Pedagogical method to assist depressed children in Greece and their families. A case study

Abstract

This study proposes an innovative pedagogical method for children diagnosed with childhood depression based on educational play, designed to increase the children's interest so that they participate in the teaching and learning process. The methodology employed is qualitative, concretized in a case study based on data obtained after five years of interaction between three children suffering from depression who initially showed educational indifference, school failure and lack of socialization in the school context. The instruments used based on participant observation were the class diary, the interviews and the evaluations of the students. It is hoped that, through the study, a new pedagogical approach aimed at the intellectual awakening of depressed children will be created, since it shows that learning can be a particularly powerful motivation for life, combating the melancholy, aggressiveness and general denial that this type of child presents. At the same time, it helps them to regain self-confidence, to integrate into the social group of the classroom, to gain educational interest and to avoid school failure.