Brandišauskienė, Agnė

The internationally need to improve the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has created a steady interest in children’s play, both from researchers' and practitioners’ point of view. Play, despite its popularity as a pedagogical tool in ECEC, remains a complex issue that does not translate easily in practice. Teachers and parents talk about its importance but as research suggests they are often uncertain as to how they can best support it. EDUPLAY project is dedicated to enhancing the use of play in ECEC settings throughout Europe. EDUPLAY focuses on building the knowledge and capacity of in-service and pre-service ECEC teachers to make effective use of play and promote children’s early knowledge and skills. It aims to promote learning through play by involving a wide range of practices that pre and in-service ECEC teachers need to adopt so that children are afforded quality experiences and increased opportunities for developing their skills in dynamic ways. Structured around three key phases, the project aims to conduct extensive field research to understand the current state of play in ECEC and identify challenges teachers face in incorporating play into education and based on the findings create a tailor-made training package including a comprehensive teacher guide and training courses for ECEC teachers, offering practical strategies, pedagogical tools, and theoretical knowledge to effectively integrate play into their curricula. A pan-European network and learning community for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to share resources, discuss challenges, and collaborate on solutions for integrating play in ECEC settings will be established. Through EDUPLAY activities, policy recommendations will be derived in an effort to inform and guide educational policymakers to promote play in all-day ECEC settings across Europe.

Šiuo projektu siekiama įvertinti ikimokyklinio ugdymo turinį ir parengti duomenimis pagrįstas ikimokyklinio ugdymo programų, metodinės medžiagos rengimo ir atnaujinimo, mokyklos bendruomenės profesinio mokymosi (kvalifikacijos tobulinimo) rekomendacijas.

Vykdant projektą numatyta apsibrėžti teoriniu lygmeniu ir naujausiais moksliniais tyrimais pagrįstus ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaiko raidai palankaus ugdymo ir ugdymosi kriterijus. Remiantis jais atlikti įvairių ikimokyklinio ugdymo mokyklų (įstaigų) programų analizę, įvertinti metodinių priemonių panaudojimą ir numatyti visos mokyklos bendruomenės kvalifikacijos tobulinimo(si) poreikį.

Pažymėtina, kad atliktas tyrimas formuos sisteminį požiūrį į ikimokyklinį ugdymą, kaip į nuoseklios švietimos sistemos pirmąjį žingsnį ir suteiks tvirtą pagrindą kurti kokybišką ikimokyklinį ugdymo turinį, derantį su pagrindiniais vaiko raidos principais, naujausiais mokslo pasiekimais ir atnaujinamomis priešmokyklinio ir bendrojo ugdymo programomis.

TEACH-UP (TEACHer Upskilling Policy experimentation) builds on the ET2020 Working Group on Schools’ work highlighting the need for quality teacher education on the new role and competences of teachers throughout their career. To meet this need, TEACH-UP aims to design, implement, evaluate and disseminate a policy experimentation by: Developing online courses for teachers in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on topics related to their new role: Teacher collaboration, Personalising learning, Formative peer assessment and Creativity. Testing and comparing two different instructional designs and delivery modes in a randomised controlled trial. Running multi stakeholder national and European Dialogue Labs. With 17 partners (ministries of education, teacher education and research organisations) in 13 countries coordinated by European Schoolnet, TEACH-UP informs policy action in teacher education by providing institutional, local, regional, central and EU policy makers with concrete evidence from field trials on the: Comparative efficacy and cost-effectiveness of different modes of online courses, for ITE or CPD. Optimal conditions for securing high retention rates in online courses for teachers, including the role of self-regulated learning. Conditions under which peer assessment can be reliably used in online teacher education, building and recognising teachers’ capacities as reflective and networked practitioners.