The aim of TRACKs is to provide high quality learning opportunities for several target groups, namely (1) ECEC professionals currently working with children aged 2,5 to 6 years, (2) future ECEC professionals such as pre-school teachers and Kindergarten personnel still in teacher training. Our approach envisions dynamic knowledge and practice exchange between the two target groups in the three countries involved in the project, Poland, Belgium and Italy. Furthermore, the project will benefit from the cross-sectional and cross-country exchange between the ECEC professionals across three European states. This transnational approach fosters an improved quality of learning, assuming that the international contexts can feed into each other, exchange solutions and compare the 'best practice' responses to particular ECEC challenges. To achieve this goal, each key country-partner cooperates with one teacher training institution as a partner and – in a later phase - two ECEC institutions to cooperate within the realm of the project. In this TRACKs project, the ECEC professionals take centre stage, since they are the key actors impacting the wellbeing and development of children through ECEC practice. As a starting point, we will focus on the perceptions that the ECEC professionals / (future) teachers have on poverty, social exclusion, deprivation, diversity and transition. We will observe whether 'deficit thinking' is a recurrent phenomenon in interaction settings with children. Early childhood education and care can make a substantial contribution to cognitive, social and emotional development. A more dialogical approach is necessary. In the micro-processes of exclusion and detachment, interaction is extremely important. Based on newly gained insights we will use the innovative and active learning method of video coaching to reflect with ECEC staff on pre-school/class/Kindergarten interactions. Through this approach, we will stimulate educational change in these institutions. As earlier studies demonstrate, action-research-inspired initiatives and research initiatives addressed towards professionalization of ECEC staff that focus on daily interactions with children, have very positive effects on the development of these interactions and reflexive competences. Video coaching is a strong tool for achieving the goals since it offers good prospects when working with children. We distinguish three phases in our project: working with ECEC professionals (first phase), working with students in teacher training institutes (second phase), ECEC institutions and their trainers/educators in general (third phase). During the first phase we will work intensively with ECEC professionals in their own contexts and daily interactions with children, by means of the video coaching technique, in different sessions. During this phase we will develop an experimental toolbox to be used by the students in the second phase (guided by their lecturers). In this phase the development of the final toolbox will be started. In the last phase we will organize 'train the trainer' sessions, to promote and disseminate the final toolbox. Each country makes his own toolbox based on common starting points,objectives and pedagogical principles, which will be translated into English to get a wider audience in Europe (and outside). The final toolbox will contain all three country toolboxes and a version of each of them in English. It will contain all the necessary content concerning ECEC and poverty, diversity, a.s.o. It will contain experiences from the ECEC professionals, the students, the lecturers from the first two phases, manuals, guidelines, tips and tricks, … If possible, we will add video footage into the toolbox. This depends on the quality of the collected material and the informed consent obtained of the participants in the first phases. The aim of the toolbox is to help raise awareness regarding the (missed) learning opportunities. Further, it will constitute a point of departure for discussion, reflection and feedback on daily interactions with children. The toolbox can also be used in distance learning, blended learning or e-learning modules for teacher training. It is also worth noting that the project has a broader impact and outreach to the larger community of ECEC professionals and students in teacher training. The tangible results of the project focus on usability and practical assistance in the daily practice, especially in the sense of handling inequalities, non-take up and heterogeneity. The toolbox that will be available to ECEC community as the result of the project include.
The TRACKs project was based on a partnership between different institutions and early childhood education and care (ECEC) service providers from three countries: Poland, Italy and Belgium. The University institutions actively involved in the project were: the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland), the University of Bologna (Italy) and the University of Ghent (Belgium). Since the purpose of the project was to actively promote research-based professional development, the training institutions and ECEC service providers taking part in this endeavour were: Arteveldehogeschool in Belgium, the Komensky Institute in Poland, and the Cooperativa Assistenza Disabili Infermi Anziani Infanzia (CADIAI) in Italy. The main objective of the TRACKs was to offer high quality learning opportunities to ECEC professionals currently working with children aged 0 to 6 years old and to prospective professionals still in teacher training, with the aim of promoting more inclusive educational practices within early childhood settings. Compared to the plans we added one more target group: teachers in process of formal professional promotion (in Polish context). To gain access to all these target groups we planned, as mentioned above, the cooperation between academics and practitioners within the project. Now, after completing the project, we can confirm that such concept was an effective way of creating, implementing and promoting of educational innovations. As everyday practice enacted in early childhood settings has a profound impact on children’s development, wellbeing and sense of belonging, ECEC practitioners take centre stage in this process: sustaining the professional competence of ECEC practitioners is crucial for allowing educational change to happen within these institutions. Earlier studies demonstrate that action-research initiatives addressed towards professionalisation of ECEC staff by focusing on the analysis of daily interactions with children, have very positive effects on enhancing practitioners’ reflexive competences: from this perspective, video coaching becomes an effective tool for improving the quality and inclusiveness of ECEC services. Nevertheless, the challenge for the ECEC professional is to act with foresight, providing children who have fewer experiential opportunities in the home-context with additional experiences, encouragement and support to achieve their full potential. Starting from the above assumptions, the main goals of the project were: a) to explore which aspects of daily practices in ECEC settings contribute to promoting children’s learning and wellbeing in contexts of diversity (heterogeneous groups) b) to analyse these aspects by engaging with practitioners in reflective processes fostering their professional growth and a shared vision of inclusive practice within the team c) to provide equitable learning opportunities and nurturing environments for all children, especially those coming from multiply marginalised backgrounds experiencing social inequalities, poverty and exclusion. To sum up we conducted research and video coaching in ten ECEC settings with app. 100 professionals (teachers, educators or care workers) directly involved: a) in Italy two ECEC settings were selected, both located in the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna). Both services are run by the local project partner Cooperativa Sociale Cadiai. b) in Belgium (Flanders), in cooperation with pedagogical guidance services of the municipality of Ghent, two ECEC-settings combining kindergarten and pre-school education and out of school care, have been chosen. c) In Poland, two case-studies have been devised. The first case study included two ECEC centres as representatives of metropolitan ECEC provision (one located in Katowice and one in Cracow), while the second case study included four small ECEC settings in the peripherally positioned Podkarpackie region. Next groups of beneficiaries were professionals, students and NGO educators who took part in our „train the trainer” program (app. 300 persons). We plan to continue video-coaching trainings and to use the outputs and other project’s result in teaching future professionals. Moreover, Komensky Institute would like to use project’s Toolbox in online work via platform with cooperating professionals (esp. coming from distanced rural areas). The main findings of the TRACKs project show that adopting video-analysis-and-coaching as a research/training method in ECEC services can contribute to: (1) promoting practitioners’ individual and collective reflection on children’s intentionality, (2) de-constructing taken-for-granted assumptions through pedagogical guidance in teams, (3) improving enacted practices through action-research and experimentation. We plan to actively promote the outputs of the project (tools), practical partners already introduced them to their practice, academic partners plan to continue using the results of the project in teaching process.