Funded by the Erasmus+
Programme of the
European Union
The WE Learn and COMmunicate Ensemble (WELCOME) project will combine the efforts of eight relevant organisations from three European countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria) to create innovative products, which will contribute to increasing early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers’ competencies in addressing heterogeneous needs, level of achievement and individual abilities for learning among children in mainstream kindergartens. The project will also contribute to reducing disparities in learning outcomes affecting children with disadvantaged and/or from diverse backgrounds, in particular through an innovative comprehensive approach. The main priorities of the project are:
1.
Enhancing the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC)
At a time of unprecedented challenges, the importance of giving all our children a solid start by providing quality early childhood education is central to the European strategy for smart and sustainable growth, i.e. EU 2020.
In recent years, the importance of high quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been reflected in a high volume of joint reflection on policies and programmes between the European Commission and the Member States. Since the 2011 Council Conclusions on early childhood education and care, there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of early years institution-based provision, not only for parents' labour market participation, but also to mitigate socio-economic inequalities and most importantly for children's personal development.
In this regard the WELCOME project will design, pilot and implement an innovative manual and a 24/7 accessible App for smart devices that will support educators in their everyday work with children to ensure effective and accessible ECEC. Additionally, our aim is to train teachers on how to conduct interactive workshop-based activities with children to allow for complementing traditional methods with innovative approaches.
2.
Strengthening the profile of the teaching professions
calls for all teachers to develop competences and skills needed to deliver high quality education.
In line with this priority, the Commission staff working document: "Supporting the Teaching Professions for Better Learning Outcomes" states that teaching professionals are the most important determinants of how learners will perform; and it is what teachers know, do, and care about that matters.
In addition, the Council of the EU Conclusions on effective teacher education highlights that high quality teaching is widely acknowledged to be one of the key factors in achieving successful learning outcomes, by developing the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that children need in order to realise their full potential both as individuals and as active members of society and the workforce.
In this regard, the WELCOME project will offer structured, tested and validated activities, methods and techniques for teachers working with heterogeneous groups of children in ECEC that will contribute to the promotion and integration of all the values listed above.
3.
Open and innovative education, training and youth work, embedded in the digital era
The European Commission has emphasised – based on an analysis of the latest cross-national evidence and discussions with high-level experts - that access to universally available, high quality inclusive ECEC services is beneficial for all.
This priority also reflects European Commission’s “Opening up education” action plan and calls for teachers to acquire skills related to the use of modern technologies in organizing the learning process modern technologies in organizing the learning process. In addition, it promotes the creation of multilingual European open education resources.
To address this need, the WELCOME project will develop a mobile app in 4 language versions (EN, CZ, SK and BG), following all contemporary standards in learning apps development. This will allow teachers to apply and use interactive technologies on a daily basis and develop skills to integrate them in their normal teaching activity.
© 2016 Nakladatelství Dr. Josef Raabe, s.r.o.
