EECERA, PORTO, 30. Aug. 2012

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 1

OUTSPRINGJohn Bennett, EECERA 2008

Six challenges for the coming years, among them:1. To give more attention to 0-3 years old children, and to

remove the split between childcare and early childhood education

2. To reduce child poverty and discrimination against children from low income and diverse families

3. To provide more active support to families, and in particular to women

4. Preserve the traditions of kindergarten pedagogy

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Presenters

1. Monika Röthle and Elisabeth Ianke Mørkeseth, associate professors. University of Stavanger, Norway

2. Maria João Cardona , coordinating teacher (Dr.) and Martha Uva, auxiliar teacher. Escola Superior de Educacão de Santarém/CIEC- Universidade do Minho, PORTUGAL

• Helen Sutherland and Jan Styman, senior lecturers in early years . Kingston University, London, ENGLAND

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The TODDLER Project

-a contribution to improve teacher training for children under 3 in

Europe

Elisabeth Ianke Mørkeseth and Monika Röthle

EECERA 20124

A range of socioeconomic factors can have a significant negative impact on children's psychological development and chances of success in school. These includes: • poverty• belonging to disadvantaged social classes• functional illiteracy and low level of education

attainment of parents• migrant families (Eurydice 2009, p.11).

Starting Point 1

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Starting Point 2Early stimulation and learning is an important basis for children's opportunities in life:•“It is both more efficient and more equitable to invest in education very early: correcting failure later on is not merely inequitable, but highly inefficient in comparison. This is not only because pre-primary education facilitates later learning, but also because a substantial body of evidence shows that, especially for disadvantage children, it can produce large socio-economic returns”. (Jàn Figel, EU-Commissioner. Eurydice 2009, p. 3).

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Education of professionals: a key factor

The good training, good pay, good working conditions of

staff and the support they are given are key factors forensuring quality in ECEC provision. (ECEC- Key lessons from research for policy makers 2009,www.nesse.fr)

Well-educated, well-trained professionals are the keyfactor in providing high quality ECEC with the most favourable cognitive and social outcomes for children.(OECD, 2006, Starting Strong II)

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Key explanatory factors for high quality ECEC are related to “staff with higher qualifications, staff with leadership skills and long-serving staff; trained staff working alongside and supporting less qualified, staff with a good understanding of child development and learning” (Siraj-Blatchford, 2010)

High proportions of staff with low level education are related to poorer outcomes in the socio-emotional domain.

Lower-qualified staff can be positively influenced by working alongside highly trained staff (Sammons, 2010)

The EPPE- Studies

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High level of staff qualification = better pedagogical practice

Mixed findings: Teacher quality is a very complex issue.No relation between the level of staff qualification and classroom quality or learning outcomes. (Early et al., 2007).

Nevertheless, most research indicates that higher level of education associates with higher quality of ECEC.

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Methods - Ethical considerationsQualitative methods •Pictures, case studies, video- and voice-recording, document analysis, questionnairesQuantitative methods •observation sheets, statistics from partner countriesComparative analyses

The individual countries own legislations are used as basis for ethical considerations in the project.

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State of the art: Initial training for working with children under 2,5

Secondary school degree

2 years advanced vocational training

Bachelor degree Masters degree Early Years

DE DE (educator) DE (not required) DE (not required)

DK (assistant) DK (pedagogue: 0-adult)

BE – fr, BE-fl(Nursery nurse/ childcare worker)

BE-fr (Psychomotricity teacher)BE-fl «Pedagogical Coach»not required

UK (play group assistant) UK UK (not required)

NO (assistant) Norway (Kindergarten teacher: 0-5)

NO (not required)

ES ES ES (preschool teacher 0-5)

PT EC-teacher 4 years

RO

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A variety of challenges

• Level of education: BA ECEC 0-5 does not exist• BA ECEC 0-5 exists, but is not required • Target group of BA too wide: enough time for 0-3?• BA for age 0-5: enough priority, knowledge 0-3?• BA “pedagogical coach 0-3”: a new professional role• No specialisation courses BA/MA ECEC 0-3 • Working for care sector or education/edu&care• Lower status/salary of teachers ECEC 0-3 than 3-5 • Lack of educated personnel in toddler E&C

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Areas of improvement in teacher training (1)

- Teacher education, also for working with under 3, at a bachelor level with opportunities for masters and PhD-programs

- Raise the interest among teacher educators to do research within the field of toddlers` education and care

- Raise the interest among students to study subjects regarding toddlers, and to work with children this age as teachers

- Strengthening the teaching practice so most students can get experience with toddles during their training

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Areas of improvement in teacher training (2)

- Build the programs on the best in the traditions of kindergarten pedagogy; respect for the child`s natural learning strategies along with strong theoretical foundation, much classroom experience, practitioners research and training in working with parents, local schools and communities (Bennett, EECERA 2008).

- In-service training, continuous education

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The project outcome:Course development

• A one week European in-service training course for staff working with toddlers (Comenius – Grundtvig Training Database)

• A course module (5ECTS) to be used in initial teacher training in the 9 universities involved in TODDLER

• Forthcoming: A two weeks European course for student teachers and teacher trainers (Comenius Intensive Programme)

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References:Bennett, J. (2008) Public Policy and Early Childhood Systems in Europe. Keynote 18.th EECERA

Annual Conference, Stavanger, Norway 3.-6. 9. 2008.Early, D. et al (2007), Teachers’ Education, Classroom Quality, and Young Children’s Academic

Skills: Results from Seven Studies of Preschool Programs, Child Development, Vol 78, No 2, pp 558-580.

European Commission/NESSE (2009), Early Childhood Education and Care: Key Lessons from Research for Policy Makers. Report submitted to the European Commission by the NESSE network of experts.

Eurydice Report (2009), Tackling Social and Cultural Inequalities through Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. Brussels.

OECD (2006), Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing.OECD (2012), Starting Strong III: A quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD

Publishing.Sammons, P. (2010) The EPPE Research Design: an Educational Effectiveness Focus ), in: Sylva et

al. (eds), Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project, Routledge, London/New York.

Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010), in: Sylva et al (eds), Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project, Routledge, London/New York.

www.toddlerineurope.eu