The same applies as before the pandemic: Germany (and other European countries) are culturally, socially & educationally in a phase of change with serious implications for the everyday professional situation of educators. Early childhood education facilities / day-care facilities have a growing proportion of children & families with migration and/or refugee experiences & thus an increasing heterogeneity. Thus, educators in these facilities are faced with numerous (new) challenges. Early-childhood educational work has to adapt to growing cultural and linguistic diversity and support children of different social and cultural background in understanding their living environment and shaping it confidently, competently and responsibly. This requires educators to be aware of their environment and its effects on their work. The project was meant to supplement the current discussion of educational quality in day-care facilities through a critical, possibly even questioning examination of one's own national concepts, structures and traditions. A look at other educational systems and early-childhood educational approaches in other European countries can put traditional concepts into perspective and provide important impetus for the future.
It needs to be mentioned in advance that the project was not carried out regularly - mainly due to the developments of the corona pandemic. Of the 34 mobilities for trainees that were originally planned and that we applied funding for, only 4 were carried out regularly, as they took place in autumn 2019. A further 13 mobilities were planned for March/April 2020. These had to be cancelled before the start, as a nationwide lockdown had been imposed from mid-March due to the pandemic. The trainees had intended to leave to other European states in which the situation was quite similar. In retrospect, we know that institutions in the field of early childhood education and development were faced with very special challenges when it came to fulfilling their educational and care obligations. Unfortunately it was not possible to carry out the project as planned under these circumstances until the end of the project - and despite the extension of the project duration period.