Inclusive Education in Early Childhood: Developing Good Practices Erasmus Project

Project Title

Inclusive Education in Early Childhood: Developing Good Practices

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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Pedagogy and didactics; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

European Union Commission puts emphasis on education and training policy that enables all citizens, irrespective of their personal, social or economic circumstances, to acquire, update and develop over a lifetime both job‐specific skills and the key competences needed for their employability and to foster further learning, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue. It is also believed that early childhood education and care can lay the foundations for these goals in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, and social integration, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Educational disadvantage should be addressed by providing high quality early childhood education and targeted support, and by promoting inclusive education. Inclusive education can be defined as the education of children with and without disabilities in the same setting, mostly in classrooms. Its primary goal is to fight marginalization and exclusion. Inclusive education can be regarded as an important way to achieve “Education for All”.
The GOPRINCE (Inclusive Education in Early Childhood: Developing Good Practices) Erasmus+ Project is a response to this call for a best practice approach and aims to make a contribution to the sharing of knowledge, understanding and best practices in inclusive education in early childhood education. The project was carried out by seven partner institutions from Turkey (Coordinator), Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal and UK. The goal of the project was to analyse the inclusive education and its practices in each country and develop a new model with best practices in each country to use in teacher education to improve their teaching skills in inclusive classrooms in early childhood education. In the project we developed REACCH model which has 6 key elements, namely; Reflection, Ethos, Adaptations, Communication, Collaboration, Holistic view and supported the use of each element of with case studies prepared in different forms, such as video recording, stories, power-point presentations. The reports about inclusive education in each partner country, the model and case studies were provided as a manual to be used in teacher training to improve teaching skills in inclusive classrooms. This manual was also translated into partner country languages.
During the project, the manual was used in intensive study programs. Pre-service teachers from partner institutions were trained and they were provided opportunities to gain knowledge and intercultural understanding about developing competencies and talents of disadvantaged children in inclusive classrooms through lectures, workshops and school visits and case studies in international group works; and they were encouraged to reflect about their experiences and to think how they can implement the good practices they experienced in their future teaching profession in international group works. In multiplier events, the model and case studies were introduced to in-service teachers and professionals from local educational authorities. In most of the participating universities and university colleges the project results of 6 keys of REACCH inclusive education model and case studies have been integrated in the curriculum.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 335988 Eur

Project Coordinator

Balıkesir University & Country: TR

Project Partners

• KATHOLIEKE HOGESCHOOL VIVES ZUID
• HANZEHOGESCHOOL GRONINGEN STICHTING
• VILNIAUS KOLEGIJA
• UNIVERSITY OF NORTHUMBRIA AT NEWCASTLE
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE COIMBRA
• UNIVERSITY COLLEGE SYDDANMARK