Diversity+ looks to develop governance, benchmarking, recognition and professionalisation tools for Early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals in order to understand and improve their current approach to Diversity inclusion. ECEC – the phase before primary education – is increasingly acknowledged as providing the foundations for lifelong learning and development. The European Pillar of Social Rights declares that 'children have the right to affordable early childhood education and care of good quality'. Participation in high quality ECEC is proven to be especially advantageous for children from disadvantaged and/or marginalised groups. Diversity+ project moves from the Commission Recommendation on Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage and disengagement, with its overall mission to reduce disparities in accessing and engaging with ECEC education, following the Barcelona target for specific measures required to create greater access for children in a disadvantaged situation. ECEC facilities, approaches and services have not always been designed to meet the pluralistic needs of all children. This can be seen in the fact that minority disadvantaged groups remain underrepresented in ECEC. Similarly, although examples of training to help ECEC organisations address these issues exist across Europe, this training normally takes a ‘bottom up’ approach focussing on one marginalised group. The problem with this approach is that it leaves ECEC professionals unsure as to how to develop services which are inclusive for the full range of marginalisation (migrant or minority groups (for example Roma) and refugee children, children with special needs including disabilities, children in alternative care and street children, children of imprisoned parents, as well as children within households at particular risk of poverty and social exclusion, such as single-parent or large households). Consequently, Diversity+ looks to develop a complementary ‘top down’ approach which allows ECEC organisations to fully understand how different Diversity identities fit into their services, and so develop approaches which are fully inclusive to all. This will be achieved by calibrating the EU Quality Framework for ECEC in light of inclusiveness of provision. Diversity+ resources will create a structured and supported approach to quality inclusive service design. Partners will first develop a Diversity+ Charter which will set out the minimum requirements an ECEC organisation needs to conform to in order to consider its provisions Diversity positive. This will be achieved through desk and field research into current best practices and emergent trends across Europe. The Charter will then be used as the basis for an interactive digital Assessment tool which ECEC practitioners will be able to use to assess their current services and then track their improvement. This will be achieved through incentivised guidance and support which will highlight how ECEC organisations can evidence and improve provisions. With sustainability and long-term impact in mind, the partners will produce the EQF profile and training resources for the development of a Diversity Ambassador role. The Interactive Scenario serious game will help ECEC practitionners remove negative attitudes, bias and prejudices among kids (formed from about the age of 3), fostering empathy, compassion and awareness in relation to equality and diversity. The project will demonstrate the value for ECEC organisations in dedicating permanent time and resource to inclusivity issues, something which will also help the project’s other tools continue to be used after Diversity+ itself comes to an end. Throughout these activities the project will look to engage with ECEC leaders, educators and assistants, HR managers, equality and diversity leads etc. from across Europe. This will be complemented by the involvement of Diversity advocacy groups and policy makers. Therefore, the project will produce highly transferable resources which will be able to be used in a variety of contexts across the continent. This will help Diversity+ achieve a wide impact on the governance structures found across ECEC institutions, helping these organisations to become more welcoming and inclusive for a range of Diversity identities. This will see an improvement in the numbers of children from these groups engaging with ECEC services, helping to address the current underrepresentation of minority groups. As a result, more people from within these groups will develop key social skills, empathy, compassion, mutual respect and awareness in relation to equality and rights, something which will ultimately improve social inclusion long-term across the countries involved.
In the short term, Diversity+ sought to empower ECEC professionals by providing interactive resources and guidance to better understand how to improve governance structures and institutional culture on diversity inclusion. We aimed to strengthen partner networks, encouraging collaboration and engagement in dissemination. Our project aimed to offer new research into the current challenges, strengths and weaknesses related to diversity inclusion in European ECEC provisions. We aspired to encourage increased debate around inclusiveness in ECEC, including breakdown of diversity stereotypes and biases among preschoolers, fostering empathy, compassion and awareness of equality and diversity. In the medium term, the goal was to improve ECEC staff knowledge of social inclusion by setting diversity inclusion standards and fostering a common approach. We aimed to bridge the gap between underrepresented diversity groups, share best practices and introduce relevant organizational procedures. In the long term, our project aimed to provide an innovative model for inclusive ECEC governance, promoting equality and diversity while eliminating bias. We sought to proactively nurture empathy and tolerance through social-emotional learning.
The Diversity+ consortium addressed the pressing needs in Early Childhood Education and Care stemming from the evolving educational landscape and societal demands for diversity and inclusion from an early age. Principles guiding the project include: equality, social inclusion, respect for diversity and eliminating biases and stereotypes in ECEC staff professionalisation. The primary target group was ECEC leaders and HR managers, guiding them in making structural and attitudinal changes for inclusive ECEC provision through benchmarking and governance tools. The secondary target group was ECEC educators and assistants who required professional development to address early development of intolerance and prejudices in children. Our project aimed to equip them all with the skills and knowledge to foster diversity and equality, particularly concerning disabilities, gender and ethnic minorities, and create inclusive frameworks among children themselves. Transnational collaboration was essential: by sharing best practices and creating universal tools and easy-to-use resources, our project aimed to improve ECEC quality and inclusiveness across the EU, fostering diversity, inclusion and social competences in early childhood development.