Workshops
SUPPORT TO EARLY EDUCATORS TO FACE CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: MEDIA EDUCATION AND VALUES Eva Szalma, European Distance and E-Learning Network, United Kingdom, Begoña Arenas Romero, Scienter España, Spain, Laura Fedeli, University of Macerata, Italy, Elvira Sánchez-Igual, World Association of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI-WAECE), Spain, Svenja Pokorny, Pier Giacomo Sola, Amitie, Italy, Vojko Strahovnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Bruno Čurko, Association Petit Philosophy, Croatia The state of the art in staff development in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is related to the fragmented situation of systems and provisions across EU: a common vision for childcare services is currently lacking in Europe; just as levels of investment differ greatly between Member States, picture also varies significantly in relation to childcare workforce. Childcare workers are qualified in all aspects of ECEC in some country (must hold a degree and be involved in continuous training) where in other countries they don’t have formal education path and recognized professional profile. Given this varied background in the EU, there are no common recommendations/curricula, and there are very few possibilities of sharing and peer support. Research has proven that childhood education is the most important phase to initiate a healthy development. The current crisis has shown that the challenges of Europe are not merely economic or political, but also cultural and ethical. Ethical education and critical thinking have a key role in forming an ethical mature human being. Despite this, practices, experiences and opportunities for teachers to obtain knowledge in this field vary significantly, as it is the case with the presence of innovative educational approaches. In several EU and candidate countries education professionals belong to groups with the lowest opportunities for professional development and continuous education and training. The need is clearly recognized by EU (ET2020). The joint workshop of the NEST (Network of Staff and Teachers in Childcare Services) and the ETHOS (Ethical education primary and pre-primary schools for a sustainable and dialogic future) projects promotes the better understanding of the learning needs, resources and support for the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) field. The workshop builds on the synergies of the above two projects, pinpointing two contemporary issues that professionals working with 0-6 aged children face are digital media education and values education. These are fields that their formal training might have been lacking with providing them with clear guidelines and there is a growing need for learning opportunities (informal and non-formal) and resources as well as for a dialogue. The workshop gives a recital of the national experiences and main issues in the different national working groups (from Finland to Greece), as well as the trials and tribulations of the partnership in forming an online community with professionals that are in very different level of ICT maturity. The interactive part will be divided between digital media education and values education and participants will be invited to search and identify solutions to the questions and issues presented from a problem solving approach.
Digital media education Video game education is a research field whose range of action addresses a variety of dimensions under the area of studies about the so called new media. Children are currently fully involved in the digital world and the investigations run at international levels aim at underlining the impact of the digital game-based education and the ways it can affect the development of competences, attitudes and behaviours at an early age. A specific issue in this area of interest is the “rating” systems currently available at European level (e.g. PEGI) to support parents and educators.
Values education Ethical education encompasses a wide variety of topics and approaches and has to be sensitive to its multidimensional and deep anthropological nature. The ETHOS partnership has opted for 5 key topics that are combined with a “multiples intelligences” approach and methodologies from the field of philosophy for children. The developed and available learning materials are also results of the training needs analysis (in which 150 teachers and 214 parents completed dedicated questionnaires). The 5 key areas are: Friendship, Moral values, Respect, Responsibility, and Tolerance. During the workshop we will present the approach followed by testing the existing resources and will ask the participants to help us supporting teachers when selecting resources.
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