In this Erasmus+Partnership, 3 kindergartens from a small island south of Iceland (4300 inhabitants) and 3 kindergartens from major German cities want to exchange their respective expertise. Despite the very different framework conditions all 6 have the same goal: to make sustainability & inclusion a matter of course. In terms of content, the 6 kindergartens will exchange views on the topics of languages, mathematics, nature education and participation. In the first project year this will be done by passing on each partner's own best practice and in the second project year, building on this knowledge transfer, two modules on key competences in nature will be developed together. In this partnership, sustainability is the "framework" that holds everything together. During the hospitations in the 1st project year, each nursery transfers its previously used methods to the context of "good learning in the classroom nature for all children" (e.g. stacking stones instead of plastic cups) and reflects this with the guests. Inclusion is the cross-cutting theme that must always be taken into account in the projects, as the 6 kindergartens together have about 200 children of the following categories - special needs/disabilities - Children of foreigners/migrants/refugees - low socio-economic income. 1ST PROJECT YEAR During 6 mobilities, 4 kindergartens each will exchange information on 2 main topics. By sitting in on classes the visitors can experience the expertise of the hosting Kindergarten live and are thus encouraged to imitate it at home. The partners have identified 4 main topics as an intersection, which they can discuss "at eye level" while each using different methods: Nature education - in woods - by the sea - Growing herbs in the garden - Waste collection - Playing with natural materials Participation - open groups - learn through play - Gender segregation - Work with parents/families Mathematics (STEM) - Method "Same material in large quantities" - Country of numbers Methodology - Pattern and shape methodology - Math game Languages - Bilingual education - Method " Listening Learning Reading " The collection of information material via Twinspace from the start of the project, the continuous exchange of information via e-Twinning and the on-site visits ensure that all educators will have the same level of knowledge about all methods at the end of the year. This transfer of knowledge directly benefits the 72 travelling professionals, but later also their colleagues who stayed at home and the children in their kindergartens. A total of 147 educators and 578 children and their families benefit. 2ND YEAR OF PROJECT From October 2021 - June 2022, 2 new modules will be jointly developed on the first year's basis: A group of 3 partners will work out a MINT module in the form of a "collection of ideas" of various playful methods for successfully teaching mathematics outdoors. The other group of 3 partners will work with the children to create a travelling exhibition on the topic of sustainability by creatively combining things found during nature walks and rubbish collection activities with many speaking opportunities. For later reproduction, the important methodical steps will be compiled in the form of worksheets. At the beginning and end of the 2 modules there will be mobilities for a total of 36 teachers; in between, the educators will work together via Twinspace and with their children. In March 2022, all participants who were involved in the project will be asked to specifically evaluate the course and success of the project using jointly developed questionnaires (see Appendix 3). The results will then be evaluated both individually and jointly. The aim of this evaluation process of educators*, children and families is on the one hand to measure the success and impact of the Erasmus+Partnership. On the other hand, the developed modules are to be improved through feedback before publication. As a highlight, the Lead Partner will travel with 15 inclusion-children to a closing ceremony with all 3 Icelandic day care centres. The aim of this partnership is to create two concrete results that can be used not only by the 6 project partners and their 215 associated organisations but also by many other institutions in the future. The partnership as well as the 2 modules will be promoted through various dissemination activities on local, regional, national and EU level as well as online and print media and e-twinning by all partners. Thus, the development of key competences (especially multilingualism and mathematics) of pedagogues and children alike will be promoted as widely as possible. And if this works with such diverse partners as here, then future replication should be possible everywhere in Europe!
During our Erasmus+ project, the cooperation partners exchanged professional ideas, shared their expertise and learned from each other in a special way. The project was an adventure for all participating cooperation partners, combining professional development, team building, international networking. Taking into account the different framework conditions set by the educational systems of both countries, we pursued the common goal of focusing on the topics of sustainability & inclusion from the very beginning. We have exchanged ideas in the first project phase on the areas of language education, nature education, participation, animal-assisted education and the STEM education area. In the 2nd project year, we developed 2 modules on key competencies in nature. In summary, the theme of sustainability was the "framework" of our joint project. We methodically transferred the results of our exchange in the 1st project phase to the practical modules we developed in the 2nd project phase (e.g., stacking stones instead of plastic cups) We were able to consider the cross-sectional topic of inclusion in a special way during the two project phases. In the 1st project phase, all 6 kindergartens intensively exchanged ideas on the topics of children with special needs/disabilities and discovered that the support provided by the Icelandic and German education systems is organized differently. Unlike in Germany, for example, therapeutic services in Iceland are delegated to the kindergartens. From the beginning of the project, we collected information about Twinspace and ensured that all participating educators had the same level of knowledge through continuous exchange via e-twinning. This knowledge transfer was of particular benefit to the traveling professionals. Through the on-site observations, the visitors were able to experience the expertise of the host centers live and were thus encouraged to imitate it "at home" later on. The teachers were able to identify 4 main topics as an intersection, each with differently used methods, and to exchange ideas "at eye level". Nature education - in forests/at the sea - Growing herbs in the garden - collecting garbage - Playing with nature materials Participation - open groups - gender separation - work with parents/families MINT (mathematics) - Method "Same material in large quantities - Method "Land of Numbers" "Pattern and Shape Language education - Bilingual education - Language support programs of both countries In the second part of our project, the partners developed 2 modules as planned. Due to the withdrawal of the Munich kindergarten, we reorganized the distribution of tasks and developed a MINT module in the form of a "collection of ideas" with two partner groups, in which various methods for mathematical education in nature were developed. The other group developed ideas for a traveling exhibition on the topic of sustainability, in which exhibits found during nature hikes and trash collection campaigns were creatively combined. We published the important methodological steps from the collection of ideas digitally and thus created a portal for families that encourages imitation. All participating educators were asked to evaluate the success of the project. The aim of this evaluation process was to measure the success and impact of the Erasmus+ partnership. At this point it can be emphasized that all educators stated that they had learned a lot of "transferable" aspects of early childhood education from their European neighbours. They exchanged best practices, incorporated the results into their own work and actively used the jointly developed collection of ideas "Mathematics in Nature" and the ideas of the traveling exhibition. The number of visitors to the kindergartens' homepages shows how sustainably the digitally presented modules are used. With the digital publication of the collection of ideas "Mathematics in Nature" on the FRÖBEL homepage, children from both nations can use the ideas developed and discover mathematics in nature. In addition, the traveling exhibition on the topic of sustainable education was made public for surrounding kindergartens both during the project phase and will also be usable after the end of the project. In conclusion, it can be said that many forms of "dissemination" of our project were used. Our partnership was not only publicized through digital media (Facebook, Instagram, homepage publications) but also in a German professional journal for early childhood education. We thus used a wide variety of dissemination activities at local, regional, statewide and EU level.