REC: REFLECTION, EDUCATION AND CARE

What is the REC Project about?

• Although reflection is a key competence for educators, teachers are usually expected to reflect on their practice on their own, filling out documents. Reflection is rarely developed with the help of collaborative and personalised – let alone joyful – processes.
• However, when reflection is done with meaningful, motivating and collaborative methods, it facilitates true learning and a shift in the quality of education and care.
• Such reflective methods promote systematic and positive support for professional learning within every school and increases teachers' sense of belonging and appreciation.

What activities will be done during the REC project?

1. We will introduce collaborative reflective methods in 10 ECEC services/primary schools in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia for practitioners/teachers working with children aged 0-10. Our aim is to support ECEC practitioners in finding their own path to each child to support their development. ECEC practitioners get the chance to take a look at their own practice from a step back with professional and structured support.

2. We will raise awareness on the importance of collaborative reflection part of the continuous professional development path for teachers/practitioners, tailored to the staff's needs. Our initiative offers methods for building resilient practitioners' communities from a professional and personal points of view so they can face systemic challenges on a lower level of stress, leading to more successful cooperation among colleagues and with families.

3. We will write a practical guidebook and make it widely available on how to choose the reflective methods that suit various ECEC institutions/schools.

4. We will write an impact report with policy recommendations for professionals related to education to raise awareness with policy makers, teacher training institutes and other education-related professional organisations.

The REC project consortium comprises five professional institutions who have 10+ years of experience in working with schools and ECEC services.

•Partners Hungary Foundation (Hungary)

•VBJK, Centre for Innovations in the Early Years (Belgium),

•Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (Belgium)

•Open Academy Step by Step (Croatia)

•Pedagoski Institut (Slovenia)