Project
The project aimed to support and strengthen the Early Years Educators (EYE) professional knowledge and their awareness of the opportunities an international perspective has on teaching and education in the early years. EYE from England, Norway, Spain, and Sweden visited each other’s preschools, explored pedagogical strategies and teacher’s role in job shadowing. Collegial reflections in focus group interviews and written manuals deepen reflective thinking and knowledge, widen experiences, and share key ideas. The project highlighted ethos and values concerning children’s perspective in teaching.
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.