The settling-in period (adaptation phase) is one of the most important phase in the preschool education (0/6 years), and has an important impact on the quality of the preschool life of the children, and even on the future school life. It’s a big step not only for the children but also for their parents and family, childhood services are useful both for the children and the development of their personality, and for the parents and the improvement of their parental skills. It’s important for all families, but especially for the most vulnerable ones, such as migrants, belonging ethnic minorities as Roma, with an economic or cultural poverty situation, risk of social exclusion etc. The aim of FIRST STEPS project is to identify and share European good practices on this important adaptation phase in pre-schools; to analyze and compare the important activity of socio-behavioral adaptation of the child in childcare services; collect data about the local/regional/national context of partner countries; give the opportunity to the ECEC professional to discuss on project topic, share their experiences, to expand professional knowledge and skills. To achieve these goals will be used several methodologies, such as presentations; professional discussion; direct testimony of parents, teachers and other subjects involved in the first adaptation period; workshop; job shadowing; observation and visit to the preschools. One innovative methodology is the realization of a VIDEO for “STREAMIMG JOB SHADOWING and OBSERVATION”: each partner will realize, during the adaptation period, share and discussed it during the 5 training. FIRST STEPS project is part of the overall Early Childhood Education and Care Research and Quality Development activity, developed at European level by Galileo and its partners, engaged in various previous and actual European projects. In the project are involved 6 organizations from 5 EU countries: - Montessori IQ Corner (Bosnia&Herzegovina), private pre-school institution - ARCA Cooperativa Sociale (Tuscany, Italy), social enterprise that manages several early childhood services - GEDI (Catalonia, Spain), that manages 6 municipal-owned ECEC centers - Jozsefvarosi Egyesitett Bolcsodek (Hungary), that is managing the nurseries of the VIII district of Budapest - Preschool Põngerjas (Estonia), educational institution on the Russian boarder providing a bilingual education. - Galileo Progetti (Hungary), project coordinator, non-profit enterprise promoting social inclusion policies, education quality development, social economy and social field sector in general and European Networking and cooperation. In addition to presenting the methodologies adopted in the settling-in period, each organization shares with partners its experiences with specific target groups: - Roma ethnic minority in Hungary - Inclusive education of children with disabilities in Italy - Migrants background in Spain - Bilingualism and boarder specificities in Estonia - Montessori method in Bosnia&Herzegovina In order to achieve these objectives, during the FIRST STEPS Project will be implemented 2 Transnational Project Meeting and Short-term Joint Staff Training (1 in each country), involving around 100 international participants, mostly educators, teachers and managers of Early Childhood Education and Care services, and local stakeholders, decision makers, municipalities, higher education institutions, in addition to the staff of the host organization. Through the mobility events and the dissemination activities, the project will reach about 800 direct and indirect beneficiaries. As final results of the project, the training materials and outputs will be summarized in a Final Collection, in English, an interactive virtual document freely available and shared with stakeholders and all interested people.
The main objective of the project is to support the preschool educational staff in developing their KH and competences, focusing on the important education phase of adaptation. Providing opportunities for developing the skills of ECEC professionals is a key pillar to attract, maintain and retain a high-quality ECEC workforce, to have quality preschool education. The project contributes to the acquirement and development of knowledge and skills of the partners' staff, increasing their professional competence and thus their ability to effectively promote children’s learning, development and well-being, focusing on experienced staff' continuous professional development. The project allowed it thanks to the international informal learning offered by 5 LTTAs, research, exchange of good practices, trough professional collaborative activities and knowledge sharing among peers. It created conditions for combining informal learning opportunities and skills development, as keeping staff motivated and engaged. The aim of the partnership is to identify and share the good practices of the European partners on the adaptation phase in pre-school services in different countries with even a focus on specific target group as Roma ethnic minority, disabilities, migrants, bilingualism, Montessori method.
In 2019, the Council of the European Union issued a recommendation on the delivery of high-quality ECEC systems, highlighting its importance for reducing poverty, promoting social inclusion, and fostering creativity and innovation. Early childhood education and care has been identified as a priority area for cooperation under the European Education Area initiative for the period 2021-2030. Adaptation period is a very important stage in the children socialization and later socio-emotional skills development, this early experience continues to affect their later development. It is also important for parents. Adaptation is one of the most significant changes a child experiences: separation, new environment, daily rhythm change, new microbiological environment and dietary habits… The nursery and educational staff are the first stage where the child is first socialized into an institution, important moment in parent and child life, especially in cases of vulnerability as migrant background, disability, poverty, lack of parenting skills. Objective is to analyze and compare the important activity of socio-behavioral adaptation of the child in childcare services and how manage the subsequent transitions (0/3 to 3/6, 3/6 to school). These topic are very important: -Regulations, ECEC services and maternity leave are different in EU, they should be harmonized to guarantee to all EU citizens equal chances -ECEC quality services are important for the inclusion of children belonging vulnerable groups, often they are first (and unique) occasion to be in contact with local institutions -Pre-schools recognize earlier child development issues and proposes early intervention -Quality adaptation in ECEC prevents ESL, giving initial skills to children and families for an healthy and productive approach to educational system.