OUTDOOR-ORIENTED PRACTICES IN EARLY PRACTICES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

OUTDOOR-ORIENTED PRACTICES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION OUTDOOR-ORIENTED PRACTICES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Project Context

project aims, expected results, tasks & responsibilities and project outputs

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Description of the project

Early childhood is a critical period for the child's development and education. The support provided during this period allows the child to live the rest of his life as a healthy individual. It is crucial that the child learns in a safe environment by discovering with the help of playing since playing games is one

• f the most effective ways for children to get basic information

about the world.

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There are many reasons why children do not spend much time

• n the street but stay indoors or spend most of their time at

home in these days

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The reasons of staying indoors can be listed as following:

• 1. Increasing number of programs or channels targeting children

as audience,

• 2. Misuse of technological tools,
• 3. Distorted urbanization,
• 4. Financial situation,
• 5. Safety.

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Within the scope of this project, it is aimed:

• to enable students to discover and learn by experiencing by

means of a safe street designed according to child's development and education,

• to support their development and education,
• to enable them to interact with their peers,
• to increase family participation,
• to enable teachers and teacher candidates to use the street

effectively as a teaching/learning environment.

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The creation of a street environment structured with rich stimuli to contribute to the development and education of children and offering it to the children under the supervision of expert trainers will make a significant contribution to the possibility of ensuring that children spend some time outside with their peers.

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The objectives of the project

• to design a child-friendly educational street,
• to raise awareness of in-service and pre-service pre-school

teachers by informing them about the importance of outdoor activities and providing implications for their implementations,

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The objectives of the project

• to raise awareness of other stakeholders by disseminating

project results, for example, at a multiplier event or with booklets,

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The objectives of the project

• to enhance children's socio-emotional and psycho-motor

development, and cultural awareness by providing them a real-life like environment as an educational context,

• to design appropriate pedagogical activities for children to

take part and for teachers to get an opportunity to apply for

• utdoor-oriented education.

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The expected results of the project

Staying outdoor for a longer time and being engaged in physical activities will contribute to children’s psychomotor development, physical health, and basic education. The child who spends more time outdoor will be able to learn by searching, exploring, and experiencing.

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The expected results of the project

Interacting with their parents and peers for a longer time contributes to children’s socio-emotional, cognitive, and personality development. The child who has a good time with his/her parents will have emotional satisfaction. Spending time with the peers also supports many developmental areas and the child’s personality development.

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Spending good time on a safer street constructed in a way to provide positive impact on children’s development and their protection from negative external factors will result in a change

• f negative perceptions of parents and teachers, if there are

any, towards the street and it will lead to owning positive attitude towards it.

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The street to be surrounded with rich stimulants to support the development and education of children will enable the activities to be carried out in the pre-school education process to be realized there and enable teachers and prospective teachers to develop a positive attitude towards using streets more effectively as an educational environment.

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It is very important for the parents to participate in children’s education process in the preschool period effectively with teachers’ guidance because the pre-school education is not only carried out at school but also enriched at home with family

• participation. The safe street designed in this framework will

both contribute to active family participation and raising awareness of the family in terms of children’s development and education.

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Children who spend more time outdoors will be more aware of the development of living things like plants in their natural habitats and will benefit from the opportunities that nature

• ffers more. A better understanding of the environment by the

children while spending time outdoors will contribute to their development.

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It is foreseen that the different viewpoints that can be formed between the layers in the society and the different viewpoints

• f different socio-economic, socio-cultural, or disability

situation, gender differences, and immigration can be changed as a result of children spending time together on the street without developing any discriminatory viewpoints with the guidance of the pre-school teachers. Furthermore, a positive interaction can be achieved among parents who bring their children to the street.

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The project activities

ACTIVITY 1: Project Management From the start till the completion of the project. 24 Months. Leader Organisation: SAU Activity 1.1: Finalizing the Project Team Month 1. In the leadership of Prof. Dr. Küçükturan Activity 1.2: Preparations before the transnational meetings Month 2 (Stitching Drio), Month 8 (SAU), Month 14 (Portugal), Month 20 (LEU). Activity 1.3: Budget Control Constant monitoring on the budget. Each coordinator is responsible for the expenditures in their activities. SAU team's coordinator will be regularly receiving reports on the budget Month 6, Month 12, Month 18, Month 24.

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Activity 1.4: Time Management Constant monitoring on the time. Each coordinator is responsible for keeping up with the deadlines asserted in the timetable for the project activities. SAU team's coordinator will be regularly receiving reports on the time schedule Month 6, Month 12, Month 18, Month 24. Activity 1.5: Reports on the Activities Each coordinator will prepare the reports of the conducted activities and submit the reports to the coordinating university. The mentioned reports will be submitted to the Quality and Management Association of SAU; thus, the external evaluation will increase the objectivity of the implementation of the activities.

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ACTIVITY 2: Online Meetings To monitor the project activities and implementation of these activities, online meetings with the participation of all partner teams will be held. Month 5, 11,17,24 ACTIVITY 3: Dissemination Activities All partners will be responsible of carrying out dissemination

• activities. Websites, fliers, e-book, videos of the implemented

activities, visuals and location of the street, the congress, and social media accounts are going to be used to share the project details with

• ther stakeholders. During the project (24 months).

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Output 1: Educational Design of a Child-friendly Street: Month 1, Month 2, Month 3. Output 2: 3D Modelling of the Child-friendly Street: Month 4, Month 5, Month 6, Month 7, Month 8, Month 9. Output 3: Compiling an E-book on Outdoor-oriented Practices: Month 10, Month 11, Month 12, Month 13, Month 14. Output 4: Online Training Modules: Month 15, Month 16, Month 17. Output 5: A Course Design for Early Childhood Education Departments: Month 18, Month 19. Multiplier Event: Congress : Month 20, Month 21, Month 22, Month 23, Month 24.

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For the completion of the project activities, all partners will work in collaboration by using online platforms like Gmail groups, Whatsapp, Hangouts, Facebook, Google docs, etc. Slack By means of the effective collaboration, the project partners will be able to ask, discuss, negotiate, and/or suggest any ideas related to the implementation of the project activities.

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Intellectual outputs

Output 1: Educational Design of the Street (01.12.2018- 28.02.2019) The pedagogical design of the street will be carried out with the involvement of all participants in the process coordinated by the Dutch team of the project due to mainly their expertise in educating children on the street such as giving traffic education.

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Intellectual outputs

For O1:

• Checking the location of the street and planning the activities

accordingly,

• Literature review about the development of children with

necessary skills,

• Literature review about the design of the possible educational

equipment to be placed on the street,

• Needs Analysis of children regarding their development,
• Determining the educational activities to be carried out on the

street,

• Designing the educational activities to be carried out on the street.

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Output 2: 3D Street Modeling (01.03.2019-31.08.2019) The following steps are going to be followed for the3D Street Modeling:

• Visiting the Netherlands to observe the Woonerf Street Model,
• Getting detailed information about the construction of a street for

educational purposes,

• Getting legal permissions about the construction of the street,
• Determining the location of the street,

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Output 2: 3D Street Modeling (01.03.2019-31.08.2019)

• Determining the areas on the street where some equipment will be

placed,

• Preparing the design of the street as a plan,
• Getting necessary equipment supply for the construction of the street,
• Working on the construction of the street,
• Maintaining the maintenance and repair of the street.

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Output 3: Compiling an E-book for Outdoor Practices (01.09.2019-31.01.2020) The following steps are going to be followed for the compiling E-book for Outdoor Practices;

• Literature review,
• The analysis of the results of needs analysis for the educational

design of the street,

• Planning events in accordance with children’s age and

development,

• Determining activities that can be carried out on the street,

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Output 3: Compiling an E-book for Outdoor Practices (01.09.2019-31.01.2020)

• Implementation of the educational street activities,
• Monitoring the applications and making necessary revisions,
• Compiling the revised versions of the activities as a book,
• Graphic design of the book,
• Preparing the typographic of the book,
• Obtaining the ISBN number and publishing the e-book on the

website.

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Output 4: Online Training Modules (01.02.2020-30.04.2020) The following steps are going to be followed for the online training modules:

• Literature review regarding the theoretical and practical knowledge on

educational outdoor practices for pre-school children,

• Needs analysis of the stakeholders regarding the theoretical and practical

knowledge,

• Determining the missing points regarding the theoretical and practical

knowledge,

• Deciding on the content of the training modules,

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Output 4: Online Training Modules (01.02.2020-30.04.2020)

• Organization of the training environment,
• Determining the schedule of the trainings,
• Making announcement about the schedule of the trainings,
• Realization of the training modules.

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Output 5: Designing an Outdoor Practice Course for Teacher Education Programs (01.05.2020-30.06.2020) With the supervision of the coordinator partner from Lithuania, an elective course which, will take place in pre-school teacher education programs and be open to all university students from different departments, will be

• ffered with its course content, outcomes, credits, hours of teaching, and

examination process in accordance with Bologna process.

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Output 5: Designing an Outdoor Practice Course for Teacher Education Programs (01.05.2020-30.06.2020)

• Analysis of pre-school education programs,
• Determining the course content of relevant courses in the programs,
• Preparing the course content of the elective course,
• Determining the learning outputs according to the course content,
• Determining the workloads according to the Bologna process,
• Determining the evaluation system,
• Proposing the course to university board as a university elective course.

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The distribution of tasks and responsibilities

Output 1 by Stiching Drio: The Dutch team will provide examples from the Woonerf system and help the other partner institutions have a clear idea about child friendly streets. The contributing teams will be negotiating on how to improve a child friendly street by including educational purposes and equipping the street with pedagogical activities. Portuguese team's expertise on outdoor activities, LEU's expertise on theoretical background on developmental stages of children, SAU team’s expertise on early childhood education and Hendek Municipality's suggestions

• n street planning will be important assets.

Each team will discuss cultural adaptation of the activities and design for the street implementations.

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Output 2 by Hendek Municipality: Hendek Municipality will provide a street for the project outcomes. The design of this street will be in accordance with partner organisations’ suggestions and guidance. The physical environment will be arranged with the help of the experts in the Hendek Municipality. This team will be working on the physical design and security issues of the determined street.

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Output 2 by Hendek Municipality: The Municipality will provide its services for the street even after the completion of the project for 5 years as signed document suggests. The Municipality team will come up with the 3D model of the street during the project. The location of the street will be provided as an indicator and visitors of the project website will be able to have a look at the street and the design of it. However, the 3d model will be a used especially to be a vivid example for

• ther municipalities and experts in early childhood education.

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Output 3 by University of Evora: To provide an open-access manual for early child educators and municipalities, an e-book will be composed with the collaboration of the partner teams. The leading organisation as they have experts on outdoor playground activities will be guiding the process and suggesting ideas to be consulted by the other partners. The contents of the book will be finalized by the Portuguese team; however, the typesetting of the book format will be conducted by the technical experts in the SAU team. At the end of the process, the book will be shared for free on the website, and the stakeholders will be informed about the existence of the book; thus, the output will be disseminated.

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Output 4 by Sakarya University (SAU): With this output, in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and parents will be provided with online training so as to increase their awareness of child-friendly street and the implementations in this street. The online setting will be realized with the help of the experts on Computer Sciences, and the language issue for the local (Turkish) participants will be solved with the contributions

• f the experts on English language studies.

Other partner teams (Lithuanian and Portuguese) will also have language support to provide translations to the locals in their areas. The language of the online training will be in English. The experts on early childhood education will be helping in organizing the contents of the training. Experts from the partner institutions will be giving speeches online, as well. The online training modules will be saved and shared on the project website.

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Output 5 by Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences: To raise pre-service teachers’ awareness and equip them with outdoor activity ideas and implementation, a course will be designed under the guidance of the Lithuanian team. The team includes professors of early childhood education and directors of an early childhood school. The LEUs related department is observed to be rich in the education they provide; thus, their leadership is regarded as highly significant. Mutually, a course will be designed and adapted cultural appropriateness for the local contexts in mind. In dissemination of the activities and results, all partners will be responsible for informing stakeholders in their context.

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The methodology

A1: Project Management. Leader Organization: SAU Creation of an e-mail group and a WhatsApp group for asynchronous communication, The use of Google Hangouts or Skype for simultaneous communications, Google Mail for the electronic mail communication process, Document storage through Google Drive providing availability to all partners, Sending reminders of activities related to each output at the beginning and end of the scheduled time,

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Preparation of checklists to monitor the progress, Providing feedback to the coordinator responsible for each output about the missing points to be fixed (At this stage, reports will be gathered via e-mail), Paying at least one visit to each country to monitor the activities being carried

• ut there and the use of the checklists to justify the objectivity of the
• bservations,

The collection of the reports by e-mail at the times specified in the project schedule, and Sharing information about the process with other partners by the project coordinator.

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As the coordinator institution, SAU will be in charge of monitoring the deadlines for time management, budget control for the money spent for expenditures of the activities, and activities to be carried out for the realization of the project successfully. By benefiting from the methodologies, SAU will be receiving reports about the progress and improvements required.

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A2: Online Meetings: Leader Organization: SAU Having online meetings with the participation of all partner teams to observe the project activities and implementation of them, Arrangement of the online meetings to be able to discuss the matters as provided in the timetable, Upon the request of any partner who requires assistance, the arrangement of an online meeting, SAU taking the responsibility of arranging the date, time, the online platform, and sending the draft of the issues to be discussed to all the participant institutions of the project,

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A2: Online Meetings: Leader Organization: SAU Chairing the session to make sure time is used efficiently for the issues at hand, Preparation of a report about the online meeting by the coordinating institution to keep record of the issues discussed and solutions suggested issues at hand to be used as examples for further inquiries about the similar issues.

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A3: Dissemination Activities: All partners Establishment of a website with the aim of sharing all the outputs online and free for the ones who have internet access, The website filled with necessary information during the project will be open for access after the completion of the project by making sure the domain is bought for more than two years, Preparation of an e-book for the pre-service and in-service teachers to be shared

• n the website as pdf,

The e-book comprised of steps and pictures of outdoor educational activities to be carried out on the child friendly street,

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The videos of the implemented activities will be shared on Youtube and the links will be shared on the website established for the project, The details about the physical construction of the street and educational design

• f the street with visuals shared on the website for other municipalities and

educational institutions, Contact information shared on the website for the interested parties to reach the project coordinators for further inquiries and implementation details,

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The results of the project shared with the academics, teachers, students, and

• ther stakeholders at the congress to be organized for anyone interested in

similar implementations with the aim of taking part and discussing with field experts and other interested parties, To make sure that call for papers reach as many people as possible, the congress website and social media accounts will be opened, and the poster and fliers of the congress will be shared with possible audience.

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The transnational project meetings

TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 1 - in the Netherlands, by the Stiching Drio (Month 2) Meeting & Greeting the partners Briefing on project aims, expected results, tasks and responsibilities, project

• utputs, and project timetable

Field Experience Deciding on the educational design of the street Discussing the tasks and responsibilities for the upcoming project activities

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PARTICIPANTS of TM1 The participants will include SAU, Hendek Municipality, University of Evora, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Yenimahalle Pre-school Institution. At least two key persons from each participating team is necessary as this kick-off meeting will be paving the way for the continuation of all project activities.

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The transnational project meetings

TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 2- in Turkey, by Sakarya University (Month 8) Aim: To observe and share ideas on the physical development of the street in accordance with the second output (3D street modeling). Field Experience: To observe the street construction and activity implementations Informing in-service teachers about the implementations in the street Suggestions to the Municipality on the integration of educational activity settings into the street construction Discussing the tasks and responsibilities for the upcoming project activities

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PARTICIPANTS of TM2 The participants will include SAU, Hendek Municipality, University of Evora, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, and Yenimahalle Pre-school Institution. At least two key persons from each participating team are necessary as this meeting will be significant in the physical design of the street.

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TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 3- in Portugal, by University of Evora (Month 14) Aim: To monitor the time schedule, discuss the previous output's progress and dissemination activities. To elaborate on the project activities for the upcoming output (compiling an e-book) Analysis of the state of affairs with regard to the project activities. Negotiation on the pedagogical activities Distribution of the tasks and responsibilities regarding the e-book Discussing the tasks and responsibilities for the upcoming project activities

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PARTICIPANTS of TM3 The participants will include SAU, University of Evora, Lithuanian University

• f Educational Sciences, Yenimahalle Pre-school Institution.

At least two key persons from each participating team are necessary as this meeting will be significant in the design of the book, and the participants will be sharing their ideas based on the cultural differences and contexts.

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TRANSNATIONAL MEETING 4- in Lithuania, by Lithuaninan University of Educational Sciences (Month 20) Aim: To monitor the time schedule, discuss the previous output's progress and dissemination activities, organize the tasks for the course design output, and lastly discuss the tasks of the multiplier event. Analysis of the current state of the project activities Analysis of the dissemination activities Analysis of the pre-service teacher education programs in the partner countries Negotiation on the cultural adaptations regarding the course design Distribution of the tasks and responsibilities regarding the course design Discussing the tasks and responsibilities for the upcoming congress event.

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PARTICIPANTS of TM4 The participants will include SAU, University of Evora, and Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. At least two key persons from each participating team are necessary as this meeting will be significant in the course design, and the participants will be sharing their ideas based on the cultural differences and contexts.

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Multiplier events

Event 1: International Congress of Early Childhood Outdoor Practices (ICECOP) (01.07.2020-30.11.2020) Deciding on the organizing committee and distributing roles among them, Deciding on the scope of the conference, Deciding on the conference dates, Deciding on the venue, Preparing the tentative conference program, Deciding on the plenary speakers,

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Multiplier events

Creating a conference website with all the necessary information (conference dates, relevant topics, presentation guidelines etc.), Having a conference e-mail address to share with participants to communicate and send call for abstracts text with them, Creating social media accounts of the event to reach more participants, Preparing the conference poster and share it via social media, website, and e-mail, Call for papers and participants Deciding on the referees to review the papers submitted,

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Multiplier events

Reviewing the abstracts and sending acceptance letters, Finalizing the conference program, Organizing coffee break for refreshments, Determining chair persons for the sessions to be held properly, Organizing the printing of certificates of attendance, name badges and program, Preparing the conference bag to be presented to the participants, Preparing the book of abstracts, Organizing the conference.

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Impact

This project has the following impacts on existing participants (academics):

• An international research and practice network will be established among academics,
• The studies conducted by the researchers will be more visible and have high impact,
• Researchers’ high quality work related to their field of expertise will be appreciated in

broader international community,

• By building joint research vision and expertise, academics will develop a long-term

research strategy,

• The project will contribute to participants' knowledge, skills, and professional

development,

• New insights and visions regarding pre-school child education and teacher education will

be generated through intellectual partnership,

• Cultural exchange will be realized by participants’ scrutiny of the pre-school child

education practices in different cultures.

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Regarding partner organizations, the present project will impact as follows:

• International visibility of the partner organizations will be promoted

with the joint planning, design, and application of the practices,

• By raising the awareness of the municipalities that the streets can

be used for the education of children, the efforts to expand the practices will be increased,

• By adding a variety of elective courses on pre-school children and

their outdoor education at the partner universities, the awareness of a large number of stakeholders will be raised.

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Regarding target groups, the project will impact as follows:

• Children will benefit from public spaces with safety, as citizens of

the city with equal rights,

• Including academics, teachers, pre-service pre-school teachers,

children, and their parents will be informed about the use of public space for educational purposes as a result of the dissemination process carried out via e-book, website, and the congress.

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Regarding other relevant stakeholders, the project will impact as follows:

• The project will increase the motivation of researchers and teachers

to build partnerships or cooperation to innovate pre-school teacher education programs and eventually contribute to children’s education in pre-school phase,

• Other stakeholders will become more aware of the problems
• bserved regarding pre-school education and it will be beneficial for

them to work on common problems in pre-school education at an international level.

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Indicators for previously mentioned impacts are provided below:

• Screenshots of the informative mails sent to stakeholders at the national and

international level,

• Screenshots of the mails inviting the experts on early childhood education to project

activities,

• Number of the participants of online training modules,
• Number of the participants of the international congress,
• Certificates of attendance,
• Reflections of in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and parents,
• Results of pre- and post-tests,
• Screenshot of the submitted research article,
• Number of followers of the social media accounts, and number & list of participants from

different countries,

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• Number of website clicks (including videos, photos, activities, and e-

book),

• Copy of the petition of the elective course suggestion (the course on
• utdoor-oriented practices),
• Reports on the meetings with stakeholders (including their

suggestions and opinions on the implementation of outdoor-oriented practices),

• A written commitment letter signed by Hendek Municipality and SAU

Faculty of Education confirming that they would be providing their support in the continuum of the street activities in the following 5 years after the project completion.

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Dissemination and use of project’s results

At local & regional level:

• School principals will be invited to online training modules to have field

experience at the to-be-designed street and to have a clear idea of the outdoor-

• riented practices. Emails will be sent to the school principals at the local level.
• Besides, parents will be invited to project activities in a similar vein to the school
• principals. The videos, photos, and activity lists will be shared with the parents to

show them how children are actively participating and learning by doing something fun for them at the street. Their visit to the street will be another effective activity for them to see how the outdoor practices are implemented in the street.

• Pre-service teachers and in-service teachers will be also invited and informed

about the project activities and results as they are going to be expected to implement and re-implement this kind of practices in their teaching career.

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At national level:

• Municipalities, institutions, education departments, parents, in-service

teachers, pre-service teachers, and experts on early childhood education are the main targets at this level.

• With the help of Hendek Municipality, the project activities and results will be

shared with other municipalities at the regional national meetings. The results of the tests, reflections of the teachers and parents will also be used as indicators

• f quality of the project activities.
• The curriculum developers will be urged to analyze the to-be-designed course
• n outdoor practices, and the project activities will be shared with them to

encourage them to have a similar elective course in their programs

• The researchers on this field will be informed with the help of the research

article to be composed by the project members and the international congress.

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At EU level

• European researchers will be informed about the project activities.
• Social media, online platforms, project websites, emails sent to them, and

the e-book alongwith the research article will be used to get their attention to project activities.

• The diversity in the project partners’ background will provide a chance to

include multicultural and international results to be disseminated and implemented in various countries.

• The researchers and pre-service and in-service teacher trainers will be

invited and urged to observe the project activities.

• The multiplier event will be another important asset for this purpose.

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At EU level The stakeholders, parents, children, researchers, teachers, and curriculum designers and evaluators will be the main target groups; however, it is estimated that with their contributions they will also help in the dissemination activities in their network. For example, after the pre-service teachers are trained about the outdoor practices, they will be implementing these when they get appointed to another region in Turkey. Thus, the future participants will be informed and their awareness will increase.

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Sustainability

To have the continuity of awareness raising activities, the 3D model of the street, online training modules, e-book, and photos and videos of educational activities in the street implementation will be kept available following the project completion. All stakeholders will be informed and urged to observe the project activities and get informed about the significance and role of outdoor-oriented practices.

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Sustainability

The use of the street, after the completion of the project, is planned to be maintained by a protocol signed by the Municipality and Sakarya University. Sakarya University Faculty of Education gave a support letter to contribute to the continuation of educational activities in the streets while Hendek Municipality signed the letter to provide support for the continuation of the street in terms of technical, physical, and financial aspects. These letters provide evidence for the effective use of the street after the completion of the project.

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The website will remain active after the completion of the project as domain and domain name will be taken for 5 years. Even after this 5-year process, it is thought to integrate the project activities into the official website of Sakarya University, and all participants and followers will be informed about this change. All other outputs except the elective course will be shared on the website. As the elective course to be prepared will take place in the elective courses pool of Sakarya University, the continuity of it will be maintained after the completion of the project.

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The project members will be giving speeches on the project results at the conferences, congresses, symposiums, and events they are going to be attending after the completion of project activities, and a wider audience will be informed about the project; thus, leading to awareness-raising.

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Teşekkür ederiz Thank you Bedankt Ačiū Obrigado