PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TOOLS SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION RIGHTS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Erasmus Project

Project Title

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TOOLS SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION RIGHTS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

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 : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

CONTEXT
Children have the right to participate in all matters affecting them, freely expressing their opinion and having it respected and considered. Young children’s participation is key to developing a culture of human rights, democracy, and rule of law. Therefore, young people’s active participation and decision-making in society must be protected and encouraged from an early age. Even though children’s right to participate is key to education quality, its implementation in early childhood education (ECE) remains a challenge. To support high-quality ECE through the implementation of children’s right to participate, we propose a multilevel professional development approach.

OBJECTIVES
We aim to strengthen ECE teachers, assistants, and coordinators/managers’: (1) knowledge on children’s right to participate; (2) positive attitudes regarding the design, implementation, and monitoring of practices that promote children’s participation; (3) ability to identify, design, implement, and monitor practices that enhance children’s right to participate; and (4) ability to work together, at multiple levels of the ECE centre, to identify, use, and sustain the individual and organizational resources needed to increase children’s participation. To reach these goals, we will develop three independent but complementary professional development resources: (1) a Massive Open Online Course on children’s right to participate in ECE, targeting teachers, assistants, and coordinators/managers; (2) a self-assessment tool designed to support teachers and assistants in delivering high-quality ECE through participatory practices at the classroom level; and (3) a self-assessment tool designed to support coordinators/managers in enhancing participatory practices based on organizational resources and supports. We will examine the feasibility of this toolkit, gathering input from end users to inform its iterative development.

PARTICIPANTS
Project activities will involve three types of participants: ECE teachers, ECE teacher assistants, and ECE staff with leadership roles. A minimum of 60 ECE professionals, across the five countries, will participate in focus groups to inform Intellectual Outputs’ design and content, building on expertise from the field. Further, a minimum of 120 ECE professionals, from a minimum of 40 ECE centres across the five countries, will participate in the feasibility analysis of the toolkit. Ultimately, we expect that a minimum of 1000 ECE professionals use the final versions of the toolkit upon project completion, across participating countries.

ACTIVITIES AND METHODS
Major project activities include (1) focus groups with ECE teachers, assistants, and coordinators/managers; (2) preparation of preliminary, beta, and final versions of the learning, reflection, and self-assessment tools designed to support ECE professionals; (3) implementation of the tools by ECE centres and professionals in all participating countries; and (4) use of questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations to document the feasibility of the professional development tools.

EXPECTED RESULTS AND IMPACT
We will reach all types of ECE professionals and centres, including rural and urban communities, the public and private sectors, etc., creating a shared awareness of the importance of children’s right to participate as a means to increase ECE quality. We expect ECE professionals to (1) increase their knowledge on children’s right to participate, on the organizational barriers and facilitators that influence children’s participation, on the potential benefits of children’s participation, and on the practices most likely to improve children’s participation; (2) to develop positive attitudes towards children’s right to participate in ECE settings; (3) to develop their competence in identifying, designing, implementing, and monitoring classroom practices and organizational supports and resources that enhance children’s right to participate; and (4) to work at as team at the classroom and organizational levels to enhance children’s participation.

POTENTIAL LONG-TERM BENEFITS
We expect long-term improvements in ECE classroom and centre quality, based on increased reciprocity levels in relationships and interactions among professionals and among professionals and children. These long-term changes are likely to result in increased well-being for children. Importantly, potential benefits of children’s participation include increases in children’s self-esteem, self-efficacy, communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and decision-making skills; increases in teachers’ respect for children’s ideas, interests, and needs; as well as improved organization and functioning of ECE centres. Further, improved organizational competence in listening to children’s and professionals’ voices should result in increased levels of perceived procedural justice, increasing leadership legitimacy.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 336480 Eur

Project Coordinator

Iscte – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa & Country: PT

Project Partners

• UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI
• UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
• HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO
• APEI – Associação de Profissionais de Educação de Infância
• ODISEE