Ζ’ Διαγωνισμός Διηγήματος «Στέλιος Ξεφλούδας»

Κυκλοφόρησε από την «Ανοικτή Βιβλιοθήκη» η συλλογή με τα 7 διακριθέντα  διηγήματα του  Ζ’ Διαγωνισμού Διηγήματος «Στέλιος Ξεφλούδας» με θέμα «Το Κάστρο».

Τον Διαγωνισμό διοργάνωσαν ο Προοδευτικός Σύλλογος «Τα Καστέλλια»,  η εφημερίδα Καστελλιώτικα Νέα, το Μουσείο Σχολικής Ζωής και Εκπαίδευσης και το literature.gr

Τα Βραβεία

1^ο Βραβείο:

-Μιχάλης Άγγος, «Η Μεγάλη Ιδέα»

2^ο Βραβείο (από κοινού)

-Κασσάνδρα Αλογοσκούφι, «Ο κυνηγός κεφαλών»

-Κώστας Παπαϊωάννου, «Ο ξεναγός του Κάστρου»

3^ο Βραβείο

Κώστας Τερζανίδης, «Ένας ιππότης για τη Τζενούλα»

Έπαινοι

-Μαρία Σμυρναίου, «Χαλάσματα»

-Ντορέττα Αδαμάκη, «Το σπίτι της πριγκίπισσας»

-Καλλιόπη Τσακρή, «Η Υπνοβατού»

Τα διακριθέντα διηγήματα θα κυκλοφορήσουν προσεχώς από τον Προοδευτικό Σύλλογο «Τα Καστέλλια».

Στην Κριτική Επιτροπή του Διαγωνισμού μετείχαν:

– Η Μαρία Αργυροπούλου, ΕΔΙΠ του Τμήματος Διοίκησης Τουρισμού του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών

– Ο Ελπιδοφόρος Ιντζέμπελης, εκπαιδευτικός και συγγραφέας

– Η Δρ. Ευαγγελία Κανταρτζή διευθύντρια του Μουσείου Σχολικής Ζωής και Εκπαίδευσης

– Η Αργυρώ Μουντάκη, εκπαιδευτικός και συγγραφέας

– Η Ντίνα Σαρακηνού, διευθύντρια του literature.gr

-Ο Κώστας Στοφόρος, πρόεδρος του Προοδευτικού Συλλόγου «Τα Καστέλλια»

Η ιδέα ώστε το θέμα του νέου διαγωνισμού να είναι το κάστρο συνδέθηκε με την προσπάθεια για την ανάδειξη των μνημείων και της ιστορίας του χωριού, το οποίο υπήρξε το κέντρο της Δωρικής Τετράπολης.

Ο Διαγωνισμός που διεξήχθη για έβδομη φορά, έχει παράλληλα ως στόχο την προβολή του έργου του Καστελλιώτη δημιουργού αλλά και την ανάδειξη νέων συγγραφέων μέσα από το διήγημα και το γραπτό λόγο. Ο Στέλιος Ξεφλούδας γεννήθηκε στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα στα Καστέλλια, ανήκε στην περίφημη Γενιά του ’30,  ήταν από τους ιδρυτές της περίφημης «Σχολής της Θεσσαλονίκης» και θεωρείται ως ο εισηγητής του «εσωτερικού μονολόγου» στην Ελληνική Λογοτεχνία.

Πιστεύουμε ότι μέχρι σήμερα έχουν υπηρετηθεί –στο μέτρο των δυνατοτήτων μας -και οι δυο αυτοί στόχοι, αφού και παρακινήσαμε για γνωριμία με το έργο του Στέλιου Ξεφλούδα, αλλά και πολλοί από τους νέους συγγραφείς που διακρίθηκαν στον διαγωνισμό έχουν σημειώσει μια αξιόλογη πορεία στα ελληνικά γράμματα..

Υπενθυμίζουμε ότι τα θέματα των προηγουμένων διαγωνισμών, τα οποία κυκλοφορούν σε ανθολογίες, ήταν :

-Επιστροφή στο χωριό

-Έγκλημα στο χωριό

-Ο καπνός

-Ο Ξένος

-Το σχολείο

-Το τρένο

Δείτε τα πρακτικά του 3ου Πανελλήνιου Συνεδρίου: «Το εκπαιδευτικό παιχνίδι και η τέχνη στην εκπαίδευση και στον πολιτισμό»

Τόμοι Α’-Β’

Δείτε τα πρακτικά του 7ου Πανελλήνιου Συνεδρίου «Εκπαίδευση και πολιτισμός στον 21ο αιώνα»

Τόμοι Α’-Δ’

World Alzheimer’s Day
Sharing information about Alzheimer

September is World Alzheimer’s Awareness month and our last post about Alzheimer’s disease will be to raise awareness about the disease. Firstly, it would be best explaining what Alzheimer’s disease is and its origin. The disease is named after Alois Alzheimer – a German psychiatrist – who discovered it for the first time in 1901 in a 50-year-old German lady. As the disease spread in its scope and severity, people felt the need to institute a body dedicated to the fight against this incurable illness. For many years the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease were similar, and as a result concluded in the symptoms of senile dementia.

Dementia is an acquired and chronic mental disorder syndrome. It is a general term for the loss of memory, language and other cognitive abilities. Forms of dementia are classified according to the DSM-5 into two categories, major neurocognitive disorder (MND) and mild neurocognitive disorder. Neurocognitive impairment (NCD) is defined as evidence of significant cognitive decline from a previous level and a decline in neurocognitive performance. Cognitive deficits are so significant that they interfere with the patient’s ability to function independently but it must not be due to another mental disorder such as depression. 

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior. It is a neurodegenerative disease of the brain caused by complex brain changes after cell damage typically accumulation of the harmful protein tau in brain neurons but the causes of the disease still remain unknown.The disease leads to symptoms of dementia such as short-term memory problems that gradually worsen over time. The most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering new information, because the disease usually first affects the part of the brain associated with learning. As the disease progresses, symptoms become more severe and include disorientation, confusion, and behavioral changes. Finally, speaking, swallowing and walking become difficult.Though this is one explanation, the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is still mostly unknown except for 1-2% of cases and several hypotheses attempt to explain the underlying cause. 

The main purpose of World Alzheimer’s Awareness month is to “Know Dementia, Know Alzheimer” as made known from the Alzheimer’s Disease International. In the effort of raising awareness we want to list the early symptoms of the disease. Among the reasons for the late diagnosis is that the signs and symptoms, at the early stages of Alzheimers’s Disease, are sometimes not recognised and/or mistaken for signs of old age or symptoms of other conditions. 

The most noticeable deficit is short term memory loss. It appears to be difficult to remember recent facts and inability to acquire new information. It is also known for people with AD to forget about recent conversations, names and misplace items. Other symptoms include problems with abstract thinking or impairments in semantic memory (memory of meanings) causing trouble thinking of the right. These early symptoms can affect the most complex activities of daily living such as self care activities.

The World Alzheimer day is dedicated to promote awareness for pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis support. At least 75% of people with dementia are not diagnosed globally, and they can’t have access to proper help. It is important to recognize the early symptoms, but also to support the health, social and psychological wellbeing of people with dementia and their carers after diagnosis.

Creating an Alzheimer’s disease friendly educational program

In our latest posts, we talked about music therapy and museum therapy as different forms of therapy used for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Both of these forms of therapy are helpful. As a museum, trying to include all age groups, even those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, we are thinking of ways to create educational programs suitable for these people.

Educational programs are usually organized sets of learning activities designed to enable a student to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes relevant to the student’s individual needs. A museum can offer many educational programs not only for students, but also to everyone who wants to attend the place and experience the museum. Creating an Alzheimer’s disease-friendly program, so that we can also include those people, can be somehow challenging. In order to make a suitable educational program for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, someone should have different targets and expectations from the common educational programs designed for children and students. 

 The main purpose of every educational program for people with dementia should be the connection of the attendants. The educators can focus on building an educational program with things that these people can make a connection with. Things that they are familiar with and are easy to focus on. A person with dementia often suffers with memory loss and brain fog, and that causes confusion and stress. Simple objects, such as a pen with ink or a school bag, can bring up memories and feelings of familiarity that can help reduce stress and exercise their memories. 

Following, the educational program ought to be designed to help the people with dementia and Alzheimer’s maintain and/or resurface their knowledge skills. The loss of their language and cognitive skills can cause negative behavior and also a lot of stress. It is important to use easy and closed-ended questions that can be easily answered and need just a little effort focusing on those questions. Also, it is important to not give much information and instructions, but to be present, support and help the attendants. 

Finally, using relaxing music during the program is helpful to maintain calm and relieve stress. However, it is helpful to use songs and melodies familiar to them and music that fits the environment the patients are in. Music and sounds are able to bring up memories and have power of bringing  and can help maintain their mental health.

Although this is a hypothetical program, the problem is that the methods used in these syntheses vary in fundamental ways, leading to inconsistent conclusions regarding which programs and practices have strong evidence of effectiveness. It is very important to evaluate the program each time it takes place from both parties. This variation is a potentially serious problem for evidence-based reform, as it could undermine the confidence that educators and policy makers place in the entire enterprise. Academic disagreements are healthy -and inevitable-, but it is important to understand the issues, at least, and to agree on basic ground rules for program evaluation syntheses.

Bennington, R., Backos, A., Harrison, J., Reader, A. E., & Carolan, R. (2016). Art therapy in art museums: Promoting social connectedness and psychological well-being of older adults. Arts in Psychotherapy, 34-43.

Brechet, L., Michel, C. M., Schacter, D. L., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2021). Improving autobiographical memory in Alzheimer’s disease by transcranial alternating current stimulation. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 64-71.

de Witte, M., Pinho, A., Stams, G., Moonen, X., Bos, A., & van Hooren , S. (2022). Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 134-159.

Ioannides, E. (2016). Museums as Therapeutic Environments and the Contribution of Art Therapy. Museum International , 98-109.

Kwak, K., Bae, N., & Jang, W. (2013). Music therapy with moderate Alzheimer’s disease in a long-term care center. Music therapy with moderate Alzheimer’s disease in a long-term care center, P880.

Lam, H., Li, W., Laher, I., & Wong, R. (2020). Effects of music therapy on patients with dementia-A systematic review. Switzerland: Geriatrics.

Rathbone, C. J., Ellis, J. A., Ahmed, S., Moulin, C. J., Ernst, A., & Butler, C. R. (2019, 12 1). Using memories to support the self in Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex, 332-346.

Storti, B., Brovelli, F., Pozzi, F., Zuffi, A., Piatti, M., Appollonio, I., . . . Ferrarese, C. (2021). Progression in cognitively impaired patients with atrial fibrillation: An observational study. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 81.