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European School Education Platform
Practice article

Innovation in early childhood education and care: outdoor education and transitions

The earliest stages of a child’s education are fertile ground for educational innovation. These projects address how outdoor learning can benefit these early stages, and how the transition to primary education can be eased.
Children learning outdoors
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High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a crucial foundation for a child’s later development stages, and is therefore one of the European Commission’s key priorities in education. In this article we look into projects in two specific areas ‒ outdoor education, and the transition to primary education.

 

Outdoor education

 

The European Innovative Teaching Award has been given to a number of ECEC projects that focus on outdoor education.

The outdoor learning project at Kindergarten Osijek in Croatia aimed to challenge teachers and children to spend time learning outside regardless of weather conditions, and develop methods for experiential learning in nature. Teachers in Croatia and at partner institutions in Czechia, Finland, and Italy developed physical and psychomotor activities. In addition, with the participation of parents and children, they constructed playground facilities using ecological and recyclable materials.

As a result, they have adapted and broadened their teaching methods, improved professional competencies, and changed curricula to reflect what they have learned.

 

 

In Romania, the TELESPA (Teaching learning spaces competence from early childhood education) project on innovative learning spaces created five sensory learning outdoor gardens, facilitating activities for over 1,500 participants. More than 300 teachers were challenged to create new indoor and outdoor learning spacesandlearning materials adapted to the pupils’ age group, and shared experiences with their colleagues at home and internationally.

Their training extended to partners in Latvia, Portugal and Türkiye, and focused on lifelong learning and improving the quality of early education. It went above and beyond by extending the experimental base for future teachers, NGOs, public and private institutions, and organisations dealing with children with special needs.

“This garden teaches you a lot – I say it’s sensational!” – Alexandra (6)

 

 

 

The Hob’s Adventure – Hands-on Biodiversity project in Estonia focused on blending active indoor and outdoor learning for 5- to 9-year-old pupils using digital tools to enrich both environments, with potted plants as a unifying theme. The project brought together teachers and experts from schools in Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, and Slovenia to develop innovative learning materials and produce lesson plans and tools adaptable to different environmental and educational contexts.

The resulting materials were flexible enough for teachers in all contexts to tailor them to their pupils’ needs, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers, pupils, and the international EcoSchools network.

 

 

Transitions in ECEC

 

The 2019 Council recommendation on high-quality ECEC systems recommends that member states promote the integration of ECEC in curricula and support collaboration between ECEC and primary school staff, parents, and counselling services for a smooth transition to primary school.

Following in the footsteps of the Sustaining TrAnsitions across the Early Years (START) project ‒ which aimed at improving practices for supporting children and families facing transitions in educational settings and social contexts ‒ the InTrans project was completed in March 2023. It set out to ensure that all children benefit from warm and inclusive transition, by supporting professionals through action at a policy, advocacy, and training level.

The InTrans consortium achieved its goals by developing policy recommendations via the InTrans Exchange Week, a Digital Resource Package for in-service training, and an analysis report of pre-service training methods for future ECEC and primary school staff.

In partner countries Croatia, Iceland, Ireland, and Sweden, the Enhancing Transition Practices in Early Childhood Education project analysed the obstacles and advantages posed by transition experiences in different social and educational contexts.

The partners created a policy overview to understand the complexities of the transition process in different countries, followed by a training manual and online course modules on innovative practices and procedures to navigate the process. Listen to the podcast to learn more!

 

 

 

Additional information

  • Education type:
    Early Childhood Education and Care
    School Education
  • Evidence:
    N/A
  • Funding source:
    European Commission
  • Intervention level:
    N/A
  • Intervention intensity:
    N/A
  • Participating countries:
    Croatia
    Czech Republic
    Estonia
    Finland
    Iceland
    Ireland
    Italy
    Latvia
    Portugal
    Romania
    Slovenia
    Sweden
    Turkey
  • Target audience:
    Head Teacher / Principal
    Parent / Guardian
    Pedagogical Adviser
    Student Teacher
    Teacher
    Teacher Educator
  • Target audience ISCED:
    Early childhood education (ISCED 0)
    Primary education (ISCED 1)