Ec-Pec Foundation was established
in February 2001 with the intention of promoting
the child-centered Step by Step pedagogical program
in institutions (preschools, schools) educating
disadvantaged children, and supporting program
development in educational institutions already
using the program.
Ec-Pec Foundation’s
Programs
All ongoing programs
and those planned for the future have the common
mission of helping roma
children achieve school success. Our experience
and research results show that social disadvantage
automatically leads to disadvantage in the classroom,
and that the initial setbacks eventually lead to
students falling so far behind their peers that
they have no chance of catching up with them. We
believe that social disadvantage does not affect
ability; it only limits possibilities. The child-centered
approach and the selection of the appropriate method
present a feasible solution. We consider it one
of our responsibilities to help our affiliate institutions
in creating an environment and pedagogical ambiance
conducive to progress, since we are well aware
of the fact that the issue involves more than methodology.
We base all our initiatives on the assumption that
improvement cannot occur without the active participation
of those involved.
We know that we cannot complete
this job on our own, so we seek the cooperation
of teachers, parents,
students, municipalities, labor organizations,
representatives of the public sphere and other
organizations with similar visions.
Our foundation introduced the Step by Step training
program into the system of Hungarian in-service
teacher training. Our long-term goal is to provide
up-to-date training programs that take the teachers’ needs
and the institutions’ developmental programs
into consideration. Therefore we continue to improve
the Step by Step methodology and to enrich it with
new elements. Our trainings are conducted by twenty
highly qualified educators (who are also active
teachers). In order to maintain high professional
standards we place special emphasis on ongoing
training for our trainers.
Our Training Programs
60 hours of basic Step by Step training
for:
- preschool
- grade 1 and 2
- grade 3 and 4 teachers
30 hour long
(thematic) trainings related to the Step by Step
program:
- Project planning:
use of activity centers in the child-centered classroom.
Ways to integrate
subject matter.
- Differentiation – cooperative learning
and peer assistance.
- Child observation and ongoing evaluation – alternative
methods.
- Global reading and writing – the creative
writing process (development
of critical thinking).
- Project related work processes in teaching
mathematics.
- Natural sciences – learning by experience
and use of the research log.
Further Training Programs:
Anti-bias training
Our foundation represents Hungary as a full member
in the International Step by Step Association
(ISSA), an organization with members in 28 countries worldwide.
We also joined ISSA’s quality management
program in order to ensure high standards
in implementing the Step by Step program and high quality job performance
by educators and trainers.
We started to establish a national network
of model schools and regional centers.
The national
network
was created in order to decentralize our
training programs, thereby creating a training,
information
and professional support system that can
easily meet local needs.
Step by Step for
Critical
Thinking Association
Our foundation played an active role in
establishing the Step by Step for Critical
Thinking Association,
which provides ongoing professional support
for educators, a forum for discussing and
sharing ideas, and supports new initiatives
and the
creation
of
professional groups.
This association promotes both the Step
by Step Program and the Program for Critical
Thinking.
This latter provides a continuation in
upper grades of the Step by Step program.
Thus our
foundation
in cooperation with the association is
able to
provide a pedagogical, methodological reform
program for public educational institutions
intending to
remodel their teaching practices from the
preschool level through grade 8 (intermediate).
click to learn about Ec-Pec's projects
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