Abstract:

The Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program (BIP) “Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education and Care: Implementing a Program-Wide Positive Behaviour Support Approach” demonstrates how international collaboration can innovate teacher education in higher education. Coordinated by the Polytechnic of Porto (Portugal), in partnership with higher education institutions in Croatia, Poland, and Belgium, the program fostered transnational cooperation to promote inclusive and culturally responsive practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). BIPs are a relatively recent strategy by the Erasmus+ Agency to boost mobility. Designed as a blended international course, this BIP combined five days of physical mobility with synchronous and asynchronous online learning. The program engaged students and academic staff in active, inquiry-based learning experiences focused on Socioemotional Learning (SEL) and the Programme-Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework. This communication will present an overview of the program’s structure, activities, and pedagogical design, highlighting how hands-on workshops, case-based discussions, collaborative projects, and reflective tasks grounded in evidence-based research were implemented throughout the blended mobility experience. It will illustrate how participants engaged with strategies to promote children’s socioemotional development across diverse ECEC contexts, and how blended learning, participatory methodologies, and transnational teamwork were used to connect research with professional practice. In addition, it will provide insight into the program’s impact on students’ academic, professional, and intercultural development. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which students and teachers co-designed implementation strategies, adapted pedagogical resources to their national realities, and strengthened leadership and collaboration skills. Finally, it will discuss the potential outcomes and longer-term implications of these methodologies, including the transferability of training strategies, the consolidation of international learning communities, and the integration of innovative, research-informed approaches into teacher education curricula, fostering sustainable institutional cooperation and inclusive practices in European higher education.

Keywords:

Blended Learning, Curriculum Internationalization, Inclusive Education, Pedagogical Innovation, Transnational Collaboration.