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Years ago I was fortunate to spend 6 months in Sarajevo. I was working at the university but i had time on my hands. I wandered over to the Step by Step office and volunteered. Rada took my in and we spent many happy hours working together., talking about pedagogy and children and the state of education. We remained friends over these long years being comrades, drinking buddies and soliders in the war for education for children, the right kind of education. To those she influenced, they were lucky. To this children who benefited they were luckier. For those who knew her and learned from her, even luckier. She was one in a million and how grateful we all are that she was with us as long as she was. What she would want is for us to keep fighting for the kids, for excellent education and to sing and play as we do it. She will always be with us....always......
Founding Assembly of ISSA (Dubrovnik, 1998) Rada, Suzana and I stayed up most of the night to piece together the first ever ISSA brochure, and a photocopy shop made copies for every country to take home. Here's an exuberant Rada and Suzi, showing the results. Rada joined the first ISSA Board and was a critical member of the team that developed the ISSA Principles and of the team that revised the Child-Centered Curriculum that has recently been re-issued. Thank you, Rada for your brilliant contributions and bold ideas, and for the energy and joy that you shared with us! You are missed and loved!
Uspomena na jednu predivnu saradnju, sa sjanom Radmilom Rangelvo Jusović.
Rada was an artist of pedagogy and born educator. She was not only extraordinary and restless scientist, but person who lived pedagogy in every encounter with another human being, regardless of age. Her childish curiosity and genuine interest in everything new was always followed by experimentation and application of complex scientific concepts in everyday working and living. This was reflected at the regional conferences COI Step by Step organized – they created stimulating learning environment, various opportunities for professional development, individualized approach for every participant and building strong community and partnerships, full of trust and respect. And then let the magic of human connection did the rest. Once she told me that the best way to educate the child is not to educate her at all. But to live with her. She lived with us, and we all grew. Nothing will be the same, but her legacy is here – power of human connection has created strong regional community that will continue to celebrate and empower teachers – Rada’s superheroes.
Every year when we arrived to the venue of the conference in Bosnia, Rada was there to welcome us as we stepped out of the bus. Her warm hugs, genuine smile on her face and the contagious positive energy has always lifted us up after the long journey from Slovenia. She will not be welcoming us individually anymore, but we believe that from the place she is now, she has even greater power to embrace us all at the same time and fill us with her never-ending source of knowledge, energy, laughter and positivism. And in the evenings, we will be again dancing and singing together …
There is actually a short video clip from that 'magical moment' in Ljubljana 2019, which I shared in my previous post. Rada sings and everybody is happy...
We are all so saddened that Rada had to leave us so young; at an age where she could reap the plentiful fruits of her engagement, her enthusiasm, her foresight, her dedication to education and training, her talents, her forcefulness and her humanity. She was such an inspiration for so many professionals in her country, in the ISSA community and beyond. One could not, not notice Rada, even in a large gathering. There was this sparkle in her eyes, this voice taking the side of those deprived of their rights and their opportunities, these razor-sharp thoughts, this crackling mind and last but not least her infectious laugh. What made and makes her unforgettable is her singing ranging from boisterous to sad. She could transfix everybody in the room with her voice and songs. I wish I had met her more often, although I met her first two decades ago. I wish I had shared with her more of our life stories and thoughts. I am sure there will be no gathering of Step by Step colleagues or ISSA members in the future, where Rada's humanity will not be remembered and cherished.
My colleague Dr Lisha O'Sullivan and I from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland met Rada for the first time when we visited Slovenia for the ISSA Thematic Meeting in November 2019. We immediately connected with Rada's energy, commitment, inspiration, pioneering ideas and motivation to always support the most vulnerable children in our societies globally. We had hoped that Rada would visit us in Limerick in the future where we could discuss and plan for working together in the future. We also connected especially with Rada's sense of humour and laughter and she was the light in our first visit to Slovenia and our first meeting with ISSA colleagues. We know that Rada would have been a leader in picking up the pieces of children's lives throughout and post this global pandemic we are all experience. We are greatly saddened at Rada's untimely passing and extend our sincere condolences to Rada's family and friends. We have in our Irish language a saying ' Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann' - which means 'There will never be someone like her again' and in relation to Rada, this is especially true. Prof Emer Ring, Dean of Early Childhood and Teacher Education, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland. Dr Lisha O'Sullivan, Head of Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland.
We were the youngest ones in age and in the program during the Step by Step OSI meeting in Budapest fall of 1996. She was this bubble of energy, full of laughter, fun ideas, amazing voice. I felt like I could see her in two places at once. Our meetings were always Step by Step related. She grew to become such an amazing leader that she was destined to be. I have always admired her wit, her networking skills and her capacity to always find joy in life. I have a very hard time believing that she will no longer be with us. I will always cherish the fond memories and the important life lessons I learned from her. I love you, dear friend. You will be deeply missed.
My fondest -and as it appears latest- memory of Rada was during the 2019 Council Meeting in Ljubljana. After dinner, we persuaded her to sing some songs in her beautiful singing voice. The real magic of that evening happened when she started singing a very funny song, and managed to get everyone who was present joining in making the appropriate gestures and movements. The song involved phrases like lijeva ruka, desna ruka, lijeva noga, desna noga, and I guess it had to do with horse riding (pardon my Bosnian). We all had so much fun. And I realised that someone who knows how to bring tears of laughter to other peoples' eyes, is the best educator imaginable. A great voice, a great soul. We will miss her dearly.
I remember Rada with great fondess and respect for her passion and commitment. I got to know her through my involvement in ISSA but more particularly through the ECD and Peacebuilding Community. She contributed a wonderful chapter in the book " From Conflict to Peace Building the Power of Erly Childhood Developments around the world" We, in Ireland had much in common with her and she connected with us through music, dancing and singing. We recognised in each other the imapct of conflict, grief and pain but also the power of the indomitable spitrit to deal with the past and look forward to the future. We have many great memories of sharing and integraing Bosnian and Irish dances and songs. She was a giant. a woman warrior, a leader and an inspiration. Heer legacy will live on and it will be our responsibility to make that leagcy visible and tangible.
I am so very saddened by the passing of our dear friend and respected colleague – I am grieving along with so many others. We will all miss Rada, and will continue to benefit from her wisdom and the consequential nature of her work and many achievements. Mark Ginsberg
Rada's passion, courage and vision have made a strong impression on me from the first day I met her almost 15 years ago. Her joy of life, her sharp mind and her big heart were shining through in every encounter over the years. Although we met in person only once a year, seldom more than that, she was someone whose work I always followed, because it was innovative, breaking grounds and barriers, and inspiring many others to act. We learnt much from her, even from the distance. And even from the distance, we could all see that her work, her vision and her power to inspire others touched the lives of so many practitioners, and then indirectly the lives of many more children in her country. She had a dream to transform education, and she truly has lived that dream. Now it is up to all of us to continue doing it. There are so many social gatherings during ISSA events where we sat late into the evening listening to Rada's beautiful voice. Her soul was shining through in that way too. She has touched many lives in the whole of ISSA network, and she will always be in our hearts and minds!
I met Rada in 1997 or 1998, when we participated in a 3-week Step by Step intensive training near Saint Petersburg, in Pushkin. We were so young. You instantly could notice her energy, outspokenness, sharp and critical mind, her drive for meaningful, essential, and long-lasting changes, her readiness to move mountains for a worthy purpose, if that is what it takes. Her stepping out of the box. And she never changed. She nurtured her soul and mind by nurturing the souls and minds of the people around her with high ambitions, assertiveness, strong values and beliefs, and love. She loved life no matter how harsh. Music and singing were her ways of expressing her love for life and people, the joy of sharing what matters – human feelings and connection. She wanted to make a difference and she succeeded, in so many lives of so many people of so many ages, just by being who she was. I was not among those who shared every day, or every week, or month, moments with her. Maybe I was seeing her once a year. So, I will keep believing that she is at home, and whenever it will be possible, we will meet, as it has always been.
I cherish the memories of an evening spent in Ljubljana where Rada was sharing some of her experiences. I took home from that evening the testimony of resilience, humor and agency and how this trio of resilience, humour and agency bring strength.
Adela Dobrić
Adela Dobrić
Dugo ćemo plakati i biti tužni... U teškim trenucima, a bilo ih je mnogo u karijeri svakog nastavnika, pa i mojoj, bila je često jedina podrška i vjetar u leđa kao i cijela Zajednica koju je vodila.
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