Knowledge Hub

COVID-19 pandemic is putting all countries in Europe under a hard test now: the ‘early childhood’ test, or in other words, the ‘long-term, visionary investment in the youngest generation’ test. While across the European Union, Member States are preparing and submitting their National Plans for Recovery and Resilience (NPRR), we are learning about different advocacy pathways and strategies undertaken by ISSA Members in their efforts to convince country politicians that there is no better way to address inequalities, the vicious circle of poverty and exclusion, unless we start from the very beginning: the early years. Recently, we have learned about the successful advocacy work carried out by our Member in Italy, the Centre for Child Health and Development (Centro per la salute del bambino) and their contribution to an important achievement: the Italian National Plan for Recovery and Resilience includes financial investment in early childhood services. Today we are talking to Director, Centre for Child Health and Development Giorgio Tamburlini about this achievement. 

Giorgio, what is the history of and what was the main driver for this advocacy effort focused on bringing more public attention to and investment in early childhood?

Somewhere between May and June 2019 a small group of seven or eight people – mostly academics – met at the Department of Sociology of the University of Milan. The aim of the meeting was to start an alliance to advocate for children and families. I remember that we said we should advocate for children and for their families, but with a vision that does not put this investment in a possible contradiction with other investments. We all agreed that families need to be supported as well, not only through day care services. The home environment is extremely important, especially in the first three years of a child’s life, and we need to support families too, and not just those families that have very serious problems, but all the families.

We wanted to have a proposal that could fit well into a broader view of the country development. There were many disciplines represented in the core group – mostly from political science, sociology, education, statistics, demographics. I was the only one from the health sector at that time. From there we moved to establish an advocacy network, Alleanza per l’Infanzia (Alliance for Childhood), and writing a sort of Manifesto.

We said that the country had an extreme need to invest more in children and their families for a number of reasons – it’s an issue of rights, an issue of social and economic development, an issue of demographics and so on. We sent this Manifesto to a variety of entities. We discussed about involving the main trade unions and we agreed that they should be on board, as they represent an important constituency. We also addressed the main NGOs, from Save the Children to many others that may not be international, but nationally very well-known and some professional bodies representing educators, paediatricians, psychologists. We immediately gathered quite a few supporters around the Manifesto, and, by the end of October 2019, we gathered more than 12 organizational adhesions, including the main trade unions, which was quite important as they are representing millions of people.

We then had two meetings in Rome where we decided to develop a more elaborated version of the Manifesto and focus on three main directions. One direction regarded the cash transfers to families – the fiscal policy etc. In Italy, the situation of cash transfer was very fragmented. We asked for one comprehensive measure for all families with children up to 18 or 21 years. The second strategic direction was regarding the day care services for children aged from birth to 6, asking for increased access and affordability. The third direction was about the parental leave - for mothers and fathers, and particularly for the fathers because it was so marginal. We devoted specific seminars to the three thematic drivers so that gradually we started to define an articulated analysis and proposal for each of the three directions. Gradually, other partners joined us and now there are almost 30 of them.

We know that in Italy, back in 2015 an important decree which provided a legal framework for vertical integration in the early childhood education and care system for children from birth to 6 years of age passed. A great step for many early childhood systems. How does this advocacy effort build on an already important policy change?

Well, it is very important, because the decree provided the legal framework, but then you need to put money and the know-how to implement the policies, and that has not happened evenly across the country. For example, the access to day care for children aged under 3 in Italy, on average, is 25%. This is not acceptable; the number should be higher. There are enormous regional disparities between the Center, North and South, with the South being much more disadvantaged.

This is the important achievement that I see with the NPRR. It indicates the financial resources that are to be allocated to make the policy work across the country. Secondly, the integration between birth to 3 and 3 to 6 services has to be built on models and mechanisms. In the 50 pages report which we submitted in collaboration with another network focusing on Education to the Parliament, there are also some detailed suggestions about who should lead the process, what should be the role of the municipalities or the regions and what kind of personnel they should hire, what should be their qualification, what is the typology of their contracts and so on. All these issues are absolutely crucial. One of the last steps was to indicate very clearly that this vertical integration within the education system should also have a component of horizontal integration with the social and health sectors. This is one of the Centre for Child Health and Development’s specific area of interest. We mainly deal with the health sector and we are increasingly working with the education, the social and the cultural (libraries, museums) sectors.

From the outside the work of the Alliance appears to be a great achievement. Do you also see it as an achievement talking into consideration all the work done?

The first achievement is the fact that we have created the Alliance for Childhood itself, that it is there. The second achievement is the fact that through this Alliance we started to work quite closely with parliamentarians. In mid-2020, an interparty group devoted to infancy was formed between the main parties representing the majority from the past government. We started having quite frequent meetings between parliamentarians and the members of the Alliance, thus strong supporters inside the Parliament.

Was this interparty group created because of the lobby that the alliance has made or was there an intrinsic motivation from the politicians’ side to do it?

I think it was both, and maybe more the second. There are two parliamentarians who have been particularly active: one is a leader of the Paediatrician Association, the other one a former Save the Children officer, so they both have a whole professional history focusing on childhood behind them. We still are having meetings together. At the end, based on our work they produced a document that was ultimately presented in a Parliament on April 14^th and it passed. The final text reflected all the key points that were made in our well documented proposal. The Parliamentary passed motion led to having in the NPRR provisions regarding early childhood education services with an allocated budget of 4.6 billion euros, and other substantial investments for social cohesion programmes and services, particularly for vulnerable families and disadvantaged areas. The NPRR was approved by the Italian Parliament on April 28 and sent to the European Commission.

Please tell us more about the important steps that you undertook from having a Manifesto to developing a well-documented report ‘Investing in early childhood’ that led to a Parliamentary motion. What were the discussions and how this worked out in the Alliance itself? Because I suppose that it was kind of a joint work that was put together, right?

Yes, absolutely. I should mention a few things. First, that the initial group included at least three or four people that are very well-known and have a high professional reputation. Besides, since the beginning, the idea was to produce something very solid: a good articulated documented with very precise proposals. The document was prepared by dividing us in working groups. I was for example in the working group that was looking at the services for early childhood and parents. Each working group had a wide participation from different actors, including the technical secretariats of the trade unions that were taking care of the of the aspects regarding the personnel, which was very important. I think that each section had about 20 to 25 different people representing different constituencies working on it.

Was the Alliance created only for persuading Government to allocate funds in the early childhood and to provide guidance on spending to state actors? Or was the Alliance going to be also a watchdog who observes and monitors how the policy will be implemented based on the funds allocated?

I don't think we are capable of monitoring every step in the way, it would require a lot more human resources than we have. The watchdog for the time being is on the political process. However, equally important is that the report we produced is a powerful source of inspiration for the local administrators and local actors, even beyond the legislation and any political process. There are clear directions there regarding the know-how. For example, a municipality may decide that they would like to do something in a specific direction with the resources they have and with the partners they found the locally. They could get enough insight regarding a framework for action from our report.

I could say that several parts of the documents could be applicable even without major additional resources because it talks about integration and things that you can do even with very little money. Certainly, we need a robust injection of money, particularly for expanding the day care offer. It’s an infrastructure issue, although the main cost is the personnel. It is an investment. You invest in young people, in female employment, in the South. Thus, all three requisites are met. But we have two concerns. The first is that the parties typically would like to put more money there where there is an immediate political gain, such as the cash transfer, and less where the gain takes more time. The second risk is the fact that investments in early childhood compete with other kinds of investment such as industry, technology, energy, communication, etc. which have very powerful lobbies behind.

Is the document that you developed public, can be accessed by local and regional actors? 

Yes, it is published on the websites of the different organisations in Italy (see www.csbonlus.org and www.allenazinfanzia.it), and it has been presented publicly in a series of webinars. It has an executive summary in English.

Would you say that you are optimistic about the future?

The approval of the NPRR with a section devoted to children and a specific budget allocation is something that we would have not expected just a year ago. I don't know whether in the near future we will really achieve what we would like to, or less, but we will know that over the next 3-4 years. It should be stressed that it is not only a matter of policy development and resource allocation. A lot will depend on the capacity of the Government, of the regional and municipal administrations to implement the NPRR.

What would be the indicator for saying that this is a big success?

Besides the success represented by having a specific section in the NPRR devoted to the importance of investing in children, the main success is that we have now resources particularly allocated for ECEC services, though they are less than what we asked for.

What would be the advice is that you would give to other ISSA Members who are embarking on advocacy?

Two main pillars: one is the strong civil society engagement and representation which should not be limited to the usual champions – the experts that usually speak. We managed to do this with a strong support from the trade unions and the big NGOs. The second, I would say, is the engagement of parliamentarians. You have to build a strong link with whoever you think is necessary for your case. I would personally suggest having the professional associations on your side. Usually, paediatricians are not very powerful, but some of them are usually well-known in the country. Local administrations (regional and municipal) have a big role too and they should be highly involved at the local level.

How do you think that your organisation has benefited from this effort?

Our organisation benefited because we got a better positioning on the national arena. This is due to two main things. One is our contribution to Alliance and to the parliamentarian work. Another one is because of what we are doing in the field. We are recognised as an organization that has the feet on the ground country-wide and therefore a relevant expertise when it comes to implementation.

Not a single kindergarten was open in the city of Trostianets that is in Sumy oblast in Ukraine in May of 2022. The community had suffered significant destruction of infrastructure, schools, kindergartens, and community residents' homes because of the war in Ukraine. Three kindergartens opened only at the beginning of June 2022 and one kindergarten in September 2022. Substantial funds were needed for their restoration. In collaboration with War Child Holland, ISSA supported the provision of furniture, toys, meals and stationery for children's activities in these kindergartens. However, these needs have not disappeared. It is still necessary to restore or build new houses, schools, and kindergartens. The war continues, and children’s safety remains a priority.

“Residents who were abroad or in western Ukraine are gradually returning to the community, creating a new need to attract more children to kindergarten,” says Olena Hloba, consultant of the Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation and project expert of Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. “Therefore, it is necessary to restore kindergartens or create working conditions in those kindergartens – repair group rooms, purchase furniture, bedding, dishes, washing machines, kitchen appliances, build/reconstruct bomb shelters, etc. At the same time, there is a need to overcome trauma and restore the emotional and psychosocial well-being of young children and families. We need to teach parents to help themselves and their children.”

Twenty-seven teachers in Trostianets have already received training in PFA. Among those trained are preschool educators, special needs teachers, and representatives of the education department. Educators gained practical skills in physical and breathing practices for self-regulation. They learned how to create a safe space in a group room, on the street, or in a bomb shelter; how to facilitate children's play, especially when children want to play war all the time; how to talk and initiate conversations with children; how to communicate with parents, how adults have changed and what to pay attention to during communication.

When Ukraine experienced major electricity cut-offs from October 2022 to January 2023, teachers started exchanging “ideas in the dark” – how to keep children busy when it is dark. Individual drawing kits were purchased, and children could draw with a small flashlight. Teachers also instructed parents on how to perform learning and healing activities with their children at home and how to play with them in the darkness.

“We can see that after receiving the training, preschool teachers became more confident in their actions. They are not afraid to make decisions, they know how to calm children and parents down,” continues Olena Hloba. “Children also became less anxious, and their parents became more aware of their needs and reactions, and started to consult with educators, which was not observed for many years. As to the training that we had, I can say that the materials such as the Training Guide created by ISSA, Amna and War Child Holland are well developed, and the trainers did a perfect job in adapting the materials to the needs of our ECD professionals and practitioners on the ground. Besides, the Peer Learning Exchange Sessions hosted by ISSA, during which teams of trainers coming from different countries shared their experiences about the adaptation and implementation of the training at the country level, were also very useful for us.”

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A partnership between ISSA, War Child Holland and Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation (amongst other ISSA Members) provided trainings on Psychological First Aid (PFA) to a 10 master trainers who gave subsequent trainings for teachers in Ukraine. These trainers are now providing subsequent training to ECD professionals and practitioners on the ground in a cascade model that aims to benefit thousands of young children, parents and caregivers all over the country.

In today's digital age, children are growing up surrounded by technology. Screens are everywhere, and they're here to stay. For parents, teachers, and caregivers, this can feel like riding a rollercoaster. How can we ensure that screen time is a fun yet positive experience for our kids? How can we turn digital play into something safe, beneficial, and responsible? This guide will help you navigate the digital landscape with confidence, making sure that screen time boosts learning and development while keeping things safe and balanced.

Digital play refers to any play activity that involves digital technology. This can include a wide range of activities, such as playing video games, using educational apps, watching videos, or interacting with digital toys. It's important to recognize that digital play is not inherently bad; it can offer numerous benefits when used appropriately.

Making Screen Time Beneficial

Not all screen time is created equal! Here’s how to make digital play both fun and beneficial:

Addressing Parental Concerns

We get it—parents worry about how screen time affects their kids’ health and development. Let’s tackle these concerns head-on with some simple tips:

Leveraging Digital Play for Learning

Digital play can be a goldmine for learning! Here’s how to make the most of digital tools for educational purposes:

A Healthy Balance of Screen Time with Physical Activity

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2019) also recommends that kids under two should have no screen time, and those aged two to five should have no more than one hour per day. The secret sauce to healthy screen use is balance. Mix screen time with plenty of physical activity and other kinds of play. Fun activities like reading, storytelling, puzzles, and games can provide rich experiences that help develop fine motor skills, cognitive abilities, language, and social-emotional skills.

Supporting Parents, Educators, and Caregivers

Supporting children in their digital play requires a collaborative effort between parents, educators, and caregivers. Here are some tips to help you work together effectively:

Special Considerations for Young Children

For the tiniest tots, screen time needs to be handled with extra care. Research shows that young children learn best through hands-on experiences and interactions with their caregivers. Here’s some advice for this age group:

Guidelines for Infants (0-18 months)

Guidelines for Toddlers (18-24 months)

Guidelines for Preschoolers (2-5 years)

To sum up: Informed choices help promote positive outcomes in digital play

By engaging with your kids, choosing high-quality content, setting clear boundaries, and modelling healthy habits, you can ensure that digital play enhances learning and development while keeping things safe and balanced.

References

Scott, F. L. (2021). Digital Technology and Play in Early Childhood. The School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Sheffield. Retrieved from https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/pdf/expert/technology-early-childhood-education/according-experts/digital-technology-and-play-early-childhood

UNICEF. (2022). Digital technology and play: Implications for child well-being. Retrieved from /mnt/data/UNICEF-RITEC-Digital-technology-play-child-wellbeing-2022.pdf.

UNICEF. (2024). Rights of the child and digital technology: Towards a comprehensive approach. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/media/8056/file/UNICEF-Innocenti-RITEC-P2-report-2024.pdf.pdf

UNICEF, International Step by Step Association. (2023). Heatly weight: physical activity and sedentary time. Module 20. Supporting Families for Nururing Care. Retrieved from: https://www.issa.nl/Module-20-healthy-weight-physical-activity-and-sedentary-time

World Health Organization (2019). To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/news/item/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more

In partnership with LEGO Foundation and UNICEF, ISSA is committed to protecting children's right to play. Together, we are supporting parents and caregivers to engage in Playful Parenting.

From February 2022, 8 million Ukrainian refugees were registered across Europe. The vast majority has arrived in Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. Forty percent of these refugees are children, who have witnessed distressing events and are experiencing anxiety and unhappiness that could develop into long-term mental health difficulties.

It is difficult to retrieve official statistics about Ukrainian refugees by age, but according to a report published by UNHCR in February 2023, an estimated 26% of Ukrainian refugees are between zero and 10 years old, with an equal distribution of boys and girls.

Integrating Ukrainian refugees into national systems is proving to be challenging for smaller European countries, such as Slovakia and Hungary, especially when it comes to ensuring that refugee children have access to education. According to the same UNHCR report, in Slovakia and Hungary, approximately 40% of Ukrainian refugee households with (pre)school-aged children have at least one child not registered for education in the hosting country. The reasons for not enrolling in education within the host country vary from preferring online education in Ukrainian (63%), to the lack of space in schools (15%), to language barriers (13%), to the belief that they will only stay in the hosting country for a very limited time (7%).

Providing safe, welcoming, multi-service spaces for these children and their caregivers is crucial to promote their psychosocial well-being and ensure their access to education, health, and protection services, as well as to increase their chances to integrate in their hosting countries.

Since July 2022, ICDI and the national coordinators of the TOY for Inclusion program in Slovakia, Škola dokorán, and in Hungary, Partner Hungary Foundation, have been providing support to young Ukrainian refugee children and caregivers through play and learning opportunities. All three organizations are long-standing ISSA Members. 

In Slovakia, thanks to UNICEF’s support, partners were able to open six new Play Hubs in 2022 and four more will open their doors in 2023 alongside a mobile Play Hub supported by EPIM.  

In Hungary, a mobile Play Hub will reach underserved communities starting in the Spring 2023 (also supported by EPIM), and 12 Play Hubs will be established in cooperation with War Child.

In 2023, ICDI will open the first Play Hub in Ukraine, in Kyiv, in cooperation with Labour and Health Social Initiatives – LHSI.

The TOY for Inclusion Play Hubs are community-based inclusive non formal educational spaces for young children and families. In the Play Hubs relationships between young children and families from all backgrounds are built through playing together, borrowing toys, connecting services and sharing information about childrearing, health, early learning and development.

The Play Hubs offer safe and welcoming spaces for internally displaced children and families, where they:

• socialize and make new friends,
• learn the local language,
• express emotions, and process traumatic experiences,
• get to know their new community,
• be introduced to education and other services,
• get specialized support in different areas through direct referral: education, health, housing, employment, etc.

In January 2023, ICDI published two new resources for practitioners working in formal and nonformal ECEC services who want to promote the psychosocial well-being and integration of young refugee children and their caregivers:

• the ‘Play for Inclusion’ Handbook, which provides important background theory on the effects of war, displacement and trauma on child development and well-being, the concept of community-based child-friendly spaces in emergencies and an easy-to-use selection of simple activities that can be organized in Play Hubs and other non-formal and informal education settings involving children and caregivers. (Available in English and Slovak, and soon also in Ukrainian and Hungarian)
• the “Mobile Play Hub Operating Guidelines”, intended for organizations wishing to set up and run Mobile Play Hubs for children aged birth to 10 years old and make (outdoor) play more accessible to children of all ages. This resource also comprises of a set of Activity Cards that provide inspiration for outdoor play. (Available in English and soon also in Slovak, Hungarian, and Ukrainian).

The experiences of those working in Slovakia and Hungary have been rich and provide inspirational insights into the impact the TOY for Inclusion approach can make. The teams from Slovakia and Hungary share their expriences below.

Play and Learning Hubs in Slovakia

Play and Learning Hubs for Slovak and Ukrainian children have been implemented in Slovakia as a part of the UNICEF humanitarian response since July 2022. This intervention has evolved from a first humanitarian response to a more targeted long-term response focusing on integration and inclusion. 

The project is implemented by Škola dokorán - Wide Open School n.o., with the aim of strengthening understanding and cooperation between people from different cultures, as well as supporting an approach based on social cohesion, where all members of local communities, including refugees, share services and have equal access to activities and workshops.

In coordination with the participating municipalities, our organization has established Play and Learning Hubs and mobilized local communities to provide quality and inclusive learning opportunities for children aged zero to 10 years and their caregivers. The Hubs are located in six municipalities in Slovak Republic – Žilina, Prešov, Košice, Tatranská Lomnica, Poprad, Spišská Nová Ves. These locations have been identified in a prior needs analysis, and on average, the Hubs reach more than 5,000 beneficiaries per month.

Four more Play and Learning Hubs and several mobile Play Hubs will be established in 2023.

What exactly do we do in the Play and Learning Hubs?

• We play and learn together. We strengthen relationships between children, parents and grandparents through joint activities based not just on common interests, but also on topics and issues of concern to both children and adults.
• We read together. We do not take reading literacy lightly! As well as promoting reading skills, we also work to develop reading comprehension and language skills of children. We also work very diligently to build children's love of books and stories.
• We stay healthy and strong together. We place great emphasis on the physical and mental health of ch­­ildren and adults. Human closeness, shared activities outdoors and indoors are healing for individuals, and help us build community and supportive relationships.

We also provide capacity building and training opportunities for teachers, professionals, assistants, and others who care for children in the Hubs.

One of the challenges we faced early on was the lack of data and information. Given the constantly changing situation in Ukraine, we had to be very flexible and adapt our activities and interventions “as we went”. The group of children and adults who are our target group is very diverse — as are their needs, limitations, expectations, etc. However, all situations we have faced have taught us a lot and we are now able to offer tailor-made services for everyone entering our Hubs.

The implementation of this project has taught us to respond very flexibly to the needs of children and adults. We see that psychosocial support is extremely important for people who have experienced adverse circumstances. For this reason, we provided psychosocial support trainings to our staff, and we cooperate frequently with psychologists. In all our activities, we keep in mind that it is essential to create an environment (both in terms of physical space and atmosphere) for activities where children and adults feel safe, comfortable and like to return. We also realized that connecting Ukrainians and other people from the community and involving all of them in common activities is important for the well-being of Ukrainian children and adults, fostering their sense of belonging and building strong foundations of social cohesion in the community and the whole society.

It is amazing for us to see how Slovak children help Ukrainian children, how they play with them and try to get along without using any language, or using all the languages they speak at once. What is even more beautiful for us is to see situations when you cannot determine where a child is from because they all laugh and have fun in the same way and all feel equally accepted and involved in the activities.

We are very happy that we are already seeing Ukrainian families "putting down roots". Many families have already started to build relationships with people (other Ukrainians, Slovakians or other nationalities), in the workplace, the Play Hubs, schools, kindergartens and neighborhoods where they live.  

Play Hubs in Hungary

When the war broke out, thousands of Hungarians — individuals, civil society organizations, companies, large humanitarian organizations, and municipalities — immediately started to help. They did this mostly by providing food, accommodation, and other kinds of humanitarian aid.  

All our staff at Partners Hungary also started to help in some ways, as individuals. One colleague went to the border to help, while another went to the Keleti railway station to distribute food, and another volunteered at a temporary shelter for refugees. 

As an organization we needed some time to understand the situation until we could intervene in a strategic way. We realized that we were not very experienced in providing humanitarian aid, and there were a lot of other organizations and individuals more capable than us to offer this kind of support. So, we started to look at our strengths and how they could be put in use in this situation.   

We realized that Hungary is in a special situation regarding the Ukraine response, as the refugees are not refugees in legal terms. While those entering Hungary are fleeing the war, and they are disadvantaged not only because of the war. Most of the Ukrainians staying in Hungary belong to the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, and most of them are Roma by ethnic background. Some have Hungarian citizenship according to a law introduced in 2011. Most of them are children and women coming from the Transcarpathian region hoping to have a safer and better life in Hungary. 

We knew that the Play Hubs we established in that past four years in cooperation with ICDI, and other civil society organizations in the region, were providing safe environments for Roma and non-Roma children and families to play, and access services. Every Play Hub offered tailor-made support and programs based on the needs that were identified by the Local Action Team, composed of the professionals who work for the children and families across sectors (education, health, and social services).  

It became obvious that our Play Hubs be our strongest response for Ukrainian children as well. Based on this analysis, we took different steps in this direction.

In October 2022, we partnered with ICDI and Skola Dokoran and are going to open the first Mobile Play Hub in Hungary in the Spring 2023.

At the end 2022, we started cooperating with War Child, and in the course of 2023, we will establish 12 new Play Hubs all over Hungary to serve all the children in local communities with special focus on the Ukrainian children for whom play can be a tool to heal their trauma and stress caused by the war. 

We have also realized in our extensive experience working with and supporting Roma, that through their lens it was very unfair that “other Roma” – coming from Ukraine – were receiving free food, accommodation and clothes, while those who has been living in Hungary for hundreds of years still suffered from many forms of discrimination - in the labor market, housing and education - and many of them suffer from deep poverty as well. This double standard is leading to more prejudice and tension in Hungary. We believed that Partners Hungary could try to mitigate the risks. Our approach of intercultural mediation seemed like a fitting solution for bringing the local Roma and the newcomers together and helping them identify their joint interest in advocating for themselves. We will train 12 mediators in six locations to form their joint community action teams and bring the interested stakeholders together to find the solutions for their problems and implement local projects.  

While thinking and planning our strategy and analyzing the needs, we started to see the situation as an opportunity to build more cohesive communities. We believe that by persuading municipalities of the benefits of inclusion, not only in the case of the refugees but for everyone, and the need to provide better services for all, we can increase everyone’s resiliency and provide better life quality for all. 

We always find that we need to deepen our knowledge and need to learn new things when we step into a new field. While getting into the work with the Ukrainian refugees, we realized that we did not know enough about the consequences of a war on children’s and adults’ well-being, so we found the way to learn more on the nature of trauma and stress and how to create a safe environment for children and families to heal and being able to reorganize their lives. This knowledge is very important for all those professionals who are working with children. Now we have started to spread this knowledge through trainings and workshops all over Hungary.   

Authors:

Giulia Cortellesi, Co-Director of International Child Development Initiatives

Erika Szaboova, Communications Manager of Škola dokorán - Wide Open School n.o.

Éva Deák, Executive Director of Partners Hungary Foundation

Photos Courtesy of  Škola dokorán - Wide Open School n.o.

Recent European studies show that quality of education and care in the early childhood depends on the presence of a professional and competent workforce. As part of their research on early childhood development, ISSA Member, For Our Children Foundation has conducted a study which focuses on professionals working with young children and their families in the health, education and social systems in Bulgaria.

The research study, Bulgaria grows with its children: Building professional competences of the early childhood workforce, was carried out in 2020 by a team of For Our Children Foundation with the support of the Active Citizens Fund of Bulgaria.

The topic of people working directly with children and families in the health, education and social work stands out when looking for sustainable solutions to challenges faced in early childhood care and education. More and more, European policies highlight the importance of education, motivation and support for the workforce. This topic is even more important in Bulgaria given the workforce shortage in these sectors as well as the low indicators of reach of healthcare, early childhood education and care, and social protection to children.

With this in mind, the goal of ‘Bulgaria grows with its children’ is to outline the main directions for improvement of the professionalisation of the early years workforce, as well as to formulate recommendations for policy development in this area.

The report outlines policies and measures aimed at the development of the workforce, including initial education, professional development and working conditions, as well as presents data from the experience of 461 specialists working directly with children and families.

The research among professionals working with children reveals the need for targeted measures to upgrade the competencies of professionals, both in their initial education and continuing professional development. With regard to working conditions, the study shows that professionals who are dedicated to the care, health, education and development of children deserve to work in an environment that supports their professional development and provides secure and motivating working conditions. Their knowledge, skills and competences are key for the wellbeing of the children and hence for preparing a strong future of the nation. It is of particular importance that state policies should ensure the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies of the workforce as well as dignified working conditions. This is the enabling environment for professionals to work in partnership with parents and help them cope with difficulties in the upbringing and development of their children.

One of the main conclusions of the research team is that the lack of a comprehensive, consolidated vision for investment in early childhood development, as a key to our prosperity as a society, has a negative impact on the quality of education and care for young children. It concludes with a call for an integrated modern early childhood development policy with clearly defined roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders and a strategic plan for the provision of quality and accessible services by a motivated and competent workforce.

ISSA Member VBJK is launching the new Flemish magazine on ECEC Kindertijd (which means ‘childhood’ in Dutch). The first issue of the magazine will be published in the fall of 2021. That means that VBJK will end the collaboration with the Dutch magazine KIDDO in June.

“Childcare and education in Flanders and The Netherlands are becoming more and more different worlds, so it is difficult to make a mutual magazine for both countries. That is why we have started the new Flemish magazine Kindertijd – a word with a lot of positive connotations, because who does not like to look back at his or her own childhood?” says Wouter Bulckaert, editor in chief of the new magazine, and communications officer of VBJK. “The new magazine will be more interesting for Flemish readers, because it is focused entirely on ECEC in Flanders. In Kindertijd we will cover good practices and new trends in ECEC. The magazine will show what happens on-the-job, without shying away from larger in-depth articles about new ECEC research and policy.”

Kindertijd will be a magazine aimed and made by ECEC professionals: people who work with young children, mainly in pre-school and after-school childcare, but also in kindergarten. Kindertijd will inform, inspire and innovate. The magazine aims to strengthen and appreciate ECEC professionals in an accessible, connecting and positive way. 

The ISSA Network continues to grow in 2020, we are proud to introduce three new ISSA Members organizations.
 
The Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) is an interdisciplinary research centre, led by Professor Mathias Urban, Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education. The Centre and its research team build on a long tradition of critical inquiry in the field. Members investigate policies and politics, pedagogies, and practices in early childhood locally and internationally from a critical perspective that is informed by a shared interest in the transformative potential of collaborative research. ECRC actively promotes close collaboration between research, policy, and practice in the field. Read more about ECRC. 

Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children focuses on early education and trauma-informed, research-based, therapeutic play program named the Element of Play. Additionally, they provide skills development for youth and adults. They train in a structured play program that leads to transferable skills to further their education and career.

Their focus is quality pedagogy, parenting support programs, and social inclusion for children with special needs. They also hold camps for children dealing with difficult illnesses. Learn more about Worldwide Foundation for Vulnerable Children.

TNO-Child Health Research Group operates under TNO’s Healthy Living unit. Their vision is that every child should be allowed to grow up healthy, safe, and should have equal opportunities. They focus on health programs, access to services, and parenting support programs. TNO is a public organization in the Netherlands that works both nationally and internationally. Read more about TNO-Child Health Research Group.

ISSA New Member Community Educational Foundation (CEF) “School for All” is one of the successful Kazakhstani NGOs that implements innovative educational initiatives based on democratic approach in teaching to make it more effective, meaningful, relevant and useful. The Foundation cooperates with other academic and research institutions in the country and abroad.

CEF “School for All” oversees projects with partner organizations relating to Inclusive education and teacher leadership, and advocates for policies to improve access and quality of education. Besides, the Foundation publishes academic articles and conducts qualitative and quantitative research to learn about current issues, improvements and other aspects of the education sector. Moreover, CEF “School for All” provides in-service training and mentoring for teachers of all levels, develops and publishes methodological guides and teaching materials, attends and presents at the local and international academic conferences.

“Through our last three years’ experience, we can share the idea of non-positional teacher leadership development that empower teachers as agents of change and help building innovation-friendly professional cultures in schools,” says Gulbadan Zakayeva, director of CEF “School for All”.

Becoming the ISSA Member, CEF “School for All” hopes to collaborate and build partnerships with the other members, share the information, promote good practices, design and apply joint proposals to the international organizations.

“We have achieved significant success in the development of inclusive education at the Higher School of Kazakhstan and we have made a crucial contribution to making the Inclusive Education course mandatory for all pedagogical specialties of universities in our country,” says Gulbadan Zakayeva, director of CEF “School for All”. We have developed and published a number of methodological materials, including the manual "Fundamentals of Inclusive Education", conducted more than 10 trainings on inclusive education and trained over than 300 teachers of pedagogical colleges and universities. During COVID-19, we have created an online course "Inclusive Education", which has become an important educational and information resource not only for students and university teachers, but has also become accessible and open to a wide range of stakeholders.”

In CEF “School for All” they strongly believe that their efforts and achievements will contribute to the development and transformation of education in Kazakhstan.

Based on an interview with Hana Zylfiu-Haziri, Program Manager Kosovo Education Center

As a membership organization, ISSA unites and supports professionals to deliver responsive, high-quality, and equitable services to all children and their families. For its broad diverse base of members, it offers a wide variety of opportunities to co-create and share knowledge and professional development and networking events. This blog presents how, as a result of a professional development opportunity offered under ISSA’s initiative REYN, the Kosova Education Center has made a programmatic shift by including advocacy in their work, vision and mission.

The Kosova Education Center (KEC)

KEC is a non-governmental organization funded in 2000 with the idea of focusing on provision of in-service teaching training programs. But lately Kosova Education Center has grown and now the organization focuses on 4 pillars: quality education; human rights; networking and participation in policy making; and educational research in general. KEC has also its own primary, secondary and gymnasium schools, and currently runs different projects and programs employing 30 people. Among many initiatives, KEC is working on the one that we shed light on in this blog - KRAEEYN - Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian Early Years Network through which KEC supports equitable access to education for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children, which still live in a vicious circle of poverty and social exclusion. On how KEC managed to integrate the advocacy component into its work we will learn from Hana Zylfiu-Haziri, a Program Manager at Kosovo Education Center.

How a professional development on advocacy led to an organizational shift?

According to Hana, initially KRAEEYN supported professionals and paraprofessionals in a grassroot level, as well as small organizations that supported Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian children at the local level. Then, KRAEEYN participated in a professional development opportunity, organized by ISSA, with a focus on advocacy. It consisted of two trainings held in Sofia and Zagreb, respectively.

Back in Pristina after the trainings and sharing of the knowledge gained among KRAEEYN members, the network decided to shift its mission by integrating the component of advocacy in their existing mechanisms. Nowadays KRAEEYN is better positioned and engaged in advocacy actions at local, regional, and national levels to reach institutions and key stakeholder and decision-makers to influence the policy change at national level. KRAEEYN remains as a strong voice advocating for professionals and paraprofessionals working in the field making sure their needs are reflected in local and national action plans.

Although the topic of advocacy was familiar to her, Hana used to consider it as a big activity in which you have to gather people, and to do, and to plan. However, during the training and discussion with other national REYN representatives from 10 different countries, Hana and her team realized that they were actually doing so much advocacy, without knowing it, and “it was like an opening of our minds”. And so, they just have to be conscious that they are doing it and go for it, and maybe invite other people to join the initiative.

Hana says: “And this is when actually we decided to get into it. Since we are already doing some small steps, let's try to do something much bigger which doesn't require money or planning, and where only we have to think whom to reach”. And she concludes: “So these are the things that have influenced us, everything has been influenced by advocacy and now we are shifting completely as a network, we are doing more and more on advocacy”.

“One of the aspects that I found key to learn about advocacy is something I’m trying to put in practice in my work: how important is to find the right people to be with you and to act together as one voice. Now I see that so many things I have done and maybe I didn't succeed because I did alone. Now, all the time I'm trying to have more people on board”.

Hana also stressed that such professional development activities offer many opportunities not only to learn from the trainer but also from each other, from the peers attending such trainings. Hana shares: “Such professional development opportunities offer the chance to seat with representatives from different organizations and countries, with whom you listen to and learn from. In the training in Sofia, I was there with my program colleague. On our way back home, we had five or six hours of travel ahead of us, and this was excellent opportunity for us to reflect on the training, the content as well on the inspiring examples other participants presented during the sessions.  It encouraged us to plan our future activities and make some nice plans. For instance, we heard from Croatians about an advocacy campaign they had done with soccer players, and also the Bulgarian team had some nice examples. And that was a point when we said … okay, we have to do something in this direction as well. It is very good that we are supporting paraprofessionals and professionals and we should continue supporting them, but as a KRAEEYN we are a voice that can be heard, so we have to change our way of being perceived”.

Hana continues commenting on the importance of the peer learning that takes place during such opportunities: “As we talk, things are coming to my mind, and the last REYN meeting that we had in Zagreb in 2019, was really nice. Not only because it was organized by you (ISSA) and that everything was good.  We had the opportunity to reflect, to share, to think together, and to work as a team.  It was really valuable, especially learning from the others what they are doing, and trying to see what can we do in our network, and how can we adapt or change current actions. That meeting was really good, really good one”.

ISSA’s support and influence goes beyond the training on advocacy

During the interview Hana stressed that ISSA has provided lots of professional development opportunities to its Members, which have also benefitted KEC and have been a great opportunity for them. One of them are the Peer Learning Activities (PLA). Specifically, Hana mentioned that they had submitted twice a proposal for the Peer Learning Activities: On the first one, at national level with three other organizations from Kosovo, Hana says “we have worked on 10 preschool institutions on improving their pedagogical practice, which has led to build in community of learners within the institutions.” The second, at international level with another ISSA member in Albania, led to a huge network of institutions from both countries to meet and where the teachers from both countries had the chance to speak, talk and share. Hana adds: “We had also the conference, where we provided a booklet with activities that teachers have created in their classrooms”.

According to Hana, both projects taking place under the PLA’s built on ISSA’s Quality Resource Pack. KEC presented ISSA’s Principles of Quality Pedagogy to the Ministry, which decided to approve them as a national document.

Hana stressed: “The document is there and teachers, even though they cannot be so much present at the moment, they are still using it. They have a system of monitoring their quality and what is also good is that the Faculty of Education has included parts of the Quality Resource Pack in their syllabuses as well. So, it all started with professional development opportunities”.

Motivations to participate in the professional development opportunities

When asked what motivated KEC to participate in these professional development opportunities, Hana mentioned that they knew that they were good chances for them to learn and share, and they wanted to be active in such activities. Hana said: “In the first case, when we applied for PLA we knew that we could do something together with other organizations from the ISSA network. For example, in our work with Albanian peers, we share a common “language” when referring to our similar situation in education we know where the problems are, what is needed and how we can we support our educational system.

In advocacy, what motivated me was more like I wanted to learn more: I needed to know more about what advocacy is and what can I do with it at national level. The training helped me first of all to understand some things and then I shared with colleagues. It actually helped me to reflect about my work as well, and not only on the current project, but also in other projects where I'm involved. And now I always try to enforce the component of advocacy also in the other projects”.

Why would Hana recommend to participate in such kind of professional development opportunities?

Hana said that first of all, she would strongly recommend to herself to continue be part of these kind of professional development opportunities and she will continue as much as she can. And she continued by saying: “But why would I do it? Because for sure they will benefit as we did it. First of all, every time you learn something, you share, for instance, we had that nice opportunities from professional development activities we have developed, we had the case when we developed a project, so there are really nice opportunities for our network to learn, to share, and to be part of different activities and initiatives”.

Interview with Zsuzsa Laszlo: the ISSA Network’s Persona Doll learning community  

Over the last 15 years, Partners Hungary Foundation has been providing Persona Doll training for ISSA Members, resulting in a significant number of early childhood practitioners incorporating the dolls into their practice within the region. The diversity of participants engaged in ISSA Peer Learning Activities and Joint Learning Labs contributes significantly to the enriching experience of the training for the entire group. In this interview, Zsuzsa Laszlo, an experienced Persona Doll Certified Trainer, shares her valuable insights, providing a deeper understanding of this approach.

What is the Persona Doll method, and why is it meaningful?

The Persona Doll is a method for encouraging discussions about emotions and feelings among children aged three to eight. It offers a non-threatening and enjoyable means to address issues of equality, challenge stereotypes, and discourage discriminatory thinking in young children. The method also encourages critical thinking, fosters empathy, and empowers children to confront instances of unfair treatment.

Originating in the UK and widely successful globally, the Persona Doll method provides an efficient and playful approach to tackle stereotyping and promote equality. Designed for professionals in early childhood development, this innovative tool isn't only useful for addressing prejudice-related conflicts but is also effective in handling various conflicts among children.

The method centers around a lifelike rag doll (approximately 60 centimeters tall), endowed with personality traits by the professional, such as family background, characteristics, favorite foods, and belongings. This Persona doll "visits" the children, creating an opportunity for professionals to broach sensitive topics through everyday stories. This approach encourages discussions that might have been difficult to initiate otherwise.

The method aims to transform teasing and exclusion into attitudes of respect and care. To implement the method effectively, sessions should occur bi-weekly, and in the interim, professionals gather stories from the group's experiences that generate significant discussion or recurring problems (teasing, bullying, conflicts, etc.), situations where occasional verbal warnings prove ineffective.

An example of a story that generates discussion in the classroom is the following: A Roma girl who is new to kindergarten shares that in her previous school, she was told, 'I don’t like Roma.’ As the preschool children sit in a circle, they react with surprise or empathy, saying things like 'Wow, that happened?' and 'Oh, that’s very hurtful', but also 'They should be punished or hit'. While the preschool teacher facilitates the discussion, the children come up with ideas and try to find a solution for the new girl.

The Persona Doll method is specifically designed for preschool and primary school teachers but is equally suitable for teaching assistants, preschool and school social workers, as well as preschool and school psychologists.

What are some of the most unexpected outcomes or success stories you've encountered through using Persona Dolls in educational settings?

All of our stories are unique in their own way, but perhaps we can highlight stories where the Persona Doll method thrives independently within kindergartens. For example, at one kindergarten in the region, we initially started with just one teacher, and now there is a thriving learning community where teachers collaborate, plan together, and only come to us for support and mentoring when needed. We believe that true success lies in the autonomy of the Persona Doll, where its magic continues to flourish independently.

How do ISSA’s PLA and JLL contribute to the use of the method?

Our aim is to create a vibrant professional community within ISSA at two levels. Firstly, by offering Peer Learning Activities (PLA), we provide the basics for professionals who are interested but not yet familiar with the method. Through Joint Learning Labs (JLL), we establish a learning hub with intense mentoring and peer support, assisting individuals at all levels of practice and serving ISSA with a dynamic professional learning environment. We aim to build a community where anyone with a basic understanding of the Persona Doll Method can receive support, feedback, and peer mentoring. Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of professionals actively engaged in the field of diversity and equity within ISSA.

Being part of the ISSA Network has enabled us, to spread the Persona Doll approach across a diverse group of dedicated professionals internationally and to establish connections with organizations we might otherwise never have known about. It is almost a mini network we started.

What are the plans for 2024? Any opportunity for ISSA Members who haven’t done it yet to get some training on Persona Doll?

In 2024, we are offering JLL for practitioners who have a basic understanding of Persona Dolls. Together, we will learn, collect case studies, and offer solutions for a wide range of situations occurring in kindergartens. At the end of the year, we will compile a handbook based on these stories for the Persona Doll community within ISSA. Looking ahead, we aim to offer more training opportunities for those interested in experiencing the magic of Persona Dolls in the long run.

Learn more about ISSA’s Joint Learning Lab on the Persona Doll Method.

Many recent neurological studies have shown that violent and malicious educational practices impact a child’s emotional development and self-esteem. Questioning, defining, and understanding them in order modify our reactions becomes essential.

This is the topic addressed in the Peer Learning Activity (PLA)* entitled Gentle violence and ordinary educational violence: Tackling the issue and fostering children’s development of self-esteem and identity, hosted by Le Furet.

This PLA focused on these questions, aiming to help professionals question their practices and build quality within their teams. Participants learned to identify “ordinary educational violence”, develop active listening and respectful collaboration, and create evaluation methods to track their progression.

Read the interview with Gillian Cante, Chair of Le Furet, as she shares more on the theme, how it is used in Le Furet’s work and why she recommends others participate in PLAs.

Can you share a brief overview of the PLA you hosted online? (the topic, participants, number of sessions)

The workshop we ran was called ordinary violence and subtle violence, which is a sensitive theme for a lot of childcare providers. We really wanted to bring up notions of how we are with children, not what we know to do with children and how we know to take care of them, but more just about our professional posture and the subtle things we do that can send a different message to children and affect them emotionally in their development. We spend so much time with them in childcare. So we thought this is a very important subject to touch upon. So, we ran a session over four days, two and a half hour sessions, so a total of 10 hours. So it was quite a substantial program.

We could have done quite a bit more, but we knew that the time was limited. And so we ran this over two weeks at twice a week, and we had a total of 25 people who were signed up. We found ourselves with about seven participants, but very happy to have such a small group because it was dynamic. And we were able to do some interesting group work with them. 

What was the most meaningful part of hosting a PLA for you and your organization? 

One of the most meaningful things about hosting this kind of activity is meeting people from different backgrounds. I think it's also a big part of the value of ISSA -- these intercultural opportunities to meet others. 

Childcare is so based on our cultural perceptions and who we are as people. I think that being able to do a lot of sharing and group work was immensely enriching for everybody who participated. 

We had quite an interesting group, which meant that everybody brought their personal experiences and cultural references. To be able to share that was enriching. I wasn't expecting how enriching that would be.

Tell us were the main outcomes of your PLA, despite or due to being organized online?

One of the advantages of hosting a PLA online, and we might all be able to recognize this advantage, was being able to record what we were doing. Although I'm not a great fan of going and doing replays, I found it very interesting to go back and hear what some of the participants were saying – to go over and relive the moment. So that was, that was an interesting outcome to have. Because the technology [Zoom] allowed us to create classrooms, we still could get into groups and work and I could go into one group or the next to see how they were doing. It also enabled us to share some videos and some tools that were online. 

I'm hoping that the participants have come away with some more knowledge on how much attention we should pay to our subtle behaviors and our position as an adult -- this big, dominant position as an adult. And how seriously we should take that role and question our posture with children.  

One of the outcomes is that the participants will talk about this topic in their work. We did not have many childcare minders or childcare providers. We mainly had people who were involved in associations like our own who accompany professionals. So we're hoping that this subject will be transmitted throughout these programs elsewhere.

What would you like to let other ISSA Members know about hosting or participating in an online PLA? 

I congratulate ISSA for organizing this because I can only imagine the logistics behind getting everyone together. I'd have to say for anyone who's going to host a Peer Learning Activity, you should feel comfortable because we were accompanied very strongly by the ISSA team. Many thanks to Eva [Izsak] and everyone who helped us out -- answering those little questions that we had. We weren't thrown out there in the dark to try and figure this all out ourselves. 

I can highly recommend doing an activity regardless of the size of your organization. It's a very feasible activity to run. Obviously, technology helps out. You have to make sure you're comfortable with talking to the camera, but you're also talking to someone across the other side in the PLA, and we were able to create quite intimate groups.

Doing the PLA online is the opposite of what you might think. We created an intimate group, and we're able to talk openly and share. 

Can you share an example of how the topic of your PLA is important in your work?

Our organization has had over 20 years of working on questions of equality and combating discrimination in all its forms in early childhood. So the subject of ordinary violence is so pertinent to us. It's a subtle way that we discriminate in a lot of practices.  

Our postures are influenced by our beliefs and our social and cultural backgrounds. When we get into the field of early childhood, we have to do a "self-check" and make sure that we're on board with the importance of the role we're fulfilling for children in their first stages of development. We need to grow a deeper understanding of ourselves and the child's social and emotional needs.

The work that we've been doing is in this area is a cornerstone of all the work we do at Le Furet. It influences us in all of the training courses we run and the accompanying work we do with other networks and professionals.

Where can we find more information about this topic?

You can find more information on this topic on the Le Furet website, which is in French. For those who don’t know Le Furet actually means ferret, a little animal that digs and digs – a very curious animal.

The author who developed this outlook on ordinary violence is named Christine Schuhl, she is a good reference on this topic in French.

 

*Every year ISSA Members benefit from Peer Learning Activities (PLAs), which aim to build Members’ capacity, deepen their knowledge and act as enabling spaces for Members to co-create new knowledge. You can learn more about Peer Learning Activities offered in the ISSA Network here.

Listen to the interview clip.

This month, ISSA Member International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), launched the book Intergenerational Learning in Practice, which is published by Routledge[1]. Intergenerational Learning (IGL) brings together young children and older adults, or those who are at “two ends of the lifelong learning spectrum.” The book leverages ICDI’s successful IGL initiative Together Old and Young (TOY)[2], which in partnership with other organizations, has built a case for IGL involving young children and older adults, with evidence demonstrating how it helps to improve feelings of wellbeing, decrease loneliness and enhance social cohesion. 

While there are many promising practices that bring together young children and older adults taking place around the world, the knowledge and expertise in this area has not yet been combined in one resource. This unique publication brings together the most current research as well as practical examples. The book is set to become the IGL go-to for practitioners, leaders, and researchers across sectors.

It also presents a special opportunity to highlight some noteworthy practices taking place in the ISSA Network. Editors of the book, Margaret Kernan and Giulia Cortellesi of ICDI discuss the importance of intergenerational learning, what this book is all about, and their other work on the subject.

How did TOY start and what makes it such a meaningful initiative? 

Giulia:
We started looking at this in 2011 when we were seeing societal and demographic changes in Europe that are still happening. It is about migration - so children growing up away from their grandparents. It is about age-segregation - so children growing up in institutions with other children and older adults segregated in aged care facilities. We also have the fragmentation of social life in our neighborhoods. There are towns where young families are living in certain neighborhoods and other neighborhoods that become the homes for older adults.

Margaret:
Isolation and loneliness was and is another big issue. IGL addresses these concerns. Children benefit from having focused attention from older adults or mentors who have time for them and are interested in them and give an understanding of what it was like to be a child years ago. It is also a way for children to develop social skills, norms of behavior. Older adults benefit from feeling needed, involved, valued and being more physically active. The engagement with the children has a very positive effect on their health and well-being. It is important to emphasize that both groups learn from one another.

The broader family network also benefits. Parents really value their children having more contact with older adults, particularly parents who are really busy or do not have a strong relationship with the children’s grandparents. It also contributes to the general community health, creating a sense of social cohesion in the community. It gives communities the feeling that they look after one another and everyone has a role in the community and a contribution to make. Often it is the young children and older adults that are forgotten in discussions about the sustainability of communities. The focus tends to be on the employed generation so IGL gives value to these two age groups.

Giulia:

When we look at social inclusion we also look at it from a diversity standpoint. We believe that IGL can contribute to the promotion of intercultural dialogue. If older adults are involved as volunteers or mentors for young children with a minority, migrant or refugee background it is easier for the family to adjust to the new reality and it is easier for the hosting society to overcome stereotypes and build relationships with the newcomers or minorities. This was also the rationale of the TOY for Inclusion project[3]. The project gives older adults from the Roma community a chance to share their knowledge, their passions, and their traditions with children from various backgrounds, which helps the majority overcome stereotypes and prejudices against Roma. 

We see this as a growing movement worldwide. We would like to see this become structural childcare and aged care.

"Intergenerational learning is a catalyst, a mobilization tool for communities." 

- Giulia Cortellesi, ICDI

What communities is IGL for - do you focus only on urban communities or is it also for rural communities?

Giulia:
This is for everyone, everywhere.

Margaret:
A lot of learners participating in the TOY Online Course at the moment are talking about how relevant IGL is for their rural communities because people are feeling more isolated in rural communities. The TOY initiative makes absolute sense because it reminds them of what multi-generational community interaction can mean—and what it used to mean in the past. It is a reminder that it is healthy for different age groups to spend time together.

Giulia:
Intergenerational learning is a catalyst, a mobilization tool for communities. It can be a tool or it can be a goal in itself. Sometimes you want to facilitate intergenerational learning because there is a lack of relationship between the generations. In some other cases, it is a tool to use to reach more indirect goals like social cohesion, inclusion, and so on.

Say there is a park that needs to be redesigned, who do you consult and how do you consult them? We propose a way that is friendly to all ages instead of just consulting one age group. Instead of building new spaces in a community for one age group, why don’t we think about sharing sites? We can have childcare and aged care under one roof and staff that is trained to work with the different services.

Margaret:
It can be an approach to address many issues in all communities.

What does IGL look like? 
Giulia:
It can take many different forms. It can be formal or informal. In the Netherlands, a group of older adults is supporting teachers in primary schools as teacher assistants. They receive training to support teachers and students. They are actually embedded in the school system.

Sometimes it is about institutions cooperating together and creating shared sites; in some other cases it is organizing activities or events together. There is an example of a multigenerational summer camp in Italy. For the last 5 years, they offer a summer camp for older people from a care home and children whose parents are working, so they can spend their time together during the school holiday. There are intergenerational activities purposely designed for them during a period of 6 weeks.

Margaret:
And it isn’t just about meetings between frail older adults living in residential care homes. It is also about recognizing the role of active adults who may be in their 60s and 70s, possibly retired or with some free time who would like to give something back to their community as volunteers. They can share their hobbies and interests with children in different settings such as in community arts centers, libraries, museums, or visit children at home to read to stories children.

"This is a living topic, people are aware of the importance of connecting these age groups..." 

- Margaret Kernan, ICDI

What can you tell us about the book?

Margaret:
We were really keen to invite authors from different backgrounds. In the book you’ll see chapters from people who are experts in pedagogy in early childhood and working with families and community. You will also read insights from people who are expert in older adults, gerontologists.

There is also a chapter written by two architects from Denmark who describe themselves as spatial practitioners and describe with lots of photos and drawings how age-inclusive spaces might be developed.  

This is a living topic, people are aware of the importance of connecting these age groups and it is something that is being discussed in Australia, United States, Canada, as well as in different countries in Europe. So, the book has contributions from many different countries and contexts.

Giulia:
We wanted to have a book where there was enough theoretical contribution, as this is a new field of research it was good for us to bring together people from different disciplines to write about pedagogy, architecture, etc.

And, we also wanted this to be an inspirational book for those who want to start their own intergenerational initiatives. So, we tried to collect as many examples of practice as possible and also give some practical tips. All the chapters in the second half of the book contain suggestions and tips for implementation.

You will read about intergenerational learning as a way to promote environmental sustainability, as a way to promote cultural transmission, as a way to promote social cohesion, as a way to promote age-friendly planning and design.

We also managed to bring in some well-known intergenerational initiatives like the TV program broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK and replicated in other countries. It is now in four or five countries. There is a chapter in the book from the first group who did it.

Why was it meaningful for ICDI to write this book now? 

Margaret:
TOY is a programme which ICDI has been leading for 7 years now, and it was really time to bring the research and the practice of IGL to a broader audience. As far as we know, no one else has written a book on intergenerational learning focusing on young children and older adults. 

It was also an opportunity to give our partners a chance to write about their work and reach an international audience.

Who is this book for?

Margaret:
Practitioners, researchers, community development workers, primarily but it could also be for architects and town planners. It is a very multidisciplinary area of work and it really benefits from perspectives from planning, from pedagogy, from housing, from social care. This work is rooted in the community. It is best understood when you think about it from the perspective of the child, from the perspective of older adults, from the perspective of community workers, and families. We’ve tried to reflect that in the selection of the authors—IGL is multi-sectoral and the understanding of the topic is enriched if you look at it from all these different perspectives.

We really would like the book to be a recommended or even essential text for courses about working with families in the early years, but also in social care. Our publishers, Routledge are primarily marketing this book for practitioners and leaders in Early Childhood Education and Care, but it is equally relevant for people working in social care or aged care, or community development. 

If you are a researcher or lecturer and you are really interested in reading the most up-to-date research in this area, this book is also useful for you. If you are thinking about developing new research on IGL then the first half of the book is particularly useful for you.

If you are a practitioner interested in developing this new way of thinking and working then there are some inspirational practices and really practical tips and tools in the second half of the book to help you.

Giulia:
We also recommend the book to those taking the TOY Online Course[4]. This is a self-paced online course for ECEC, social care and community development practitioners worldwide runs twice per year, and is free. We recommend the book as a companion to the course. See more about the online course below.

What other materials/tools do you have related to IGL?

Margaret:
The TOY course includes discussion forums, video lectures, quizzes, and readings. It is very reassuring for those taking the course to hear that there are people doing similar work in other parts of the world—all with the belief that these two age groups need more attention and that there are huge opportunities to link young children and older adults.

We are also hearing from those in the course that they would really like to start this work but they need support from us and the course in thinking about a plan. So, we provide planning templates on the course which is very helpful for them.

Giulia:
This is the direction in which our TOY for Quality programme[5] goes to as well. We’ve developed a self-assessment tool, which is also included in a chapter in the book. We define 6 dimensions of quality in IGL and we provide guiding questions and indicators so that groups of practitioners that would like to start, or are involved in IGL, can reflect on their own practice and also identify areas for improvement.

We are really building the tools that practitioners and services need to scale-up their IGL work.

Where can you access all these tools and resources?

The book provides loads of first-hand experiences and case studies. ISSA has been lucky enough to witness some of these practices first-hand. If you are interested in reading about some of the case studies buy the book and visit the TOY Blog.

The next TOY online course begins in March 2020, learn how to join here.

[1] https://www.routledge.com/Intergenerational-Learning-in-Practice-Together-Old-and-Young-1st-Edition/Kernan-Cortellesi/p/book/9781138363465?fbclid=IwAR2-r3eAkq8H_RgdYPjlI90TR8tBFhy4Bvzk3neUXhWYeArUvNg3b3a7WmM

[2] www.toyproject.net

[3] www.toy4inclusion.eu

[4] http://www.toyproject.net/project/toy-online-course/

[5] http://www.toyproject.net/project/the-programme/

EDUCAS project awarded with Epos quality label for 'Good practice in 2021'

In March 2022, Epos agency, responsible for the implementation in Flanders of various programs and actions, such as the Erasmus+ programme, has granted the EDUCAS project with an
'Epos Quality Label for Good practice in 2021'. 

Over the past three years, the EDUCAS project has been working to contribute to creating child and family friendly learning spaces in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres. The project consortium has published the following seven resources during the project to help professionals create ECEC environments that support children’s development holistically.

EDUCAS Toolbox - Wonder and Beauty: Connecting ECEC spaces and educare

The EDUCAS Toolbox aims to support coordinators, coaches, trainers, professionals that seek to stimulate professional development paths with ECEC staff with the aim to create child and friendly learning spaces in ECEC centres. 

The Toolbox includes pedagogical approaches, methods and tools used during the EDUCAS project to support professionals in improving ECEC environments with an educare approach.

You can access the full Toolbox here and download your copy in English, Dutch, Italian or Lithuanian.

 Watch the video recording presenting the Toolbox.

Policy recommendations - Strengthening the importance of SPACE and EDUCARE approach

Educating and caring for young children is a big responsibility, challenge and commitment. The recently released “Policy recommendations for strengthening the importance of SPACE and EDUCARE approach in early childhood systems” aims to provide a comprehensive set of recommendations for policymakers at EU and national levels, funders, and other ECEC stakeholders.

These policy recommendations are based on the findings and insights from the EDUCAS project implemented in Belgium (FL), Italy and Lithuania, an extensive literature review, country policy recommendations, and other international documents developed by project partners.

Read and download EDUCAS Policy recommendations here.
 

EDUCAS Case Studies

Throughout the three years of the project, partners in Belgium (FL), Italy and Lithuania have undertaken a thorough examination of existing visions and methods related to organizing ECEC environments in their contexts. With the support of two ECEC centres in each country, they have developed action research paths locally that are tailored to the contexts in which the six ECEC centres are working.

Each case study presents the action research coordinated by each project partner, and developed together with the ECEC centres involved.

• Belgium (FL) – Re-thinking ECEC spaces/materials by reflecting on practice
• Italy –  The Space in mind
• Lithuania – Building collaborative learning community
   

The points of view of families, professionals and children

The EDUCAS project started the Continuous Professional Development Paths (CPD) in the three countries involved with specific focus groups involving families and staff in the ECEC centres partners of the project.

The aim was to get a better insight of the needs, ideas and beliefs of staff and families concerning the theme of the project, and to elaborate a bottom-up participatory implementation path (case study – action research).

The report titled “The points of view of families, professionals, children” presents a summary of the analysis of the focus groups with staff and parents, and of the drawings and interviews with the children in Belgium, Lithuania, Italy.

Download and read here.
 

The meanings of spaces in ECEC centres: a literature review

This literature review investigates the meanings, relevance, and importance of physical indoor and outdoor space in ECEC services for children from birth to school age.

Special attention is placed on the educare approach and on the involvement of children and families in the discourse.

Drawing from the findings of the literature review, implications for practice are discussed and some key recommendations are provided.

Access the literature review here.
 

EDUCAS project in a nutshell? Watch this video

ECD activity cards 

Children’s right to play, leisure and education is threatened during and after emergency situations. Many young children living in refugee homes arrive in their host country after a dangerous journey, and potentially traumatic experiences. Life has changed, and the new living environment is different — and often not child friendly. Many parents suffer from high levels of stress and find it difficult to provide their children with the comfort, support and incentives they need to develop and learn.

The ECD Activity Cards were developed by UNICEF and ISSA as a practical tool to support the planning of Early Learning and Play Groups (ELPG) as part of the daily management of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in refugee homes. The cards are designed to create physically and psychologically safe spaces where children feel welcome, valued and empowered to learn and develop — helping to alleviate psychological distress and re-establish stability.

The ECD activity cards can also be used to strengthen parent-child bonds and to support educational and accountable care by providing caregivers with ideas for activities they can use to help children play and relax.

Available in Bulgarian, English, Romania, Russian and Ukrainian.

Diversity+

The high quality, inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is an essential foundation for children’s successful lifelong health, learning, social integration, and personal development. It can also help close the achievement gap for children from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and provide them with the best start in life. Yet, ECEC facilities, approaches and services have not always been designed and professionals prepared to meet the pluralistic needs of all children and their families.

What Diversity + project aims to?

To address these challenges Diversity+ aims to provide ECEC professionals, managers and practitioners with governance, benchmarking, recognition and professionalization tools to help them transform their practice and open up to diversity that exists among children and families.

What are we going to do?

This three-year project will develop concrete and practical resources that offer a structured and supported approach to quality inclusive service design. The toolkit will contain:

• A Diversity+ Charter to set out the minimum requirements for an ECEC organization to be considered as “Diversity positive”;
• An interactive digital Assessment tool which ECEC practitioners and managers will be able to use to assess current services and track improvements;
• A “European Qualification Framework” (EQF) profile and training resources to profile key knowledge, skills and attitudes required to respond to the individual needs of children from different backgrounds or with special educational needs
• A set of thirty interactive games that will help ECEC practitioners to work with children on recognizing and addressing biases, prejudice, discrimination, and exclusion, to sustain critical thinking in children, and support them to speak out for themselves and others, and threat everybody with empathy and respect regardless of their origin, gender, background, level of abilities, language and other existing differences.

Who is involved?

The project is led by the Italian partner CIAPE, and it involves other partners such as Link Campus University in Italy, Aspire-Igen in UK, Fondatsiya na Biznesa za Obrazovani in Bulgaria, Skola Dokoran in Slovakia, and Schola Empirika in the Czech Republic. ISSA contributes to the project by providing technical support for the development of different tools and resources, and leads its dissemination activities.

 Diversity+ Toolkit 

Diversity+ Charter

A set of minimum requirements that ECEC services and institutions have to meet to accommodate different types of diversity and be classified as inclusive and diversity positive (Diversity+). The Diversity+ Charter aims to provide practical guidelines and recommendations on how to make the ECEC environment more inclusive. Read more.

Download: ENGLISH | BULGARIAN | DUTCH | CZECH | ITALIAN | SLOVAK 

Read more about the Diversity+ Charter

Diversity+ Footprint Assessment Tool

Based on the European Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care, this interactive digital tool is meant to support ECEC officers - often not specialised in diversity inclusion - to assess current services and mostly understand in a visual way the concrete, necessary steps needed to improve their provision. The organizations rated as having an ‘excellent’ Diversity footprint get a Certificate likely to increase the prestige of the organisation itself and encourage others to undertake a similar path.

Apply the tool in ENGLISH | BULGARIAN | CZECH | DUTCH | ITALIAN | SLOVAK

Read more about the Diversity+ Footprint Assessment Tool

EQF of Diversity Ambassador in ECEC environments

The "European Qualification Framework of Diversity Ambassador in ECEC environments” is expected to improve ECEC HR management, to profile key knowledge, skills and attitudes required to respond to individual and group needs of children from different backgrounds and with special educational exigencies. Specific learning resources complement the EQF profile in order to smoothly develop the role of a Diversity Ambassador: key feature of a diversity positive ECEC provision. Also, the tool eases the readability of the profile, thus ultimately the professionals' mobility, across Europe.

Download:  ENGLISH | BULGARIAN | CZECH | ITALIAN | SLOVAK

Read more about the Diversity+ Ambassador

Diversity+ Serious Game

An online game-based tool with 30 interactive scenarios, addressing teachers and other staff in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The animated scenarios are built around common situations arising in everyday dynamics related to discrimination, racism, bias and stereotypes.

Play the interactive scenarios ENGLISH | BULGARIAN | CZECH | ITALIAN | SLOVAK

Diversity+ eBook

The Diversity+ eBook aims to present the variety of approaches found across different European countries during the research phase of the project, and to provide examples of inspiring practices and solutions to existing problems. Read more.

Download: ENGLISH I BULGARIAN I CZECH I ITALIAN I SLOVAK

Established in 2003 by a group of psychologists, pedagogues and community workers, ISSA Member Comenius Foundation for Child Development (Comenius Foundation) inspires adults to create environments in which all young children can develop, explore and use their potential. The organization provides equal opportunities for children that help them to become open-minded individuals. To implement that, Comenius Foundation has innovative systemic and legal arrangements and a wide variety of effective childcare projects.

Comenius Foundation is mostly focused on the wellbeing of children from rural areas and small towns, children from economically and culturally neglected communities. Foundation’s activities are targeted towards non-governmental organizations, representatives of local governments, parents, teachers, librarians, animators, and children directly. On the national level, Comenius Foundation promotes the educational needs of young children through publishing, preparing reports, conducting research, organizing conferences. On the local level, the organization provides training, projects, and consultations to rural municipalities and non-governmental organizations to help them introduce developmental and educational services for young children which equalize their life chances.

Comenius Foundation would like to share their experiences with up-scaling playgroup services for children a few months old to three or four years of age, within and outside Poland. The up-scaling methodology can be used for other programs as well as playgroup projects. The playgroup project offers meetings for young children and their parents or caregivers under the guidance of an animator. A playgroup makes it possible for adults to accompany their children in the classroom, which contributes to their children’s sense of wellbeing, helps parents enhance their parenting skills, and strengthens parent-child relationships. The Playgroups Plus project helps young unemployed mothers with job searches.

“I am very thankful for the playgroups that have been set up for our children, where they can feel at ease,” says Jumagul from Tajikistan – a mother of Mehron, a girl with right-sided paresis. “The children learn and play together. During breaks, they wash their hands, eat fruit or have tea with biscuits. Each child has their own towel. After these meetings, at home, Mehron is able to act independently and helps to set the table, bringing spoons, tea dishes, and towels. I am very glad that my daughter is assisting me.”

Playgroups Plus was a pilot project. Now Comenius Foundation would like to scale it up! The aim is to determine the project's potential to improve the ability of young mothers to advance their professional careers in Early Childhood Education and Care services.

Are you an ISSA member with experience in this area? The Comenius Foundation would love to hear from you.

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, NGOs around Europe had to act swiftly to respond to the needs of families with young children fleeing Ukraine. While the necessary infrastructure was set up quickly, the early childhood development (ECD) workforce was not adequately prepared to support children who have been through traumatic experiences. For Ukrainian children living in Bulgaria, their fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and grief are compounded by being away from their homes, schools, relatives, and peers, adjusting to a new country, and uncertainty about their future. In this new reality, the ECD workforce needs the proper tools to protect their mental health and support the children they work with.

In 2022, War Child Holland, ISSA Member, Amna, and ISSA joined forces to develop and deliver a training of trainers titled Foundational training on psychological first aid and trauma-informed practices. In cooperation with UNICEF, ISSA Member For Our Children Foundation recruited highly qualified ECD professionals to be trained as master trainers to deliver the foundational training in Bulgaria. They were then grouped, ensuring that each had a balance of professionals with knowledge of the ECD systems and experience working directly with children and families. Since this training, and with support from UNICEF Bulgaria, For Our Children Foundation, successfully trained 103 ECD professionals, by coordinating a series of workshops on psychosocial support and trauma-informed care for those working with refugees and migrant children.

To realize these workshops, For Our Children Foundation created a plan detailing the potential target groups, training dates, and suitable venues. Master trainers delivered these trainings in Bulgaria’s five largest cities—Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Stara Zagora. These cities have the largest number of ECD services, which allows For Our Children Foundation to scale up expertise. This will not only strengthen the capacity of the ECD workforce, but also ensure sustainability and further utilization of the training’s resources. Furthermore, with assistance from local authorities, For Our Children Foundation identified and invited early years and social services professionals that have been heavily involved in the refugee crisis. 

In Stara Zagora, trainers from Mission Wings Foundation, an organization with many years working to support migrants and refugees, conducted a training with frontline workers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. In addition, workshops hosted in Burgas and Varna reached many Ukrainian children and families fleeing the war. Representatives of UNICEF’s Blue Dot hubs—safe spaces where children and families can get practical support on their journey—also joined these sessions. Meanwhile in Sofia and Plovdiv, For Our Children Foundation’s ECD centers hosted the workshops. 

For Our Children Foundation has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both participants and master trainers. The enthusiasm of those trained will allow For Our Children Foundation to establish effective and sustainable professional learning communities, to boost the skills and knowledge of professionals.

Photo on the left (training in Plovdiv); Photo on the right (training in Sofia)
Photos courtesy of For Our Children Foundation.

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a strict lockdown in Greece, playful and in-person interactions suddenly came to a halt at the Baytna program - an early childhood program developed by Refugee Trauma Initiative (RTI) for refugee children and their caregivers. To continue to support vulnerable families emotionally and socially, RTI and its network of partners created a range of multimedia and psychosocial resources, available online in several languages, for Baytna families and beyond.

Children growing up in conflict zones, experiencing displacement, or amid multiple deprivations are at risk of trauma and toxic stress which can interrupt healthy development. In such settings children are less likely to receive the protection, safety, and nurturing care and stimulation they need to meet their developmental milestones.

In Greece, there are 120,000 displaced individuals, including children and their families, many of whom are living with the effects of trauma alongside on-going stress, uncertainty, and adversity. For the past four years, Refugee Trauma Initiative (RTI) has been delivering Baytna - a trauma and identity-informed early childhood development program specially designed for refugee children and their caregivers living in Greece, with a focus on psychosocial support. Baytna program is funded by Help Refugees and Open Society Foundations.

In designing Baytna (which means ‘home’ in Arabic), we followed what the science tells about the power of creative expression, play, and relationships for healthy development and healing from adversity. It relies on in-person interactions between facilitators, children, caregivers and trauma- and identity-informed learning environments that are created.

Since mid-2019, we scaled up Baytna through a network of local organisations who we train and provide ongoing mentoring as part of a year-long capacity building program. As of early 2020, Baytna was running at five sites across Greece: two in Athens, and three in North Greece - Thessaloniki, Polikastro and Katerini.

Supporting displaced families amidst COVID-19

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide and Greek authorities began a strict lockdown, thousands of displaced families were suddenly forced to stay at their residence, and the usual nurturing interactions at Baytna became impossible as centres had to close.

It was important to continue supporting the families who attended Baytna so that they felt emotionally and socially supported - receiving care, feeling connected with a community, and having Baytna-inspired activities to do. In addition, consultations with people from displaced communities revealed the need for remote and innovative psychosocial support.

Online psychosocial support for families

Responding to the needs of displaced people, we developed psychosocial activity ideas for parents and their children - a taste of Baytna at home - which required either no materials or simple household items. The activity ideas for children from different ages were translated into various languages, both written and audio recordings, and shared with the families via the local partners (e.g. by text messages or phone calls). 

We, together with our partners, co-created interactive resources and videos for families, leveraging different strengths and the combined collaborative power of the Baytna network. These resources have been shared across social media and are available on RTI’s website.

Some examples include:

• Movement with Marianna, RTI
  
  
• Storytelling with Vaseilia (Athen’s Comic Library), Fatima (OCC) and Vasiliki, RTI
  
  
• Music and singalongs with Sofia and Miltos, Perichoresis
  
  
• Relaxation with Marianna, Elix

Simultaneously, we worked with partners to deliver activity care kits to families. These contained arts, craft, storytelling, and hygiene materials, as well as simple toys and posters. These were another sign of solidarity and continuity of Baytna program to families.

At times, caregivers reached out to Baytna facilitators to share their enthusiasm and gratitude for the activity ideas and videos, and to ask for advice about how to use them. Elix – a partner in Eleonas refugee camp in Athens - shared that caregivers asked how to modify the activities and also that some children recognised the activities from Baytna sessions and would teach their parents to do the same with excitement. Another Baytna partner - Athen's Comic Library - received videos from families of them trying out the activities at home, sometimes with their own unique approach.

It was very encouraging to see the Baytna activities and resources being shaped and adapted, as they were intended as inspiration to spark imagination, play, and bonding between children and their caregivers.

New era of programming

As Greece began lifting its lockdown from May 2020, the Baytna network has started to launch in-person programming again. The online resources will continue to be shared and created digitally. RTI colleagues share that it has been a joy to allow children who had already been attending Baytna to reconnect with their facilitators, if only by video, and to continue programming at a distance. It is even a greater joy to welcome children who live in other parts of Greece or in the other countries to access Baytna activities for the first time – and website statistics demonstrate the wide reach of the resources so far.

The Baytna network now has a growing bank of psychosocial resources and multimedia which are already being brought into their sessions. These can be used for any future lockdown situations, and to support RTI when training new Baytna partners. The recent collaborations have also strengthened the network and the connections between Baytna partners, fostering collaboration, sharing of ideas and development of language resources.

The COVID-19 crisis has reminded us of the power of a network, with shared values and vision, in responding with agility to changing needs of the communities we work with. Together, we can help to ensure that displaced children across Greece receive nurturing and quality care, and flourishing futures, amidst challenging and changing circumstances.

Written by Evelyn Wilcox, Head of Knowledge Management, Refugee Trauma Initiative, in collaboration with RTI team

Pictures:

1. Vasileia, a Storyteller and Baytna Facilitator at Athen's Comic Library, as she created a Baytna video

2. Activity sets sent to families during the COVID-19 lockdown.