Course overview

The importance of preschool education is entrenched in the Sustainable Development Goals, which seeks to ensure that, by 2030, “all girls and boys have access to quality education so that they are ready for primary education”. It is acknowledged that the first years of children’s life are the most important for their development and growth, since learning takes place at a speed that will never be equalled. Promoting the use of innovative teaching methods in preschool education can lay the groundwork for children success in school and in adult years. This is why for preschool educators it has become vital to find new innovative ways of involving their children in and outside the classroom. This course allows participants to get to know, experiment and practice the most relevant innovative teaching methods for preschool teachers - such as Outdoor Education, Project-Based Learning, Non-Formal Education and Creativity - in a safe environment, discussing and sharing best practices and experience with fellow European teachers and education staff.


​Learning outcomes

This course provides participants with an overview of the trending innovative preschool teaching methods as well as a cooperative, inspirational and stimulating space where to experiment and practice new tools, strategies and approaches to be applied in preschool settings.
The general aim of this course is to foster excellence and innovation by empowering and inspiring preschool educators, trainers, headmasters and other education staff to use innovative teaching methods with their pupils while sharing best practices and experiences with fellow participants and trainers throughout all Europe, gaining as well  a broader understanding of preschool education in Europe.
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Thanks to this course the participants will:
  • Get acquainted with new trends and effective innovative approaches in early childhood and preschool education;
  • Get acquainted with the key principles and components of Project-Based Learning for children;
  • Discover the benefits of embedding nature and biodiversity in preschool activities;
  • Experience and practice inspirational outdoor education activities;
  • Learn how to design, prepare and deliver experiential and creative learning activities;
  • Get to know and experiment learning games and activities to stimulate children creativity, cognitive and social development;
  • Exchange best practices and share experiences about preschool education with teachers and education staff coming throughout Europe.

Courses planned

2024
18/02/2024 - 24/02/2024 (Tenerife)
12/05/2024 - 18/05/2024 (Bologna)
07/07/2024 - 13/07/2024 (Bologna)
28/07/2024 - 03/08/2024 (Tenerife)
04/08/2024 - 10/08/2024 (Palermo)
24/11/2024 - 30/11/2024 (Bologna) 

2025
02/03/2025 - 08/03/2025 (Bologna)
02/03/2025 - 08/03/2025 (Palermo)
02/03/2025 - 08/03/2025 (Tenerife)
09/11/2025 - 15/11/2025 (Bologna)

​If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is open to: teachers, directors, managers, educators and other staff of preschool and childhood institutions with pupils aged 0 - 6 years old.

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to [email protected] to get more information about it.

Past participants say...

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"It has been a great week, we've developed our communicative skills, got in contact with colleagues all over Europe and had the opportunity to share common projects. A panoramic view of the most representative approaches in preschool education." 

- ​María Desamparados Tamarit Valero, Spain

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Company

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"The course was really good organized, the organizers have thought about everything. The excursions to the educational centers were matching with the course topics. The educators of the schools answered all our questions. It was a very nice experience!"
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- Madara Osite, Latvia

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"Great organization. Wonderful friendship and sharing experiences. We are certainly returning home richer for a new experience."
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- Ingrid Baxa, Croatia

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Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles. Our standard programme comprises 7 days, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangements. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we may organize longer versions of this course. 
Sunday
-  Participants arrival
 - Orientation and information about the venue and the city 
 - Networking activities
 - Walking tour in the venue’s city
Monday
-  Course introduction
-  Needs and expectations evaluation
-  Teambuilding exercises
-  Reflections on existing preschool systems and best practices
-  The child in the middle: the importance of preschool education
-  The role of the environment, the educator and family involvement
Tuesday
-  The role of informal and non-formal learning in preschool education: principles and best practices
-  Basic concepts and principles about non-formal education and experiential learning
-  Experiential methods to strengthen problem-solving, curiosity and teamwork
-  Practicing, designing and delivering experiential activities and tools
-  Cultural activities in the venue’s city
Wednesday
-  The key components of Project-Based Learning (PBL)
-  Formulating your Driving Question
-  The importance of children driven activities in PBL 
-  Optional cultural visit outside the venue’s city (Florence, Cefalù, El Teide...)
Thursday
-  Key principles and benefits about outdoor education and outdoor learning
-  The value of outdoor education for cognitive, social and relational development
-  How to safely design, plan and deliver outdoor preschool education activities
-  Practicing, designing and delivering outdoor group exercises and challenges, problem solving games and experiential activities in the nature
Friday
-  The importance of creativity in early childhood education: key concepts and principles
-  Practical activity: creativity-based pedagogies and learning games to foster pupils’ imagination and collaboration
-  Practicing and designing lessons using creativity skills and tools
- Create your own lesson based on the knowledge and practices acquired during the week
-  Farewell dinner
Saturday
 -  Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow up activities
 -  Course roundup and final evaluation
 -  Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony
 -  Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)
 -  Optional cultural activities or additional guided visit in another major city
 -  Participants departure
    Pre-registration
    Read here our privacy policy

Other relevant facts

  • Methodology
  • Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
  • Certification and Validation of learning outcomes
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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning in an interactive and international environment knowledge applicable to the real contexts and/or in the classroom. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange. They include visits with local schools and institutions allowing the participants to better understand the local education system as well as exchange ideas and contacts.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know Italy as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.
​Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure the best comfort and quality at a price that is within the Erasmus+ grant.
We are proud to tailor our training courses to both participants' learning and practical needs and to ease your participation at our training courses, we will gladly take care of all the practical arrangements. If you prefer, you can take care of some of the practical arrangements by yourself (e.g. meals, local transport...), though we will manage the organization of your accommodation in order to ensure optimal logistic organization, safety and time-efficiency. We always provide board and lodging in the same hotel in which we organize the course  thus ensuring optimal comfort and potential of networking with the fellow participants. Read more about  how we take care of your subsistence and practical arrangements. 
The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations in 2025 costs 1405 EUR in Bologna, 1330 EUR in Tenerife and Thessaloniki and 1225 EUR in Palermo, Porto and Rimini and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, 2 coffee breaks per day, walking tour in the venue’s city, a sum-up dissemination video. The standard option in Bologna, Tenerife and Thessaloniki includes all meals from Sunday lunch to Saturday lunch, while in Palermo, Porto and Rimini includes all breakfasts and three networking meals in local restaurants. Few of our courses include extra services and activities hence having a different pricing option, which will be communicated upon receiving the pre-registration.​
For schools sending 2 or more participants we can offer accommodation in double rooms and we can provide as well accommodation for people or relatives accompanying the participants.
When attending our courses, we recommend you to request 9 days of individual support for your subsistence costs, 7 days for the course plus 2 additional days for the travel. In this way you can have more flexibility in planning your stay and you can enjoy all the cultural activities planned from the first to the last day of course. You can read here more about the Erasmus+ funding. Shall you have need any help with filling the budget during the application stage or have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to support you.
At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance, together - if requested - with the Europass Mobility Certificate. The certificate are in line with the Erasmus Quality Standards and include a short description of the course and its learning outcomes, dates, venues, the name of the course provider and the course instructor(s).
We support the participants in every step of certification and validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

Videos and photos of previous training courses

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