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| International Step by Step Association - Electronic Newsletter Fall/Winter 2007 |
ISSA - An innovative network of early childhood development professionals and organizations primarily in Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia working to make quality early childhood education accessible to all children Calendar of events:
What's New2007 EECERA Conference “Exploring Vygotsky’s Ideas: Crossing Borders”ISSA recently hosted the 17th Annual EECERA conference, which took place in Prague, Czech Republic 30 August 1 September in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference explored the work of Lev Vygotsky and the influence of his ideas in current research and practice worldwide. The conference provided a great opportunity for researchers and educational professionals from Eastern and Western Europe and from around the globe to meet, with 760 participants from 53 countries. In addition to other information on the conference, ISSA would like to share with you Gita Vygotskaya’s (Vygotsky’s daughter’s) greetings to conference participants. A video of her greeting is available on the conference website with English dubbing along with the English and Russian text of her speech. Presentations from the one-day reserach seminar on qualitative research and pictures from the conference have been also posted. Please visit the site time to time - even though the conference is over, ISSA is constantly updating the site with materials and information about the conference. ISSA is currently in the process of uploading all presentations. For more information, visit: http://www.easyprague.cz/eecera2007/ Save the date: 2008 ISSA ConferencePlease note that the dates of ISSA’s 9th Annual Conference have been changed, the new dates are: 9-12 October, 2008. The event, “Active Citizenship: Democratic Practices in Education from Socially Responsive Classrooms to Socially Responsible Societies” will take place in Budapest, Hungary. Reading Corner New DevelopmentsISSA is excited to announce a new contract with IBM, in which ISSA has developed a series of activity kits to accompany Reading Corner books for distribution to IBM employees in Belgium, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. ISSA has created and printed separate kits for three different age groups. Each kit outlines a series of fun learning activities which parents or caregivers can use with four age-appropriate Reading Corner books. IBM is so pleased with the activities that they have placed a new order for the kits for their employees in France, Russia, South Africa, and Spain. Programs and ProjectsThe Program Division supports the implementation of ISSA’s mission by building the capacity of its members to ensure high quality education for all children in their countries. The Division strives to reach these goals by providing professional development opportunities; increasing partnerships and networking; ongoing fundraising to support the activities of the program; and strengthening the ability to document and initiate evaluation and research. Quality Early Education Program (QEEP)The goal of the QEEP is to promote excellence in early childhood pedagogy that supports achieving strong academic and social outcomes of children. Through QEEP, ISSA provides professional development support to educators working in infant/toddler programs, preschools and kindergartens, and early primary school through training, mentoring, and the development of educational resources that stress developmentally appropriate practice, holistic child development, and active family participation. The QEEP team has produced a draft revision of the ISSA Pedagogical
Standards which is currently being reviewed by educational experts throughout
Europe and the US. The team expects to receive feedback over the coming
months, and is currently developing an expanded structure for the program.
The QEEP National Coordinators and ISSA NGO Directors will meet in Belgrade,
Serbia, 6-8 December to discuss the draft and feedback from its review. Parenting Education and Community-Based Early Childhood Development ProgramISSA places a high priority on efforts to strengthen the quality and accessibility of early childhood development and education programs. This program seeks opportunities to implement a wide variety of early childhood education and development programs outside the formal preschool structure and within the contexts of existing national health and education systems. Although encompassing all children, the primary focus is on at-risk groups and disadvantaged children and their families. The program is co-managed with the Open Society Institute (OSI). This partnership leverages cooperation with international players such as UNICEF, and ensures the involvement of experts from different countries. Many ISSA NGOs are implement activities related to this program, with funding from various sources. In December, the Open Society Institute and ISSA will host a meeting in Belgrade, Serbia for ISSA network NGOs and other guests on Parent and Community-Based Early Childhood Development. The purpose of this meeting is to share the lessons learned and challenges ahead using the Parenting with Confidence and Getting Ready for School materials, presentations of models and strategies from other agencies also working in the area, the EDI and its potential uses, and the development of new materials. Disability and Inclusive Education Program (DIEP)DIEP is co-managed by ISSA and OSI, receiving strong professional and financial support from the latter. It provides training, disseminates information, and engages in advocacy efforts to encourage families of children with special needs to demand quality services and education opportunities for their children. Activities also include raising the professional level of teachers and providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to transition children with special needs into mainstream classrooms. DIEP also works to raise the awareness of communities, school administrations, and other decision makers about the significance of inclusive approaches in a democratic society. New advanced training modules and opportunities for professional
development will be available this winter. In addition, a regional seminar
on inclusive education will take place in Vilnius in November. Education for Social Justice Program (ESJP)ESJ is a program with an active/activist approach to challenging
prejudices and stereotypes. Addressing educational change and empowerment,
it is designed to facilitate the awareness of biases and how they affect
the classroom. It seeks to increase people’s understanding of
and sensitivity to the mechanisms that perpetuate and maintain systems
of oppression and inequity. ISSA has created a new series of training of trainers on ESJ
for Adults with the goal of increasing adult participants’ knowledge,
understanding, and sensitivity of the mechanisms which perpetuate and
maintain systems of oppression and inequity. The ESJ team has already
begun training a new cohort of trainers throughout the network, with
their first international training taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania
in September. Members of the team presented papers at several international
conferences, and ISSA continues to deepen the professional expertise
of its ESJ trainer cohort. ESJP activities in the countries of ISSA Council Members
Bosnia and Herzegovina Reading Corner (RC)ISSA’s Reading Corner was developed and is still managed jointly with OSI. The Reading Corner’s primary goal is to create high-quality children’s picture books in many languages by publishing developmentally appropriate, contemporary stories. In addition, RC provides guidance on using these books in the manner most appropriate for the age group and skill level. Emphasis is placed on multicultural children’s books. The books engage young children by having them listen to or read entertaining stories that promote early literacy, embrace diversity, empower them to resolve common problems in age-appropriate ways, and introduce diverse family and life situations. ISSA is excited to announce a new contract with IBM, in which
ISSA has developed a series of activity kits to accompany Reading Corner
books for distribution to IBM employees in Belgium, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, and United Kingdom. IBM recently placed an additional order
for its employees in France, Russia, South Africa, and Spain. RC activities in the countries of ISSA Council MembersImplementing EU Projects in partnership with ISSA Council MembersEnding Minority Exclusion: Education for Social Justice in
Central Asia, funded by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human
Rights (EIDHR) Every Child’s Right to Education: Inclusion of Children
with Special Needs in Belarus Civil Society for Increased Education Participation, funded
by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) ISSA Network NewsISSA 9th Annual Conference Organized in Partnership with the World Forum FoundationISSA is pleased to announce its partnership with the World Forum Foundation in organizing ISSA’s 2008 Conference: Active Citizenship: Democratic Practices in Education. The event will explore how the promotion of democratic values, both in practice and through advocacy, can affect the quality of children’s lives. Further information about the conference is available on the 2008 ISSA Conference website: http://www.diamond-congress.hu/issa2008. NGO DevelopmentISSA’s NGO Development Task Force is working on developing
and introducing a set of organizational standards, which will cover
both professional and management spheres of participating organizations.
PartnershipsISSA welcomes opportunities to explore new partnerships and is eager in joint initiatives that have as their goal strengthening democracy, encouraging active civic participation, promoting equal access to quality education, and celebrating diversity and inclusion. Diversity in Early Childhood Development and Training (DECET)Aija Tuna, ISSA Program Director, and Zorica Trikic, representative
of the ESJ Program Committee from the Centre for Interactive Pedagogy
(Serbia), participated in the DECET network conference Foundations for
Equal Opportunities for All in Early Childhood and Education (Brussels,
October). Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development Annual Consultation (CGECCD) – www.ecdgroup.comIn October, ISSA’s Executive Director Liana Ghent attended the
CGECCD Annual Consultation in Chile, where she presented on ISSA’s
accomplishments surrounding the CGECCD’s Four Cornerstones in
securing a strong foundation for young children. Study Tour Partnership with OSI and UNICEFIn November teams of delegates from ISSA NGOs and MOE representatives
from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, and Moldova will travel
to London for a Study Tour sponsored by OSI, UNICEF, and the Institute
of Education in London. News about the Activity of ISSA Council MembersAzerbaijan Events and Opportunities for Professional DevelopmentKinderwelten Anti-Bias Conference, 30 November, Berlin, GermanyEurope Conference Equal Opportunities for All: Citizenship and Human Capital in a Diverse Europe, 28-29 November 2007, The Hague, The NetherlandsSecond International Conference on Early Childhood Education 6-7 March, 2008, Arnhem, The NetherlandsDiscover the World – Relevant Initiatives, Reports and PublicationsInternational Research Study Reveals Four Key Teaching Practices in Early Childhood LearningThe IEA Preprimary Project is now completed. As outlined in the research
summary and press release, the long term, multi-nation study sponsored
by IEA and coordinated by the High/Scope Foundation (Michigan, USA),
has uncovered findings that hold great promise for improving children’s
language and cognitive performance. Request for information from Western Hemisphere Countries – QuestionnaireOn 14-16 November, 2007 the Ministers of Education of the country members
of the Organization of American States (OAS) will meet in Colombia to
"Understand the State of the Art in Educational Attention to Ages
Zero to Three" in the hemisphere. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesOn 13 December, 2006, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities was adopted at the United Nations. The purpose of the Convention
is to further human rights for persons with disabilities. The Convention
reiterates the tenet that all people with disabilities have the same
human rights and freedoms that anyone else is entitled to. Launch of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)In the beginning of October, 50 Europeans launched the European Council
on Foreign Relations (ECFR) to promote a more coherent and vigorous
European foreign policy in support of Europe's common interests and
shared values. Among the fifty founding members are former prime ministers,
presidents, European commissioners, current and former parliamentarians
and ministers, public intellectuals, and cultural figures from EU member
states and candidate countries. GFC Launches U-8 Initiative for Early Childhood Development and EducationThe Global Fund for Children (GFC) announced in September a $10 million
initiative focused on the needs of children 8 years old and younger.
The Under-8 Initiative, or U-8 Initiative, will invest in innovative
community-based organizations in 20 countries worldwide and will touch
the lives of as many as 500,000 vulnerable children over the next five
years. Search for Global ECD IndicatorsUNICEF hosted a meeting in New York in August to bring together and
develop a set of Global ECD Indicators. New Guidelines To Improve Psychological and Social Assistance in EmergenciesIn September, international humanitarian agencies agreed on a new set
of guidelines to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of
survivors as part of the response to conflict or disaster. The Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial
Support in Emergency Settings clearly state that protecting and promoting
mental health and psychosocial well-being is the responsibility of all
humanitarian agencies and workers. Resources for readingNew Infant-Toddler language and early literacy activities: Free and ReproducibleDeveloped by Angela Notari-Syverson, Ph.D, and Judy Challoner, M.S.,
Illustrations: Don Syverson These materials include twenty home and
community activities for adults and children birth to three that encourage
early language and literacy development. Calls for proposalsClick on this link to find recent EU Calls for Proposals: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/. Main sources:
Letters, comments, feedback about the newsletter may be sent to: eizsak@issa.hu |
