This project will support Early Years Educators (EYE) professional development, collaboration and exchange of knowledge and key ideas, linking to educational system, curriculum, legisation, Early Childhood Educatiion and Care (ECEC), good provision and practice. Through facilitating Early Years Educators mobility Higher Educator Institutes (HEIs) support high quality and innovative teaching, learning assessments and methods. Our need analysis show that there is a lack of opportunities and working conditions for Early Years Educators to develop their knowledge and experiences within early years. There are challenges to implement curriculum and educational changes in Pre-schools (PS). The project aims to support Early Years Educators in their professional development through of intellectual output materials, manuals and information to develop their knowledge and understanding of the different educational systems, values and ethos that pre-schools hold. Through the use of mobility visits, reflection and job shadowing compare and contrast international perspectives of ECEC provision and practice to improve on the quality of their own provision and practice. The project will help Early Years Educators with their professional development how they can develop knowledge and skills, finding key ideas, tools and methods in teaching. The Early Years Educators will develop their pedagogical awareness and learn from each pre-school from their collaboartive reflections and didactical considerations in relation to Children´s perspectives. The materials from Intellectual output IO1 and Intellectual output IO2 provide a context for any Early Years Eduactor to use and to understand the different educational provision and is an integral part in developing Early Years Educators learning from an international context providing a range of example (IO2) to draw upon when reflecting upon their own provision. The mobility visits provide opportunities that EYE would otherwise not have in experiencing internationalisation and developing an understanding of how other countries work within the context of early years. This provides for Early Years Eductors professional developent with opportunities for sharing ideas, developing knowledge and practice from international perspectives. The new contexts, different normative aspects from each country, cascades of key ideas, teaching strategies and aspects of reflection will promote their professional knowledge and understanding which they can then disseminate to their peers and colleagues. The job shadowing aspect provides an underpinning framework for Early Years Educators to also understand the value of the experiences being provided during the mobility visit and the collaboration in an international perspective. All the Intellectual outputs, Transnational Meetings, Mobility Vistis using Share Point and Website together with Multiplier Events will provide innovative and unique opportunities to develop their own reflection skills, awareness and improve the quality of practice. The project will also support Higher Education Institutes for better understanding of Early Years Edaucators reflections and thinking and how to collaborate with Early Years educators which can support to train students within the pre-schools and how to develop to as professional Early Years Educators. The development of reflective skills (Intellectual output, IO3) provides Early Years Educators with the knowledge and skills of how to be reflective and get the most out of mobility visits and the learning opportunities through the use of reflection to develop a deeper level of thinking when reflecting upon what they see and their own practice. The Project will provide for sustainability for other Early Years Educators professionals using material on the website and from dissemination at multiplier events for their own development. All material will be avaible on the website for use, part of the material such as handbook and focus group result will be spread in to the teaching education for future development. The Early Years Educatorsexperince in the new different contexts and their reflection upon different pedagogical approaches, different teaching methods and strategies will strengthen their development as Early Years Educators. The project provide a new opportunities for the EYEs to explore international perspectives and collaboration along the project and for many years to come. The research aspect of the project supports HEIs in understanding how best to support EYEs and students within their learning and development as well as forming part of the quality assurance of the project.
The objectives of the projects concern the Early Years Educators (EYE) professional knowledge and their awareness of the opportunities international perspective has on teaching and education in the early years. Implementation was to give EYE experiences to develop knowledge about different educational/school system. The impact the school system have on the EYE profession. The collaboration with international colleagues inspire based on creation on new thoughts that support the professional development. The project will highlight awareness and understanding of key ideas in EYEs own preschools, and how to present and describe a preschool to other colleagues. With the implementation of the project opportunities arise for EYE to develop their theoretical, practical understanding, skills of reflection, to deepen their reflective thinking and professional development/practice to establish an awareness of how reflection can be used to support and improve professional practice. The implementation also to create possibilities to highlight the teacher’s role and an awareness of the value and purpose of reflection in relation to teaching in ECE and its importance for pedagogical strategies in teaching.
Early Years Educators (EYE) today have few opportunities to get international experiences and in this project the international perspective has been highlighted. Visiting preschools and colleagues in other countries can gain EYE´s professional development, enrich their knowledge and pedagogical approaches. The lack of international possibilities for EYE showed a need of: -developing an understanding of other preschool context, different curriculum and how other countries work within the context of early years. -provide method, create a framework for developing deeper reflection in their profession with colleagues from different countries -learn, reflect, and develop from other leadership, pedagogical approaches, ethos, values, and normative perspectives -learn how EYE work with educating the children, routines, different activities, how they approach to children, children´s perspectives, what values they show -learn from others teaching and learning strategies and aspects of reflection that will promote their professional development -learn, reflect and sharing ideas from other environments indoor and outdoor -develop framework for how you describe and present your own preschool and key ideas.