ISSA’s Core Members
Established in the Netherlands in 1999, ISSA’s network today stretches across
the globe from Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia, Asia, and the Americas.
While ISSA offers general membership and information-sharing to all interested individuals
and organizations, ISSA’s core members are the 29 non-governmental organizations, located
primarily in Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia, that implement the Step by Step Program
initiated by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in 1994. Within its network, ISSA supports a wide
array of programs that collectively provide a comprehensive set of educational services and
advocacy tools intended to influence policy reform for families and children, with a special
focus on the years from birth through primary school.
Contact Information for ISSA's Core Members:
Click here for a list of ISSA's Core Members. (0.9 MB pdf)
ISSA Provides Its Core Members With:
- Professional development and capacity-building;
- Information-sharing and networking opportunities;
- Technical support;
- International advocacy;
- Small grants for specific projects;
- Publications; and
- Invitations to an annual conference and other events.
Services for Core Members Include:
- Providing resources, technical assistance, and training in ECD, in a variety of areas including creating child-centered,
interactive, and inclusive environments in preschool and primary classrooms; supporting education that values democracy,
diversity, and social justice; promoting parent empowerment; and offering bilingual education, among others.
- Training,
mentoring and providing support for reaching a common understanding
about quality pedagogy in ECD, based on the ISSA Pedagogical Principles
Competent Educators of the 21st Century: ISSA’s Definition of Quality
Pedagogy in English and in Russian
- Developing training programs/modules, curricula and teaching materials for different audiences.
- Providing information on relevant resources, including databases of ECD Resources
- Illustrated children’s picture books that are available in different languages and include guidelines for educators and parents.
Additional Network Information:
Newsletter
ISSA’s e-newsletter
provides the ECD community with snapshots of activities within the ISSA
network, helping members and partners keep abreast of new developments
in research and practice in ECD throughout the world.
Each year ISSA organizes an Annual Conference, bringing together early childhood
experts from the region and beyond, to exchange ideas and experiences. Learn more.
As a spin-off organization, ISSA receives generous financial support from the
Open Society Institute (OSI), and over the years it has developed a close
cooperation with OSI in several program areas. Ten years after it was established,
ISSA continues to build upon the substantial investment and success of OSI’s
Step by Step Program, and upon the vibrant network and movement resulting from
the program, with the aim of improving the lives of children and their chances
for success in life. ISSA has grown to become the pre-eminent early childhood
development network in Central Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Members of the ISSA network work closely with local and national educational authorities
and other key stakeholders in their country. The network’s professional development programs
as well as its preschool and primary-school methodology have been recognized and included in
the official list of services by several Ministries of Education in the region. The ISSA Pedagogical
Standards have influenced and supported the development of national policies, as well as other documents
and initiatives in the field of ECD.
ISSA is proud to have developed successful partnerships with other major international organizations,
donors, and networks working in the area of ECD, including UNICEF, Diversity in Early Childhood
Education and Training, IBM, Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood
Care and Education, the World Forum Foundation, the European Early Childhood Education Research Association,
the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking International Consortium, the Council for Exceptional
Children, Children in Europe, Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries, and Sardes Educational Services.
In partnership with its member organizations ISSA has successfully implemented several projects
funded by the European Commission, focusing on integration, inclusion, multilingualism, second
language learning and education for social justice. As an example, the project Effective Teaching
and Learning for Minority Language Children in Pre-school, implemented with members from Slovakia
and Estonia, has been selected by the European Commission to be included in a brochure,
"Creativity and Innovation – Best Practice from EU Programmes."
ISSA is open to exploring new partnerships and is eager to engage in joint initiatives that aim to
strengthen democracy, encourage active civic participation, promote quality teaching, and celebrate
diversity and inclusion.
Links to ISSA's partners.
|
