Slovenia

Building a strong, reliable, and high-quality ECEC workforce yields positive results that significantly impact the well-being of young children and enable their rounded and healthy development. Therefore, investing in continuous professional development (CPD) and growth of the ECEC workforce must stay high on the agenda of relevant stakeholders, enabling and promoting high-quality programs.

In this analysis, the PIQET consortium delves deeper into the context of CPD and sheds light on professionals delivering in-service continuous professional development opportunities. Why PIQET emphasizes the professionals delivering in-service continuous professional development opportunities and their professional growth and development? Because their professional development does not get enough attention in research and professional discourse, consequently, does not get the recognition when addressing the complexity of quality in ECEC and primary school education.

This analysis provides a comprehensive view of the CPD landscape for CPD Educators, pinpointing challenges and proposing actionable solutions. Committed to shedding light on this often-neglected aspect, PIQET's goal is to heighten the discussion around it, through quality principles that will guide both CPD educators and CPD-providing organizations in ensuring high-quality CPD opportunities and nurturing the professional development of CPD Educators.

Access the analysis and country reports here.

Educational Research Institute Slovenia, Open Academy Step by Step in Croatia, and the International Step by Step Association

2023

The PIQET Principles represent a groundbreaking initiative under the Erasmus+ project, designed to elevate the standard of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for educators across diverse educational landscapes. Authored by a consortium including the Educational Research Institute in Slovenia, Open Academy Step by Step in Croatia, and the International Step by Step Association, this resource articulates a set of nine comprehensive principles aimed at refining the recruitment, training, and ongoing support of CPD educators. These principles are meticulously crafted to address the core needs of educator development, emphasizing subject expertise, diversity and inclusion, participant-centered planning, and continuous self-improvement among others.

Rooted in the values of social justice, equity, and inclusion, the PIQET Principles serve as both a policy framework and a hands-on tool, offering quality statements, indicators, and reflective questions to guide CPD educators in enhancing their practice. This document not only aims to foster a shared understanding of CPD quality across educational institutions but also encourages active contribution and professional engagement within the CPD community, setting a new benchmark for educator professional development globally.

Access the resource here.

Educational Research Institute Slovenia, Open Academy Step by Step in Croatia, and the International Step by Step Association

2023

The SEEPRO-3 study presented here is the fourth in a series of research projects based at the State Institute of Early Childhood Research and Media Literacy (IFP) in Munich and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend). The new SEEPRO-3 study¹ focuses on the 27 member states of the European Union and six non-EU countries - a total of 33 countries. Reports on the early childhood workforce and the early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems in Norway, Switzerland and Serbia are presented for the first time in this context.

Learn more about the history of the SEEPRO project.

Throughout Europe, early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems are continuously evolving through expansion and consolidation, with reforms and innovations shaping many countries. ECEC staff are essential for quality interactions, stimulating environments, and supporting children's wellbeing and learning. However, nearly all countries report staff shortages, highlighting the need to update data on the qualifications and competencies of early childhood leaders, pedagogues, and assistants.

This homepage presents results from the fourth SEEPRO-3 project, with documents for 33 countries. Each country's profile includes:

1. ECEC Workforce Profile (Country Report): Details on qualification requirements, workforce composition, professional education systems, reform initiatives, research projects, and working conditions. These reports, provided by long-term partners, were compiled based on a research specification and reflect extensive collaboration.
2. Key Contextual Data Synopsis (Country-Specific Background Information): Overview of the ECEC system and demographic data, compiled by the project team and reviewed with supplementary data from partners.

Documents are available in English and German, serving a wide audience including educators, government officials, employers, researchers, early years staff, and other stakeholders across Europe and beyond.

Access the country profiles here.

SEEPRO-3

2024

European Commission identified staff professionalization as one of the key issues for the ECEC field. In many countries, part of the workforce is represented by low-qualified ECEC assistants. Studies have shown that assistants have fewer chances for qualification and professional development and are not taken into account in policy documents. Improving the competences of all staff (core practitioners and assistants) would improve the services’ quality, which would in turn help eliminate barriers in front of families in using ECEC services. This analytical report emphasizes the role of investing in the professionalization of assistants in quality improvement in ECEC and presents findings from the analysis of ECEC assistants 15 European countries. Lastly, the report provides recommendations on how to develop coherent pathways toward qualification and continuous professional development for ECEC assistants accompanied by country examples.

Peeters, J.; Sharmahd, J.; Budginaitė I.,

2016

The early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce plays a critical role in the quality of provision. There has been growing interest by policymakers at the local and international levels and ample research has shown a clear consensus about the importance of quality in ECEC. This research article focuses on the role of assistants in ECEC based on a holistic conceptualization of education and care and examines 15 European country profiles. The authors argue that the concept of schoolification might lead to a division between education and care resulting from the divided roles between assistants and core practitioners. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for practice and policy.

Van Laere, K., Peeters, J., & Vandenbroeck, M.

2012

The Wanda method: overview and steps forward  report is the result of an ISSA Peer Learning Activity and involved several members of the ISSA network.

WANDA is a method developed in 2010 in order to support professional group reflection, with specific attention to valuing each other, with respect towards the child, the family, the colleagues, the community. WANDA aims to improve quality in ECEC for children and families.

The specific objectives of the PLA were:

1) Get an overview of what (and how) has been done with Wanda on a local level in each country: which services have been involved, with which frequency did they organize Wanda sessions, what has been the impact, what are the strengths and the critical points that come out, what are the needs of the target groups etc.
2) Co-reflect on the strengths and challenges, with the aim of fine-tuning the different Wanda paths: the aim is not homologating the peculiar experiences of the different contexts, but finding coherency within the differences (agreeing on what is Wanda and what it is not, discussing possibilities and borders, stimulating each other by getting to know the different experiences that took place etc.).
3) Consider all this, thinking together about possible next steps for Wanda, both on a local level in each country involved, and on an international one (f.e. through EU projects).

Below you may download one of the 30 Workforce Profiles (country reports) on the current status quo regarding the qualification requirements for early childhood education and care professionals (pedagogues, teachers, educators), the composition of the workforce, the systems of initial professional education and continuing professional development, current reform initiatives and research projects and selected aspects of the working conditions of staff in each of the 30 participating countries.The initial Workforce Profiles in Systems of Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe were provided by mostly long-standing cooperation partners according to a research specification which they received for comment before compilation of the data. The final versions are based on a long period of close collaboration between the editors and the authors. The reports vary in length between approximately 25 pages and 80 pages.SEEPRO-R takes a look at many of the new fundamental reforms including, qualification and competence requirements for early childhood workforce and the structures of professional studies and continuing education. More on the SEEPRO-R project here.