker room for personnel, an administrative office and a consulting room, totalizing an area of 225 square meters.
The effects of the architectural elements (natural/artificial light, colours, the height of the room, etc.) will be
presented in another article which will present the results of the centre after it will be open for children.

4. Conclusion

Approaching the problem of children in need from an educational, psychological, and architectural point of view
it can be realized the importance of transmitting the sense of “familiar” in the proposed new centres in order for
children to adapt and to provide all the conditions they need for a proper development. The project presented in this
article, it’s an example of how architecture influence the educational process, and how design elements can be
determinant in the success of the project.

Acknowledgements

Assistance provided by S.C. Rheinbruche S.R.L was greatly appreciated.

References

The Children Act 1989 (Principles and Concepts), 16 November 1989,

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41
Dates according to Consortium for Street Children (2012), www.streetchildren.org.uk.
Youth Advocate Program International (September 2012), Street children, Washington, U.S.A. www.yapi.org.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), (May 2012), Measuring child
poverty,http://www.unicefirc.org/publications/pdf/rc10_eng.pdf
Lugoj local administration, Social Services Department (2010), Justification for the project “Educational Day Center
for Children in Need”.
National Institute of Statistics (INSSE), (2011), https://statistici.insse.ro/shop/
Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and the Elderly, (March 2013) Child Protection Department,
Statistics, http://www.copii.ro/alte_categorii.html
Arh. Hamza Augustin, (2013) S.C. Rheinbrucke S.R.L, http://www.proiectaretimisoara.com/portofoliu.html
Department for Child Protection in Timiș County, The Strategy of General Directorate of Social Assistance and
Child Protection on Social Services (2008-2013), Timișoara
Youth Advocate Program International, Street children, Washington, U.S.A. www.yapi.org
Irimescu Gabriela, Lupu Adrian L. (2006), Home alone (pp. 24-26), Social Alternative Association 2005.
Sawyer Keith, (2013) The psychology of Child Development,
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~ksawyer/classes/313_learning_theories.pdf
Berton, M.W., & Stabb, S. D. (1996). Exposure to violence and post-traumatic stress disorder in urban adolescents.
Adolescence, 31(122), 489−494.)
Kimberly Kopko, Ph.D. Extension Associate, Department of Human Development- The Effects of the Physical
Environment on Children’s Development- http://www.human.cornell.edu/hd/outreach-
extension/upload/evans.pdf 2013.
Black, M. M., & Krishnakumar, A. (1998). Children in low-income, urban settings: Interventions to promote mental
health and well-being. American Psychologist, 53(6), pp. 635−646.
Soderback, Soderstrom M., Schalander E., (2009) Horticultural therapy: the „healing garden” and gardening in
1002 Cristina-Maria Povian et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 141 (2014) 996 – 1002

rehabilitation measures at Danderyd Hospital Rehabilitation Clinic, Sweden; Department of Public Health and
Caring Science, Uppsala University, Sweeden.
Povian Cristina- The Importance of Green Architectural Design in Children’s Education,- Nano, Bio and Green
Technologies for a Sustainable Future, Conference Proceedings, Green Design and Su