The goal is to develop the quality of the preschool education (early childhood education) through parents' understanding of the role of the preschool in education. Through parental participation the project will increase the quality and reduce early school leaving. The sectoral priority "Enhancing the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care" is therefore an overall priority for the project, which means the assurance that all the children should be allowed a good start of their education.The refugee situation puts greater demands on the organizations in the project and we need to prepare us for the cultural diversity that is created in our preschools to counteract diversification. For many of our new comers preschool can be the first encounter to the new country's social structure. The preschool can be a part of the integration process and by creating forums for meetings between families and with a focus on children's opportunities for a good life through education, this project can ultimately strengthen democracy, understanding of human equality and quality in preschool.The organizations that have decided to work together is Sector Education West Gothenburg and the Union of Municipalities of Bassa Reggiana. Two preschools, Skattegårdsvägen and Zenit, one from each organization will be extra monitored even though all preschools in the organization will take part of the project.The organizations want to do this project together because of the mutual challenges in our preschools but also since participation is an indicator of quality in the preschools, something both organizations needs to develop. Both organizations also have the interest in developing a new method for this, with the help of data and data visualization, use this to analyze and develop new ways and forums, physically and digitally, for parents and families to participate in preschool.Two universities take part in the project; University of Gothenburg and University of Modena and Reggio. The universities will add dynamic and quality to the project, connecting practice with theory. Having researchers engaged in the project gives the results larger meaning and influence than just a network and cooperation between organizations. A researcher's eye can question and critically examine the project and thus support quality during the project. The researchers will ensure that the project maintains quality throughout the process.The direct participants in the activities are Preschool Directors, Pedagogistas, administrators and stakeholders (36). They also have a lot of contact with the parents – and this is the group we want to reach as target group. Therefore three parent groups will be created in each country, to invite the parents into a more inclusive preschool, making parents and families participate more.Preschool Directors and Pedagogistas will meet transnationally five times to learn how to use data and how data can become an action, in this case with participation. The methods to be used are therefore foremost network, workshops and dialogue. The last time will be a Final Convention where participants, target groups, politicians and other relevant stakeholders will participate in discussing the results, gains and the future of the project. A Project Management Group (7 participants) will meet regularly during the project to make sure that the project evolves, to monitor and evaluate the process so the quality is maintained and that the transnational interests are secured. The project can be summarized as:1. Create knowledge about data, gathering data and presenting the data as a means to improve the quality work2. Create mutual knowledge and experience of how to analyze these data for learning3. Based on the data, develop sustainable and new forums and arenas, physical and digital, for cooperation and participation of parents, families and citizens4. Through this enhancing the quality of early childhood education and care and as a consequence creating understanding of the importance of education and by doing so supporting schools to prevent early school leaving.Through this project we hope to make the preschools more visible, to build a transnational method in using data as a method to develop the preschools - a method that can be used in other countries and in other areas. In this case with parents’ participation where we also want this project to create new forums, physically and digitally to work with parents’ participation. For the universities can this project be a part of bringing their research and theories up to date and to help connecting theory with practice. We hope that by doing this, we can reduce children leaving school early and instead support the parents with their support in the children education.
Background of the project The goal was to develop the quality of the preschool education (early childhood education) through parents' understanding of the role of the preschool in education. Through parental participation the project aimed at increasing the quality and reducing early school leaving. The sectoral priority "Enhancing the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care" was therefore an overall priority for the project, which means the assurance that all the children should be allowed a good start in their education. The refugee situation has put greater demands on the participating organisations in the project and we wanted to prepare us for the cultural diversity in our preschools to counteract diversification. The preschool has a role to play in the integration process and by creating forums for families to meet and with a focus on children's opportunities for a good life through education, this project aimed to ultimately strengthen democracy, understanding of human equality and quality in preschool. The participating organisations wanted to do this project together because of the mutual challenges in our preschools but also since participation is an indicator of quality in the preschools, something both organisations needed to develop. Objectives 1. Create knowledge about data, gathering data and presenting the data as a means to improve the quality work. 2. Create mutual knowledge and experience of how to analyse these data for learning. 3. Based on the data, develop sustainable and new forums and arenas, physical and digital, for cooperation and participation of parents, families and citizens. 4. Through this enhance the quality of early childhood education and care and as a consequence create understanding of the importance of education and by doing so supporting schools to prevent early school leaving. Participating organisations The participating organisations are Sector Education West Gothenburg and the Union of Municipalities of Bassa Reggiana. Two preschools, Skattegårdsvägen and Zenit in Boretto, one from each organization have been extra monitored even though all preschools in the organisation have been represented during the project. The project has been in contact with two universities:The project was supported by a researcher from University of Gothenburg and there has been dialogues with the University of Modena and Reggio on how to develop the results of the project further. The researchers have ensured that the project have maintained high quality throughout the process. Activities Training Activities (TRAC) - the four TRACs served as a platform for the exchange of experiences. The focus was on visiting each other’s services and preschools to enable mutual learning and exchange ideas. The main methods used were networking, dialogue and exchange of experience. In workshops the participants have been able to discuss and reflect on the Project results which have been important to the outputs and outcomes of the Project. The direct participants in the activities were Preschool Directors, Pedagogistas, development managers and other professionals working with families. Parent forums - three parent forums at the named preschool in each country have been completed. The aim has been to invite the parents into a more inclusive preschool and make parents and families participate more. The parents have discussed and reflected on their role as a parent of a child in the preschool. Project Management Group (PMG) - The PMG have had representatives from both participating organisations. The group has met five times during the project in order to manage and monitor the project and evaluate the process to reassure that the quality is maintained and that the transnational interests are secured. Results and impacts Participants who are not working in the preschool gained more understanding and knowledge for the preschools mission and organisation and vice versa. The professionals who participated in the TRAC created new professional relationships across the sectors which facilitated new cooperations across the sectors, greater understanding for the different services and support available for families and family-centered work. The Swedish participants focused on develop new forums, methods and guidelines for communication with parents. The Italian participants has focused on identified and develop new kinds of data. The data was analysed and shared with different stakeholders to raise the quality of parent participation. This process stimulated new discussions among the professionals across sectors and spread good practice. The method with meetings has been a successful way to investigate parents participation in early education. One scientific article has been written on the importance of participation in families based on the work with the family forums. The article gives a general picture on the importance of family inclusion in preschool as important for inclusion in society.