HERACLELAB - UNIVERSITA’ NICCOLO CUSANO - ROMA

PROGRAMME: ERASMUS+

KA2 - Cooperation Partnership

DEADLINE: 22/03/2023 h 12:00

P.O.S.I. Project (Planning and Observation in Service for Infancy)

The project shows the creation and use of a tool for the 0-6 age group, aimed at service educators and preschool teachers, to support observation and planning skills and to improve educational and pedagogical practices. The construction of in-depth knowledge of the children takes place through observation, which detects useful data and helps to implement functional and inclusive planning at the group/section level, taking into account the specificities of individuals.

The aim of the project is to make the tool available nationally and internationally to nursery schools and kindergartens in inclusive planning by facilitating the observation and understanding of development, learning and participation processes. The result is the ability to assess and redesign in a "targeted and appropriate" way to enhance each person’s potential, in a transversal and vertical perspective.

The objectives are:

1. to promote the culture and awareness of understanding the interconnection of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes and the role of educators and the context in the development and learning processes;

2. to improve analytical observation, for the correct development of competencies in children, identifying critical points;

3. to develop a methodology that leads to effective and functional planning starting from systemic and ecological observation;

4. to support and strengthen the relationship between special educational needs and the ICF;

5. to identify developmental anomalies at an early stage.

The hypothesis is that the tool helps teachers and educators to improve learning processes by promoting the recognition of early or latent signs. The identification of excellences or difficulties facilitates a targeted, synergic and integrated intervention in the context.

The project is based on an inter/transdisciplinary and inter-professional dialogue. Scientific (descriptive) observation dialogues with subjective (interpretative) observation, strengthening the potential and preventing the drift of the two approaches considered separately.

The steps are:

1. development of the tool, with detection of needs and resources through discussion with educators, teachers and managers, then redesign and definition by the research team;

2. experimentation in services and pre-schools;

3. monitoring/evaluation and dissemination.

The tool has two sections (0-3 and 3-6 years), each divided into two areas: observation of children and the context; design, planning and evaluation of educational and pedagogical activities.

An asynchronous training session for educators and teachers introduced the tool, explaining its purpose and assimilating its rationale. The activity promoted the learning of new skills in observation, reading the data collected, designing an educational intervention, its planning and autonomy in its use, with continuous monitoring and support for skills development.

By sharing good practices across Europe, it will be possible to make the observation items more specific and to test the observation and design model in order to create learning fields that are effective for children's bio-psycho-social development, enhancing a child-centred approach. The observation sheets have already been developed, and a cloud-based web application needs to be created, hosted by a web server, and interfaced in turn with a database server, where data storage will take place. The web application will be accessible from different types of devices (computers, notebooks, tablets and smartphones), equipped with an Internet connection, and will therefore have to provide interfaces supported by the different devices. Access to the application will take place after registration and authentication.

Impact on the Erasmus education and school education priority: Developing high-quality early childhood education and care systems; Tackling learning disadvantage, early school leaving and low basic skills; Impact on the Erasmus transversal priority: Inclusion and diversity in all areas of education, training, youth and sport.

PARTNER: We are looking for Universities, Associations of School Principals, Early Childhood Education and School Networks (at least 4 countries participating in the program)

To apply as a HeracleLab-Cusano partner, please answer the following points

1. 1. 1. 1. Are you able to help us with the development of the web application?
         2. Describe your network of educators and teachers (add quantitative and qualitative indicators) able to test the tool
         3. Where is your institution/organisation located in the network?
         4. What are the main needs of your country's education and school system?
         5. What is your country’s scenario regarding guidelines for the 0-6 age group within the education and school system?
         6. Why would this project represent an innovation in your country?
         7. To what extent could it work in your country/ among your network?
         8. Do you have any other proposals related to our topic? Let us know...