Working for inclusion: the role of the early years workforce in addressing poverty and promoting social inclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

A series of reports and papers have been produced throughout the Working for
Inclusion programme – click here to learn more

 

Community webspace

As part of the Working for Inclusion programme, a webspace has been created to act as a community for those working in, or connected to, the early years workforce across Europe. Here you can participate in discussions on key challenges facing the sector and access a range of publications and discussion papers produced as part of Working for Inclusion.

It has been designed to enable interaction and quick access to information. The underlying principle is communication and sharing between, and within, member states across Europe.

We are grateful to NHS Education for Scotland for hosting the community webspace. To access the webspace click here

About the programme

Working for Inclusion is a cross-European programme to examine how improving the qualifications and skills of those working with our youngest children can help reduce poverty and improve social inclusion.

Taking place from February 2009 - January 2011, the programme seeks to encourage and facilitate discussion and debate over the role of the early years workforce, enabling greater more extensive and effective dialogue between local and national governments, education, services and practitioners.

The Working for Inclusion programme is funded by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013) and the Scottish Government.

Programme partners

The programme is led by Children in Scotland in partnership with:

La Bottega Di Geppetto - Italy

Nordland Research Institute - Norway

Comenius Foundation for Child Development - Poland

A further six member states are participating in the programme in relation to research and discussion fora: Slovenia, France, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and Hungary.

Programme themes

The over-arching theme of the Working for Inclusion programme is how the early years workforce can address poverty and promote social inclusion.

This over-arching theme is examined in relation to four key areas. Each partner country is taking the lead on one of these four thematic areas:

• working with the child as an active agent in their own learning (Italy)
• working with diversity, in particular ethnicity, language, disability and gender (Scotland)
• inclusive workforce models for rural and remote areas (Norway)
• working in an inclusive way with children and families, across agencies and age groups (Poland)