Abstract:

In the European Union, interest in Education and care services between 0 and 6 years has been growing for several years, and this is evidenced by the activation of educational policies and interventions that promote the development of educational quality and continuity. In the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) all the services offered to children from birth to primary education are regulated by international and national frameworks that define the concept of quality.

In Italy, the establishment of the Integrated System of education and instruction from birth to six years (L.D. 65/2017) has led to reflect on how to effectively plan activities aimed at early childhood in order to promote and enhance the educational continuity. The researches in this area have deepened the organizational and evaluation strategies which can be used to design paths aimed at responding to the needs of children between 0 and 6 years, especially in the transition from the Nursery school or from the “Spring section” (24-26 months) to the Kindergarten (Moss & Dahlberg, 2008; Restiglian, 2012; Bondioli & Savio, 2012, 2018).

The paper presents the outcomes of a professional development path, articulated in the form of Training-Research (T-R) (Magnoler, 2012; Asquini, 2018) in which were involved educators and teachers working in the Childhood services of the Lazio Region (Italy). The aim of the research was to deepen the micro-planning activities that involved educators, teachers and pedagogical coordinators, with the supervision of the experts. In the formative sessions have been planned three instructional tools that were considered particularly useful in order to foster the educational continuity: Peer tutoring, Shared reading, Simulation activities (or Reality tasks). During the research were used questionnaires (administered before and after the course) and observation grids.

The main evidences emerging from the T-R path confirm the importance of continuing to reflect on how to design quality educational courses for childhood. In this regard, the educational tools identified were effective in promoting educational continuity between Nursery, “Spring section” and Kindergarten sections and in increasing the active participation of children in the educational activities co-designed by educators and teachers.

Keywords:

Childhood services, Educational continuity, Instructional tools, Micro-planning, Training-Research.