Language teaching and learning in preschools Erasmus Project

Project Title

Language teaching and learning in preschools

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early childhood education and care; Inclusion – equity; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

CONTEXT
Early childhood years represent a critical period in learning and development and where basic skills in language and literacy acquired lay the foundation for later success in school. There is conclusive research evidence which shows that Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can have positive learning and progression outcomes for language learning not at least among migrant and/or bilingual children, giving them the start they need to develop their skills in the language of instruction.

OBJECTIVES
The KA2 project “Language teaching and learning in preschools” is all about sharing best practices of successful language teaching methods in Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Germany with the overall objectives to strengthen the pedagogical quality of ECEC. Partners have found that education communities in the different countries approach educational challenges in different ways, meaning that there a huge amount to learn from one another.

All planned activities in the project are expected to
1. Increase the knowledge in preschools and preschool staff of how language is stimulated and taught in other European countries
2. Shared best practices on language learning and teaching in ECEC
3. Strengthen the professional and teaching skills among preschool staff
4. Strengthen the European dimension among project partners

PARTICIPANTS AND ACTIVITIES
More than 100 preschool teachers and other preschool staff will participate in activities that will be disseminated and of benefit to more than 300 preschools within the preschools reach.

The project’s activities will involve 4 learning and training activities taking place across the partner countries involving both children and preschool teachers/staff. The project will also create an international network through which preschool teachers can work together on resources and documentation to support ongoing progression in their learning and collaboration around early language learning.

METHODOLOGY
The transnational nature of the project will enable each partners to apply methods developed in other countries’ contexts and to learn from best practice outside of their immediate environments. For example the expertise of applying the CLIL in the multilingual preschools of Norrköping, the dissemination method through so called “language lighthouses” in Denmark, the intercultural and communication centered approaches in the Germany and parent involvement and collaborative approach in the Netherlands will be synthesized to produce documented innovative and practice-informed pedagogical approaches for language acquisition in the the preschool environment.

RESULTS AND IMPACT
The project will result in establishing clear evaluated and documented knowledge, approaches and pedagogies for the teaching and learning language in ECEC on both a partnership and individual level. Results will also include a shared project space on eTwinning, where all results and resources, materials and will be accessible and disseminated to relevant target groups at a local, regional and national.

As stated in the European Council Recommendation of 22 May 2019 on High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems, “participating in early childhood education and care has multiple benefits both for individuals and for society as a whole, from improved educational attainment and labor market outcomes to fewer social and educational interventions and more cohesive and inclusive societies. The project will lay the foundation for later success in school for ALL children by giving them the start they need to develop their skills in the language of instruction.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 83978 Eur

Project Coordinator

Kvartettens förskolan & Country: SE

Project Partners

• Berlin Cosmopolitan School
• Het Lichtbaken
• Børnehuset Nørre Aaby