Knowledge Hub

Calendar with ideas for the family was developed by the Center for Interactive Pedagogy as an immediate response to COVID-19 pandemic. The resource was developed with the ultimate aim to support parents/caregivers in organizing activities for their children during self-isolation. The Calendar includes ideas for 31 activities which foster learning, exploration, and quality interaction among family members whereas at the same time encourage online exchange among families and children. The Calendar also invites parents/caregivers and children to document their day to day activities.

Although initially intended for families and caregivers, the Calendar can (and has been) used also my teachers and NGO’s working with families, in order to inform the (online) activities they organize for children and their families.

Bridge Back to School was created by the Irish National Autism Charity ‘AsIAm’ and education exper/researchers at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland, with the support of the supermarket chain SuperValu. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact society in unimaginable ways, with children identified as among a specific and vulnerable section of the population who have experienced the pandemic differently, notably from the removal of the stability in their lives that pre-school and school brings. COVID-19 has posed challenges for everyone globally and for many autistic people, the loss of structure and routine has been particularly challenging. While many have been struggling, there are also many who find the lack of pressure to go to school, social events and everyday activities a relief. However, as children return to education re-establishing routines in settings that may have changed substantially will be a challenge. Acknowledging that autistic children and their families have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bridge Back to School learning resource has been developed to help autistic children from early years to post-primary level prepare during the summer months to return to school in September.

The aim of the resource is to support a facilitator (parent, para-professional, teacher or home support worker) in working with an autistic student to support them in preparing for this transition back to pre-school and school through specifically addressing the challenges experienced by autistic children in managing transitions effectively. Based on the four key principles of promoting research-informed practice, universal design for learning, the centrality of student voice and adopting an autism-specific lens, the toolkit provides guidance in key areas that will enable autistic students to navigate the transition back to education as Ireland re-opens.The open access resource covers  key topics from social skills to “my first day back in school” and are augmented by an online bank of further information and activity sheets. A focus is maintained throughout the resource on adopting a strength-based approach; managing the transition back to school; the role of executive functioning in autistic children’s learning and development; communication and social skills; self-regulation from both a sensory and emotional perspective; motor skills and self-care. While Bridge Back to School  is firmly located in research on how best autistic children learn and develop, the resource is presented in an easily accessible manner to ensure that parents, teachers, para-professionals, home support workers and autistic children themselves can engage with, and benefit from the resource.  

The World Health Organization advises mothers to exclusively breastfeed their newborn babies for at least 6 months. In the Netherlands, a recent assessment of breastfeeding practices showed that 69% of the mothers start breastfeeding after birth. After one week this number declines to 58%, and to 47% after a month. At 6 months only 19% of babies are still breastfed.

Low rates of sustained breastfeeding are linked to challenges many mothers encounter during the first weeks, such as pain during breastfeeding or concerns about milk production. As a result, many mothers don’t stick to the breastfeeding aspirations and goals they set during or even before pregnancy. Mothers of newborns in the Netherlands indicated that they did not always get, or experience, the support they needed from care professionals, or know where to get breastfeeding guidance, especially after the support from maternity care ended. In this context, 10 design-elements for breastfeeding information and support were developed in collaboration with mothers of newborns and professionals.

These design-elements include the following recommendations: A) to define and adjust breastfeeding information to 1) the target audience and 2) the phase of breastfeeding, B) to address 3) personal breastfeeding attitudes or expectations, 4) personal breastfeeding wishes or goals, 5) possible actions and 6) good examples, C) to take into account, 7) the partner and broader social environment, 8) the basic needs of the baby, 9) the health care system, and D) to consider 10) the form of support. Elements 3, 4, 5, and 6 were based on behavior change theories on how to transfer from “knowing” to actually being motivated and perform and sustain breastfeeding.

Health organizations and professionals were encouraged to apply the 10 design-elements when providing (online) information and support to pregnant women and mothers of newborns about breastfeeding. For example, Centering Pregnancy, a new form of group care for pregnant women led by midwives, recently used the 10 design-elements. During Centering Pregnancy group sessions, pregnant women are encouraged to openly discuss both the advantages and challenges of breastfeeding and how they might overcome the latter. The group sessions have shown to have a positive effect on the uptake of breastfeeding. Centering Pregnancy has now recently applied the 10 design-elements in visual breastfeeding conversation cards, to help encourage discussions of solutions for breastfeeding-related challenges and activities that pregnant women can perform to prepare for breastfeeding.

When it comes to policies, strategies, and programs that support the inclusion of the most vulnerable and marginalized children, we cannot fail to consider the early childhood development (ECD) professionals with the same cultural and ethnic backgrounds as the children with whom they work.The Dream to Grow campaign shares 12 multipurpose advocacy stories, highlighting the successes of Roma ECD professionals who are supporting Roma children and families in their countries – celebrating the example they are setting for future generations. These inspiring stories highlight Roma ECD professionals’ different pathways to become who they are today, following Roma standing with dignity and pride, ready to shape Europe’s future, and rewrite the current narrative.Available in English, Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Ukrainian.

This resource summarizes the contents of the Peer Learning Activity (PLA) among ISSA members during 5 years, which focused on the WANDA methodology. WANDA is a co-reflective method aimed at improving early childhood education and care (ECEC) quality through staff group reflection on their practice.

The method has been developed by VBJK and Artevelde University College in Belgium (FL) and then re-adapted to the contexts of Czech Republic (Step by Step), Hungary (Partners Hungary Foundation), Croatia (Open Academy Step by Step), Slovenia (Educational Research Institute Step by Step), Estonia (Hea Algus).

It started with the WANDA meets ISSA project (ESF) and, given the high member take-up, through the ISSA Peer Learning Activities. In 2018, the seven above mentioned members organized a PLA in order to share and discuss ideas and possibilities concerning the use of the method and its further development. This resource is the report of this activity and it 1) gives an overview about the use of Wanda in each country, by reporting the results of a survey carried on locally; 2) reports an analysis and conclusions/suggestions at a local level (for each country involved) and on an international level, underlying needs and possibilities for further development of Wanda.

Besides being inspiring for the organizations already working with WANDA, the resource can be interesting for other ISSA members interested in co-reflecting methods for ECEC staff. It is foreseen for practitioners, researchers, coaches, trainers and policy makers.

Transitions across the home environment, early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and compulsory school education (CSE) mark significant changes in the life of children and their families and communities. Positive experiences of transition between educational levels can be a critical factor for children’s future success and development, while negative experiences can have lasting challenges leading to poorer educational performance, especially for more disadvantaged children. Adopting a more unified approach to caring and learning (educare) across educational settings in order to sustain continuity of children’s experiences over time, can significantly improve children’s educational achievement and socio-emotional development. In turn promoting inter-institutional professional learning communities of ECEC and primary school staff as well as involving parents in the transition process are considered to be key factors in ensuring successful transitions. Taking these crucial elements into account, practitioners and researchers from four different countries have collaborated in a transnational action-research study (START/Erasmus +) in order to foster warm and inclusive transitions across the early years. This final report will discuss the challenges of the lack of well thought out transitional practices on children and families, how this problem can be addressed and what the implications are for policies and practices in the EU and its member states (EU MS).

Learning through play has gained momentum in early childhood education and beyond. Yet translating well-meaning policies into concrete teaching practices is a complex process.

This technical brief by VVOB (1) zooms in on the proven positive effects of learning through play on a child's wellbeing and involvement in learning, (2) discusses characteristics and types of learning through play, and (3) delves deeper into VVOB's approach to implementing learning through play, with case studies from partner countries Vietnam and Zambia. 

These Policy Recommendations were written under the INTESYS Project, Erasmus+ Key Action 3 pilot project implemented in four European countries (Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia). INTESYS proposed and piloted an innovative Reference Framework and the Toolkit Towards Integrated Early Childhood Systems- Building the Foundations. The project aimed to support the early childhood actors at national/local level in their efforts to increase the cooperation and coordination among early childhood sectors and services, to better serve the young children and their families, especially the most disadvantaged.

During the INTESYS Project, an extensive literature review, interviews with key stakeholders more than 20 countries across Europe and lessons learned from the pilot interventions contributed to identifying several key factors that may support or hinder integration in the early childhood systems. 

One in a hundred Roma makes it to University, why is that? The study One in One Hundred: Drivers of Success and Resilience among College-Educated Romani Adolescents in Serbia, is a collaboration between the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (Harvard FXB) and the CIP - Center for Interactive Pedagogy ISSA's member from Belgrade, Serbia.

The research goes beyond the scrutiny of educational deficits and obstacles to find out what actually works.Although the focus of this research is on Serbia, the statistics (and related patterns) reverberate throughout Europe. As Dr. Margarete Matache, director of the FXB Roma Program, concludes, “Instead of focusing on Roma ‘behavior’ to improve the educational performance of Roma students, both research and policy development need to target the deeply prejudicial and rights-violative institutional and societal enviroments in which Roma try to access their right to education.”

Researchers studied the responses from surveys, interviews, and a “Writing Romani Lives” workshop conducted with 89 Romani adolescents who made it to college and 100 who did not. The findings showed that strong teacher and peer support systems, access to early childhood development services, and a high level of education among immediate family members corresponded to educational success.

This literature review, written under the EDUCAS project, investigates the meanings, relevance, and importance of physical indoor and outdoor space in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children from birth to school age. Authors map, synthesize and critically analyze the findings of studies carried out internationally as well as national studies from Italy, Lithuania, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Special attention is placed on the Educare approach and on the involvement of children and families in the discourse. Three specific questions guided the authorship of this review:

- how can space support children’s development?
- how can space support an Educare approach?
- how can space support the inclusion of all children and families?

The particular value of this literature review is the inclusion of both scientific international peer-reviewed publications and local contributions published in the national language of each country participating in the EDCUAS project (Italy, Lithuania, and Belgium).

Drawing from the findings of the literature review, implications for practice are discussed and some key recommendations are provided, to orient education professionals, researchers and policymakers on space issue in ECEC centers and its connection with an Educare approach.

Based on innovative global practice, Intergenerational Learning in Practice presents a unique contribution to the field of intergenerational learning. Drawing on the Together Old and Young (TOY) programme, this book provides a comprehensive background to intergenerational learning, along with tools and resources to help develop and improve your own intergenerational practice.

Experienced international authors from Europe, North America and Australia provide a broad array of perspectives on intergenerational learning, ranging from pedagogy to planning and community development, and cover topics including:

• The context, theory and existing research behind intergenerational learning
• The changing relationships between young children and older adults
• Building communities and services for all ages
• Managing everyday encounters in public spaces between young and old
• Ensuring quality in intergenerational practice
• Insights on how intergenerational learning challenges discrimination

Intergenerational Learning in Practice is a valuable resource for practitioners and leaders in Early Childhood Education and Care and those working in primary schools, as well as professionals caring for older adults, and those working in community development.

An extended literature review, interviews with stakeholders from more than 20 countries in Europe and the piloting experiences from Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia have contributed to the development of the innovative toolkit Towards Integrated Early Childhood Education and Care Systems – Building the Foundations, part of INTESYS project (Together: Supporting vulnerable children through integrated early childhood services) funded through the Erasmus+ Programme.

The Toolkit advances a Reference Framework for Integration in ECEC systems consisting of three building blocks of the process: Values and Principles, Key Factors and Quality Practices. The building blocks indicate the most important elements to be considered when working towards more and better integration in early childhood systems, across sectors, services, and levels of governance. The Toolkit proposes a journey for integration guided by the Reference Framework, following a cyclic process of change. Each phase is accompanied by guiding questions, envisaged outcomes, general recommendations, tips, lessons learned from the pilots conducted in the four countries and attuned tools to each phase of the process.

The Toolkit is meant to guide the path of various actors towards higher level of integration, while keeping in mind that the entire early childhood system (from macro policy to financing and front line quality delivery with qualified practitioners) has to work primarily for the benefit of every young child and their family.

While a lot of progress has been made in both early childhood education and gender-responsive education, less has been done on the crossroads of both. V.VVOB- education for development, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and public education partners in Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia have joined forces to develop a practical approach to gender-responsive pedagogy for early childhood education (GRP4ECE).

The toolkit is best used in trajectories of continuous professional development of teachers and school leaders, and empowers them to challenge gender stereotypes in the classroom. An environment free of stereotypes lays a firm foundation for young children to grow up freely exploring and developing their unique interests and talents. With some adaptations it can also be used with children under 3 years and in the primary school settings.

This toolkit represents the compilation of different programs and specific activities developed by ISSA and its members over the past 15 years. The backbone of the toolkit is ISSA’s core document Competent Educators of the 21st century: Princi­ples of Quality Pedagogy which focuses on process, quality and educators as agents of change and their power and ability (with more or less support) to enrich the lives of children, families and communities and thus of society in general. The main focus is on developing an understanding and respect for diversity that creates a climate in edu­cational institutions so that every child can thrive.

The entire toolkit acknowledges the knowledge that exists in communities and seeks ways to erase the resistant boundaries that can exist between educatio­nal institutions and some of the communities that they serve. The toolkit contains numerous tips, theoretical and conceptual explanations, more than 50 activities for children and 14 workshop sessions for educators. Sessions for educators can easily be combined with the sessions from Embracing diversity, creating equitable societies through personal transformation – Program for adults. 

For over 25 years, the Step by Step Program, flagship initiative for Early Childhood Education reform of the Open Society Foundations, has implemented a democratic child-centered classroom approach where families and children are placed at the heart of the pedagogical practice. For everyone to take advantage of the multiple benefits such a program delivers, ISSA is offering the comprehensive guide Child-centered Democratic, Pre-school classrooms: The Step by Step Approach specially addressed to early childhood educators and pre-school staff who work with children aged from 3 to 6 years.

Throughout its six chapters, the book provides both the theoretical background and the practical tools to implement evidence-based, high-quality practices that facilitate young children’s development and learning regardless of the national context. The book dives into everything from how to build strong partnerships with families and communities, strengthening their role as educators, to how to set the stage for active learning. A thorough explanation of the Step by Step approach is provided, detailing the promotion of a democratic, inclusive and respectful culture in the classroom- and outdoors- in which each child’s identity is reinforced. In addition to this, the reader is provided with a detailed methodology on the implementation and development of Step by Step competences in all areas of knowledge: Mathematics, Language and Literature; Civic and Culture; Science; Creative Arts; Technology and interactive media competences; Physical competences as well as tips on specific practices.

Mektebim is a women-led, child-centred, community-based, inclusive preschool business.

Our mission
To provide the sustainable community-based and inclusive Early Childhood Education (ECE) services for all children, including those who do not have the chance to study, due to location, disability, or poverty, through empowering and engagement of local women to entrepreneurship in preschool education business.

Mektebim program

The Program addresses below mentioned target groups from the low-income rural areas:

Currently Mektebim supports 24 active Mektebim schools in Azerbaijan in the following cities and regions: Baku, Sumgayit, Absheron, Gandja, Haciqabul, Lankaran, Shirvan, Zaqatala, Neftchala.

To ensure the sustainability of the program, we organise capacity building and awareness raising activities to empower women entrepreneurs who run Mektebim groups and strengthen their abilities to market their business in local communities. Right after joining Mektebim, our team provides selected women with preschool assets; training packages on preschool pedagogy and management, and the “Mektebim” brand name. the “Mektebim” brand name offers advantages such as a child-oriented preschool program, a single preschool design, and a country-wide PR. In later stages, women engage in Membership activities such as regular meetings, training, and conferences.

Mektebim is inspired by Step by Step approach and Azerbaijani Government National Curriculum for their program. All the kids can participate in the classes together to improve their creativity, critical and logical thinking, communication skills etc. to get fully ready for the school life later. Mektebim also involves parents in order to keep them updated about their child’s development and work together to achieve the best experience for the children.

Our supporters are:

Watch a video about the program here.

This guide documents the promising practices of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Play Hubs, which support integration of Roma at local level. The practices and the accompanying recommendations are based on the evidence from the TOY for Inclusion project piloted in seven countries. The guide is designed for practitioners and local authorities. It can assist them in the implementation of community-based ECEC services for Romani and other children to improve social cohesion. The guide also informs local, national and EU level policy-makers about how to use social and economic solidarity between cultures and generations to promote desegregation and inclusion. The recommendations presented in the guide complement one another and are most effective when implemented simultaneously. Together the practices and recommendations provide clear guidelines for a systemic approach and sustainable local solutions in both policy and in practice.