Abstract:

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a foundational setting for fostering children's social and emotional learning and preventing challenging behaviours (Carter et al., 2011; Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2021). Nevertheless, a demand for improving ECEC professionals' training and skills on this topic has been identified. This demand has become even more imperative, since behaviour problems in ECEC settings have been increasing, and dealing with behaviour problems may be highly challenging (e.g., Spilt et al. 2012). A European consortium from four countries (Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, and Ireland) is currently working on the Erasmus+ project “Implementing Positive Behaviour Support in Early Childhood Education and Care” (PBS-ECEC), which aims to apply a programme-wide approach to promote children’s socioemotional competence. Teachers’ professional development is the central dimension of this project. Through the implementation of a comprehensive approach towards promoting positive behaviour in early childhood education settings, this project seeks to address the need for training and capacity building of ECEC professionals, by
(a) creating a guide to promote positive behaviours in ECEC settings,
(b) constructing online training resources tailored to a PW-PBS approach in ECEC,
(c) evaluating the implementation of PW-PBS with approximately 100 ECEC professionals in the four countries, and
(d) providing recommendations on best practices, policies, and strategies for the promotion of positive behaviours in ECEC in the European context.

In this paper we will present the PBS-ECEC project and share the first results concerning the needs assessment stage, conducted with ECEC professionals in the four countries: Cyprus (n = 44 ECEC professionals), Greece (n = 40), Ireland (n = 41) and Portugal (n = 40). The procedures were aligned with the GDPR and approved by the Committee of Quality and Ethics in Research (IHU, Gr). In particular, in this quantitative study, we examined teachers’ perceptions of the efforts currently implemented to promote children’s behavioural and socioemotional needs, the impact of existing practices, and the present needs to promote inclusive and positive learning environments and further supporting children’s socioemotional development and behavioural competence. ECEC professionals revealed that most institutions do not have clear guidelines for addressing challenging behaviours and promoting socioemotional learning (SEL). Although some efforts were in place, professionals acknowledged the need for further training and better conditions to promote SEL and manage behavioural difficulties.

This research, by providing a better understanding of the current situation in the four countries, regarding needs linked with practices and conditions to promote SEL and deal with problem behaviours, informed a professional development program, which will be briefly presented. In the PBS-ECEC project, a web-based platform was developed to promote teachers’ training and disseminate project activities. This tool enables an effective communication, use and sustainability among consortium partners and other stakeholders.

The results of the project will contribute to understanding how PW-PBS can be effectively implemented in ECEC settings across Europe.

Keywords:

Early childhood education and care, positive behavior support, professional development, b-learning.