European Pillar of Social Rights (COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on key competences for lifelong learning 2018/C 189/01): everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning that develops key competences and basic skills, to maintain and acquire skills that allow full participation in society, personal fulfilment and development, employability, social inclusion and active citizenship. EC supports the development of key competences from early age (https://ec.europa.eu/education/node_en, European Commission Education and Training Monitor 2016) Fostering of literacy competences plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and reducing economic and social disparities. Quality ECE lays the foundations for later success in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, and social integration, and is especially important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 5 of the 7 partner countries the average % of early leavers is higher than the EU one. Only Belgium and the enlargement country Bosnia and Herzegovina has better scores. At least 4 of 7 partner countries (no data from BiH) have scores below the OECD average in Pisa 2019 Reading test. READ project fully meets the needs of the EU relating to modernizing and improving the quality of early education, increasing key competences, and professional development of teachers and educators, also thanks to international cooperation and exchange of good practices. READ project contributes to the achievement of the EU goals by aiming to the followings: - spreading models, best practices, methodologies, tools and experiences in fostering of literacy competences in children in pre-school age - strengthening strategies for continuity between pre-school and school literacy preparation - increasing the EU networking and cooperation between ECE providers in 7 countries - reinforcing public and private partnership strategies at European level - encouraging the dialogue between educational and institutional decision-makers in the partner countries - delivering to local and EU level managers a recommendation on priorities related to the development of key reading. Partnership organizations: 7 EU countries (6 members and 1 enlargement country): Galileo Progetti Nonprofit Kft. (H),Mesezene Egyesület (H), Erasmushogeschool (B), Kindergaten 37 Valshebstvo (Bg), ARCA Cooperativa Sociale (I), Centro Social de Soutelo (P), Montessori IQ Kutak (BiH). Direct beneficiaries: pre-schools/primary schools (for children aged 5/6), managers, coordinators, educators, teachers. Trainings: approx. 150 participants involved, in their countries or abroad. Methodology based on mutual learning between partners and exchange of good practices through short-term joint staff training activites, 1 each partner country with 2 participants per partner, observation by job shadowing of the development activities of literacy competences for pre-school age children, and of the reading activities in primary school first year, 2 transnational project meeting, self-learning. Trainings will be a useful occasion to collect several data about: - local/regional/national level research: legal and financial framework, social, cultural and educational contexts, strategies, policies, involved sectors (public and/or private); - literacy competence survey: questionnaires (5 educators, 5 teachers, 5 parents); - methodology tools: impact evaluation; - observation reports (based on observational criteria). A Final Publication (and Recommendations) will be edited, accessible free of charge in pdf version, in English and a summary in partner countries’ languages. They will be will be disseminated more times in public events in each partner country at different level, and in dissemination actions at EU level. Impacts: -participants: prof. development, acquirement and development key competences, skills and attitude, lifelong learning, foreign languages learning, mobility experiences - organizations: improvement company strategies, methodologies, activities, importing models and good practices from others, improvement quality education services provided allows them to respond more adequately to the needs of the target group, cooperation between different kind of organizations , organizational ability to permanently train employees - target group (children, families): a quality preschool, knowledge of families about existing services and of their rights, to stimulate their, less probability of early leaving of education and/or training, active engagement in the development of literacy competences and related policies -territorial level: increased knowledge on the issues, strengthened networking: partners, stakeholders, public decision-making bodies, stimulate pro-activity of public admin.. In addition of benefits indicated, partnership is aiming to use project results to develop a more effective method in preforming literacy competence topic provided to educators, in a future project.
READ contributes to these EU goals by modernizing and improving ECEC’ quality and key competences, teachers’ professional development, by international cooperation and exchange of good practices, spreading models, methodologies and tools to foster literacy competences in preschool age, strengthening strategies for continuity between preschool and school, increasing EU networking and cooperation between ECEC provider, between public and private bodies and encouraging the dialogue between different actors and institutions involved in ECEC. Thanks to trainings, visits, exchange of good practices, professional discussion, local networking, Final Publication, Literacy Survey and dissemination, READ contributed to: - improvement of quality of educational - increase knowledge to develop metalingual skills as the basics for learning to read and technic of reading (grapheme-phoneme correspondence, and reading syllables) - set up transferable good practices to support multicultural and inclusive education - increased KH on fighting ESL by increasing literacy competences - raised awareness and encourage - lobbying action - bulging of an effective international cooperation network - birth of new initiatives
According to the EU Commission, fostering of literacy competences plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and reducing disparities. By 2020 EU countries aimed to reducing the average share of ESL to less than 10%; but in 2018, 15-year-olds with low basic skills still stood at 22.9 % in mathematics, 22.5 % in reading, 22.3 % in science. In 2018, the Commission launched measures to improve EU citizens' key competences, by even providing quality education, supporting educational staff, promoting a variety of learning approaches. It aims the establishment a European education area by 2025. READ contributed to these goals by modernizing and improving ECEC’ quality and key competences, teachers’ professional development, by international cooperation and exchange of good practices, spreading models, methodologies and tools to foster literacy competences in preschool age, strengthening strategies for continuity between preschool and school, increasing EU networking and cooperation between ECEC provider, between public and private bodies and encouraging the dialogue between different actors and institutions involved in ECEC.