SIA-ProD

The project aims to provide to early childhood educators the methodology and the instruments for self-evaluation and self-improvement with an effective, personalized, easy and low cost way. To achieve this goal, the project has 4 objectives:

1. To transfer, adapt and implement an innovative technique named Discrete Choice Modeling (DCM) that gave to Dan McFadden who introduced DMC, a Nobel prize in 2000 in Economic Sciences in the field of early childhood education, and more specifically for the professional development of early childhood educators. DCM is widely used in marketing, finance, biostatistics and other scientific areas (Ben-Akiva, & Lerman, 1985), while its use in education is sparse.
2. To promote the utility of self-assessment as a powerful tool and prerequisite for effective in service training procedures. To achieve this objective this project aims to develop the Teacher Self-Assessment Assistant (TSAA), based on the DCM method described earlier. The educators will be able to complete the instrument and receive feedback for their teaching profile.
3. To support teachers’ self-improvement. To achieve this goal the current project will develop the Self-Improvement Educational Package (SIEP). The early childhood educators that will participate in the project and complete the TSAA will receive feedback about their teaching profile. Based on that they will be able to design their own personal training agenda from the available educational material included in the SIEP. This way every practitioner will be easily self-assessed and select the training content he/she needs.
4. To confirm with research based findings that this new approach for in-service training is beneficial for both the early childhood educators and their students. The partnership consists of 6 partners from 4 EU countries.