ISSA Launches New Publication to Promote the Importance of Quality in ECD Services

In October 2009, continuing its work on promoting importance of high quality of services  to support  children's development and learning in the early years, ISSA launched a revised version of its Pedagogical Standards: Competent Teachers of the 21st Century: ISSA's Definition of Quality Pedagogy during its 10th anniversary Conference. Competent Teachers of the 21st Century is a network-developed set of principles that promotes high  quality of interactions and  environment as crucial for successful development and learning of young children with the focus on those directly working with children.  It provides a framework for quality pedagogy and can be used as guidelines for teacher preparation and continuous professional development, supporting early years professionals from the classroom to the policy level.  Main values of ISSA are embedded in the definition of quality, such as the rights-based approach to education, to emphasize the responsibility of teachers to implement inclusive practices; the agency of the child and her/his active involvement in her/his own development; the young child as a citizen today with a strong voice, rights, and responsibilities; and ECD as a basis for and part of development of life-long learning competences.

There are seven areas outlined in the document:

  1. Interactions, 
  2. Families and Communities,
  3. Inclusion, Diversity and Values of Democracy,
  4. Assessment and Planning,
  5. Teaching Strategies,
  6. Learning Environment, and
  7. Professional Development.

These seven areas provide important principles for professionals, administrators, and policymakers in order to provide maximum support to children and their families. This document is also intended to serve as a basis for professional discussion, building and expanding partnerships, improving practices, and bringing change into the lives of young children in the countries of the ISSA network and beyond.

Defining and promoting quality in ECD with a focus on professionals has been an important aspect of ISSA’s activities and will remain such in the future because, as it was mentioned during the ISSA 10th anniversary conference, teachers are “the critical element of quality” (Dr. John Bennett) and “guardians of our future societies” (Prof. Stuart Shanker).

Several ISSA Member NGOs have already translated this publication and have started to incorporate its principles in their activities as well as to disseminate it among different stakeholders at national level.  For example, Kosovo Education Center (KEC), ISSA’s member organization in Kosovo, has already translated the document and developed tools for mentoring and monitoring of teachers’ performance, closely linked with the ISSA principles. KEC has trained more than 300 school principals and local educational authorities, who will support teachers in improving their work. During the Roundtable Quality Assurance in Early Childhood Education in Kosovo, organized by KEC on December 11, 2009, it was stressed that such an instrument is useful for engaging in discussion and developing common understanding on what quality pedagogy means.

ISSA is currently developing supporting materials to accompany Competent Teachers of the 21st Century, including a guidebook for teachers, Putting Knowledge into Practice, and a Continuum of Examples for Improving Quality Practice in ECD.  The guidebook follows the structure of the seven focus areas and discusses:

  1. Why each principle is important, including the philosophy, background, and research findings that support it;
  2. Examples of what constitutes good pedagogy under each of the principles, and indicators of quality;
  3. How educators can move forward to become agents of change in their schools, their communities, and their profession; and
  4. The importance of quality experiences for children’s development and learning in the early years.

The continuum describes how teachers can make a good start in improving their performance, what is evidence for further engaging in quality practice and how to move forward to sustainable and systemic change in the teaching paradigm and practice.  When finalized, the continuum can be used to develop a tool for teachers’ self-evaluation, self-improvement, mentoring and training, as well for assessment and monitoring purposes by different stakeholders.

ISSA believes that national and international stakeholders and decision makers, the international community of ECD practitioners, higher education faculty, parents, families and communities can find ways to use these resources. ISSA invites all stakeholders to use the principles included in Competent Teachers of the 21st Century as starting point for a discussion on what we want our societies to be in the future and what we can do to help our children create and live in such societies.

For more information about Competent Teachers of the 21st Century and ISSA work on quality pedagogy contact Aija Tuna.