Knowledge Hub
All the resources stored here have been created by ISSA Members
or ISSA Secretariat in partnership with Members or partners.
Professional Development Tool for Improving Quality of Practices in Kindergarten
Professional Development Tool for Improving Quality of Practices in Kindergarten illustrates each of the 85 indicators of quality in the ISSA Principles of Quality Pedagogy. It shows how early childhood educators advance and move on a continuum from inadequate practice, to a good start, to quality practice and then into transformational practice. Concrete examples of the different kinds of action educators may take at different levels of practice are given for each indicator of quality, in a continuum format. The tool was designed to foster a dialogue on quality when different perspectives can be presented and reflected upon.
The examples are meant to be changed based on the specific and diverse contexts that educators work in, and not as fixed indicators.
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfa5028979a5a0010525_ISSA-PDT%20Preschool-EN-excerpt-kinderg-pp1-21.pdf"][label="read the excerpt"]
Published in:
2012
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Instrument for Assessing Quality Practices in Early Childhood Education Services for Children from 3 to 10 Years Old
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985ce95b64497b92fbcb34f_ISSA-Assessment-Instrument-Excerpt.pdf"][label="read the excerpt"]
Published in:
2012
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
ECD-QUAT: Quality Assessment Tool for Early childhood Development Services for Young Children
Ensuring quality in early years services is essential for young children's well-being and healthy development. The Early Childhood Development Quality Assessment Tool or ECD QUAT developed by ICDI is a free and accessible tool for practitioners, parents and communities to jointly measure and improve the quality of services where young children spend their time. The six dimensions of the ECD QUAT: child friendliness; connectedness; safety, health and protection; staffing; sustainability and agency are based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
ICDI believes that quality measurements gain additional meaning when framed in open and ongoing discussions, where contextual variables, inputs from all stakeholders, values, visions and dreams all have a place. Ultimately, there has to be a commitment by all involved to improve quality for children and their families. The ECD QUAT is designed to support this process. It can be adapted for use in a wide variety of services for young children such as daycare centres, pre-schools, kindergartens, toy-libraries and home based provision. The ECD QUAT is also available in other versions: for toy libraries, for ECEC Play Hubs.
Published in:
2012
Organization(s):
ICDI - International Child Development Initiatives
Language:
Contact:
Margaret Kernan, margaret@icdi.nl
Quality Resource Pack
The culmination of many years of work in defining and promoting quality pedagogy, ISSA’s Quality Resource Pack proposes a practice-research-policy blended approach to quality, enabled by various tools that can be used with practitioners, pre- and in-service trainers, supervisors, parents and policy makers. The package is grounded in ISSA’s Competent Educators for the 21st Century, a policy document that proposes ISSA’s Definition of Quality Pedagogy.
The Quality Resource Pack is a comprehensive set of tools, which aims to:
- Facilitate the process of building a shared understanding around quality practices among practitioners, managers, parents, children and policy makers.
- Support and provide guidance to preschool and primary school practitioners in improving their everyday practice by enriching and expanding their competences through self- and group reflection, video recording, peer learning and cooperation, being part of professional learning communities and engaging in continuous dialogue with parents and communities
- Inspire pre- and in-service training providers with strategies and instruments to nurture sustainable mechanisms for continuous quality improvements.
Given its complex and systemic approach to quality, the pack provides the opportunity to address a wide range of target audiences, such as: educators (individuals or professional communities), pre-service and in-service training institutions, parents (individuals or associations), communities, policy makers, education authorities, pre-school/school administrators, evaluators, researchers, mass media, as well as the general public. Specific ways of addressing different audiences, as well as ways of introducing the resource pack or its individual resources, need to be carefully explored by those working with the resources.
The resources in ISSA's Quality Resource Pack have been developed using the expertise of ISSA members with generous support from the Open Society Foundations.
The Quality Resource Pack includes guidebooks and tools that complement each other, but can also be used separately. Some of them can be freely accessed, and some of them are subject to purchasing a license to use them. All the resources in the Quality Resource Pack are:
- The ISSA Principles of Quality Pedagogy (ISSA, 2010)
- Putting Knowledge into Practice: a Guidebook for Educators on the ISSA Principles of Quality Practice (ISSA, 2012)
- The Professional Development Tools for Improving Quality of Practices (in Kindergarten) (ISSA, 2012
- The Professional Development Tools for Improving Quality of Practices (in Primary School) (ISSA, 2012)
- Instrument for Assessing Quality Practices in Early Childhood Education Services for Children from 3 to 10 Years Old (ISSA, 2013)
- An Online Video Library on Quality Pedagogy (2012)
- Professional Learning Communities (2016)
- Leaflets for Advocacy Initiatives for Quality Practices (ISSA, 2014)
- Invest in Quality Teachers
- Give your child the best start
- Early Childhood Educators Change Lives
- Roads to Quality: Strengthening Professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings (ISSA, 2016)
Published in:
2012
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
The Ecology of Peace: Formative Childhoods and Peace Building
AÇEV Foundation, ISSA’s member organization in Turkey, is please to share this report, which is the result of a joint project. Yale University, UNICEF, AÇEV Foundation, the Fetzer Institute and other global partners have embarked on a joint initiative to achieve the common objective of analyzing the linkages between early childhood development (ECD) and peace building through scientific research, to disseminate results and advocate for better policies on global platforms - as a pathway to sustainable peace.
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985ce36a00c77551ab8c74b_peacebuilding_ecd_slides.pdf"][label="Download"]
Published in:
2012
Language:
Contact:
Nur Sucuka, nur.sucuka@acev.org
Activity Book for Early Childhood Educators
Activity book for early childhood educators contains a body of activities for early childhood educators for planning for integrated teaching using a thematic approach. The main purpose of this book is to help professionals, and give hints and ideas to creatively plan activities for children from 2 to 6. In particular, this activity book uses the rhymes and stories created by Georgian poetess Teona Beqishvili. The resource was created for Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia) kindergartens, but in few years it was scaled up to the entire country.
Published in:
2012
Organization(s):
Ilia State University
Language:
Contact:
Khatuna Dolidze, khatuna.dolidze.1@iliauni.edu.ge
Diversity and Social Inclusion - Exploring Competences for Professional Practice in Early Childhood Education and Care
The booklet Diversity and Social Inclusion - Exploring Competences for Professional Practice in Early Childhood Education and Care booklet is a result of the ISSA and DECET (Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training network) Working Group on Professionalism with the support from Bernard van Leer Foundation. It was created to highlight the need for the professional Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) communities to recognize, respect and embrace diversity and equality as part of their ECEC professional engagement.
Based on interviews with more than 120 ECEC professionals from Belgium (Flemish Community), France, Ireland, Serbia, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, Scotland and England, fundamental and essential competences for ECEC providers in addressing diversity and equality issues were defined as well as five specific competences. It includes quotes from practice which are inspiring and which are showing that those working in ECEC have an openness to grow and learn with the children and families in their services. These competences challenge the profession to explore personal and collective values and holistically embrace diversity and social inclusion. The booklet can also be used as a training tool.
Published in:
2011
Organization(s):
DECET & ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Contact:
Zorica Trikic, ztrikic@issa.nl
My Reflective Diary: ISSA Pedagogical Principles
My Reflective Diary: ISSA Pedagogical Principles is developed around the ISSA Principles of Quality Pedagogy. It can be used to document professionals on-going changing understandings of different principles as they work together in learning communities to go deeper into the concepts presented.
Published in:
2011
Organization(s):
Centre for Quality in Education Step by Step
Language:
Contact:
Jerneja Jager, korakzakorakom@pei.si
Putting Knowledge into Practice: A Guidebook for Educators on ISSA's Principles of Quality Practice
Putting Knowledge into Practice: A Guidebook for Educators is a reference book that describes in depth each of the Principles of Quality Pedagogy and the related Indicators. The Guidebook connects theory with practice and research and provides clear examples on how to use the Quality Principles. Lastly, it makes evident how children benefit from teachers using the quality tools consistently.
Published in:
2011
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Professional Development Tool - tool for gathering examples on ISSA quality principles
Professional Development Tool - a tool for gathering examples on ISSA quality principles is a tool used for identifying and documenting examples of good practice in teachers' practice (peer observation, etc.) on specific ISSA quality principles and indicators. Teachers use these examples for reflective discussion for developing common understanding. The tool can be used in professional learning communities or in the mentoring process.
button[src="https://issa.nl/sites/default/files/www-issa/pdf/resources/28-Vsa%20pedago%C5%A1ka%20podro%C4%8Dja%20skupaj-all%20focus%20areas.pdf"][label="Download"]
Published in:
2011
Organization(s):
Step by Step Centre for Quality Education
Language:
Contact:
Jerneja Jager, korakzakorakom@pei.si
Study on the Implementation of ISSA's Pedagogical Standards (2001-2008)
Study on the implementation of ISSA's Pedagogical Standards (2001-2008) was developed to evaluate the impact of the work done by ISSA members in 27 countries on quality assurance and improvement. The study examines the role of the ISSA Pedagogical Standards (2003) as they were implemented through certification, mentoring, training and as part of broader initiatives for improving quality of preschool and primary school care and education. The results of the study showcase how the ISSA Standards influenced changes on different levels : individual teacher practice, level of educational institutions, community culture, and national policy. The study also includes case studies, best practices and lessons learned across the ISSA network.
The outcomes are documented in terms of how the standards influenced three levels of implementation: individual teacher practice, educational systems and school and community culture, and national policy. The final results of the study:
- Present a comprehensive summary of the scope of implementation across the network
- Identify best practices and lessons learned
- Include country profiles for each Step by Step NGO
- Provide information to for developing a further strategy for ISSA's work on quality improvement
- Include case studies and a final analysis
The study is also available in Russian
The full report was made available to ISSA members. For more information, contact admin@issa.nl
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfe6cfff02717baae302_Implementation-Quality-Executive-Summary-FINAL.pdf"][label="Download"] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfe8b64497b92fbd1bc2_Implementation-Quality-Executive-Summary-RUS.pdf"][label="Russian"]
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
The Coconut Tree
Arielle is given a little coconut plant as a present. She plants the tree, watches it grow, bloom flowers and finally produces coconuts. A hurricane does major damage to many of the neighborhood plants including uprooting the coconut tree. The cycle of life goes on when two small coconuts are found and are planted, giving rise to two new plants.
Written by Ghyslaine Rochelin (Haiti)Illustrated by Olivier Bertoni (Haiti)
Price: € 9,99
Picture Book Preschool 8.25 x 8.25 in. - 32 pages - paperback
Copyright 2010
Please click on the links below to order this book in the language of your choice and for shipping from the most convenient location. (Books will be purchased and shipped from amazon.com (US), amazon.co.uk (UK) or amazon.de (Germany).
Language
ISBN#
Buy from US
Buy from UK
Buy fromGermany
Creole
978-1-60195-319-3
English
978-1-60195-322-3
French
978-1-60195-318-6
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Early Childhood Development and Education in Emergencies: Country Profiles from the CEE/CIS Region
The publication, Early Childhood Development and Education in emergencies: country profiles from the CEE/CIS region presents the existing emergency preparedness resources and plans for protecting children’s rights and meeting their needs in five countries in the CEE/CIS region (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Tajikistan). It was created under the partnership project between UNICEF, ECARO and ISSA in 2009 with the purpose of showcasing an overview of the emergency context in the five countries, highlighting common issues which need to be addressed as countries further develop their emergency response and plans to ensure that young children are protected and their needs as well as needs of their families are met.
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cc68fefdf169b52678ef_Unicef-country-profiles-final.pdf"][label="Download"]
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Competent Educators of the 21st Century: Principles of Quality Pedagogy
Competent Educators of the 21st Century: Principles of Quality Pedagogy is a policy document that defines quality teaching practices when working with children from 3 to 10 years old, and their families, to better support the child's holistic development and well-being.
After a brief description on how these principles came to pass and to whom they apply, the resource clarifies 7 Focus Areas of Quality that form the framework. Thereafter, 20 specific principles are being explained, followed with no less than 85 indicators on how and where to apply the principles in Early Childhood Education and Care daily practices.
Click on the cover to download the PDF in the other languages
French Spanish
Russian
Competent Educators of the 21st Century: Principles of Quality Pedagogyis a policy document that defines quality teaching practices when working with children from 3 to 10 years old, and their families, to better support the child's development and well-being.
This resource contains:
- A brief history of the development of the Principles, including references to the international documents on which they are built
- Explanations of the values the Principles represent for ISSA and its member NGOs
- Short suggestions for how they can be used and by whom
- Brief descriptions of each of the 7 Focus Areas that provide the framework for the Principles of Quality Pedagogy
- A list of the 20 Principles and the 85 Indicators that describe how to apply these Principles.
In addition to the to the four full PDF versions, ISSA has translated the Quality Principles into two Romani dialects: Vlaxicko and Rumungricko. Download the printable leaflet versions by clicking on the images below.
Vlaxicko Rumungricko
The Principles are accompanied by an enabling Quality Resource Pack that is meant to help unpack and translate the principles into practice. The Quality Resource Pack is available only to licensed ISSA members. For more information, contact us.
button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfb7cfe21592332c7034_Quality-Principles-final-WEB.pdf"][label="Download"] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfb8fac0a43475a91e19_ISSA_Pedagogical-Principles-French.pdf"][label=""] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfb9c68523b77a02893c_Competent_Educators_of_the_21st_Century-SPANISH.pdf"][label=""] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfbb6ca73e3f96db8458_Competent_Educators_of_the_21st_Century-RUS.pdf"][label=""] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfbccfff02717baacced_ISSA-Pedagogical-Standards_BG_Final.pdf"][label=""] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfbd0eedb04db5b277d6_ISSA-Folded-Poster-Vlaxicko-A3-2016-05-26.pdf"][label=""] button[src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/694724257114b734f4bb749a/6985cfbe028979a5a00115b5_ISSA-Folded-Poster-Rumungricko-A3-2016-05-26.pdf"][label=""]
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
Early Learning & Development Standards for Children (0-7)
Early Learning and Development Standards for Children from Birth to 7 (ELDS) and Early Childhood Development Teacher Standards are coupled to reinforce a holistic approach to child learning and development through child-centered practices. The ELDS, along with traditionally addressed physical and cognitive domains, bring into the foreground the socio-emotional domain, language and communication, as well as attitudes towards learning. All five domains are interrelated and each domain is explicated through standards and indicators.
The document is structured around 4 developmental periods - 0-18 , 19- 36, 37-60, and 61-84 months. The indicators are specific to the age of children and are hierarchically organized depending on their complexity. For each indicator there are suggested relevant activities and learning contexts that adults can use to support the achievement of the expectations formulated by standards. The documents states that the indicators should NOT be considered an exhaustive list of steps to be followed by exactly and in the same way/at the same rate by every child, it is NOT to be used as an evaluation document either with children or teachers.
button[src="http://mecc.gov.md/sites/default/files/www-issa/ro_standarde_reeditare.pdf"][label="Download"]
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
Step by Step Educational Program
Language:
Contact:
Cornelia Cincilei, ccincilei@gmail.com
Early Childhood Programs as the Doorway to Social Cohesion: Application of Vygotsky's Ideas from an East West Perspective
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association
Language:
ECD Teachers National Professional Standards
button[src="https://mecc.gov.md/sites/default/files/www-issa/ro_standarde_reeditare.pdf"][label="Download"]
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
Step by Step Moldova
Language:
Contact:
Cornelia Cincilei, ccincilei@gmail.com
Rita and the Parrot
Rita finds a young parrot in the garden and brings it home. The parrot learned to repeat everything Rita said, driving her parents crazy. Fearing her parents will force her to let the parrot go, Rita decides to run away with the parrot. The misadventure and Rita are saved from disaster by the talking parrot.
Written by Marie Carole Jeune (Haiti)
Illustrated by Larimer Saincilus (Haiti)
Picture Book Preschool
8.25 x 10.25 in. - 32 pages - paperback
Copyright 2010
Catalog:
Books for children
SKU: 2919121
Please click on the links below to order this book in the language of your choice and for shipping from the most convenient location. (Books will be purchased and shipped from amazon.com (US), amazon.co.uk (UK) or amazon.de (Germany).)
Language
ISBN#
Buy from US
Buy from UK
Buy fromGermany
Creole
978-1-60195-317-9
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
English
978-1-60195-321-6
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
French
978-1-60195-316-2
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
Image: Author: Marie Carole Jeune Date of publication: December, 2010Price: €0,00
Published in:
2010
Organization(s):
ISSA - International Step by Step Association