KA2 Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices - Strategic Partnerships for school education
The project is the result of three years of scientific reflection and works on pedagogical issues concerning ECEC. DREAM involves the main Mediterranean countries and intends to implement an innovative pedagogical approach for developing an Educative Model based on the principle of Affective Education. Focused on the educative spectrum 0-10, it includes Early Childhood Education and Primary Education. The Affective Model proposed should be applied directly from preschool with the aim to create since the beginning a positive learning environment, which can be perceived by pupils as inclusive and comfortable, ensuring a good start in education for all. Adopting an affective perspective in education since its start can influence positively all future relationships between Educative Institutions and pupils, fostering their gradual familiarization with the System, limiting in this way possible disaffection dynamics and conflicts. This approach, to be shared at EU level, intends to improve the educative praxis in use in Europe, by renewing the existing Educational Systems for the individuated age-categories. Among the main aims of this approach there is the application of the right to welfare of all its members. Valorise the affective dimension of Education, indeed, means taking in account all those items related to the growth and personal development of the pupils and to their affective perceptions, too often penalized for the benefit of social and cognitive training objectives. From this pedagogical approach shall derive an original educational Model, based on the principle of Affective Education, which will provide educators and teaching staff with an innovative perspective for looking at the educative relationship, gradually overcoming the traditional asymmetric models in favor of building a system of peer relationships among the subjects involved, and not based on asymmetric “mechanisms of power.
The Model can provide teaching staff with pedagogical guidelines for managing children educative most delicate transition stages (e.g. 3-4; 5-6) and equip them with new particular didactic tools for carrying out better their educational assignments, especially when they deal with multicultural/complex classrooms. In the belief that an authoritarian approach in School is not necessarily synonymous of “good education”, adopting an affective approach in the educational relationship since preschool, can help teachers to create an inclusive and favorable learning environment from the beginning, so enhancing the quality of ECEC. An inclusive educational environment, perceived as suitable by various groups of learners could also contribute to strengthen pupils’ learning motivation and so prevent different potential disaffection phenomena such as the ESL.
DREAM Project Road Map
Initially, partners will carry out a joint comparative analysis of the main current educational approaches adopted in their countries in order to reach an integrated and shared frame of the pedagogical practices in use. This Pedagogical Framework will become the base for building a multidisciplinary Curriculum, which shall be the theoretical structure for implementing the educative Model aimed to teaching staff and educative operators.
The Affective Model will be tested in each partner country in pilot classrooms. Examining in depth similarities and differences of individual systems and educational approaches, the partners will be able to outline a complete mapping of the current situation and its possible evolving leanings by evaluating if and how an affective approach in the educational relationship is already adopted in some learning contexts and by identifying the possible teaching staff’s training needs in this area.
All the researching and educational materials produced within the project will be freely accessible, consultable and downloadable for all the interested in, from DREAM OnLine Platform
DREAM Transnational Partnerhip’s memebers
Coordinator
University of Florence, SCIFOPSI, Sciences of Education and Psychology Dept– Florence (ITA)
Partners
Centro Machiavelli – Florence (ITA)
Istituto Comprensivo Statale GiovanniXXIII - Terranuova Bracciolini (ITA)
Universidad de Malaga (ES)
ECTE – European Centre in Training for Employment – Rethymno, Crete (EL)
Centre l’Horizon - 'Île-de-France (FR)
