National Early Years Access Initiative
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
in County Donegal
Overview
 Application Process
 Management Structure
 NEYAI Vision
 National Policy Objectives
 Rationale for the Donegal
Proposal
 The Professional Pedagogy
Project
 Profile of Participants and
Eligibility
 National Evaluation
 Timeframes
Application Process
• In July 2010 agencies nationally were invited to an information
meeting in the Department of Education and Skills in Dublin. 3
representatives from Donegal Agencies were in attendance.
• Interested parties would be required to put together a local
consortium partner group, identify a lead partner and submit an
Expression of Interest and project outline by 6th September 2010.
• The expression of interest process was competitive with a scoring
criteria applied. This would determine which projects would go
through to the full application stage.
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Application Process
• 21st July 2010 DCCC facilitated a meeting inviting all those
agencies with an interest in being part of an initiative for Donegal
to attend.
•16 different agency representatives from across the county
attended. 4 agency representatives - Donegal VEC, Inishowen
Development Partnership, FAS and Children’s Services Committee
Donegal expressed a commitment to be part of the consortium
and voted that DCCC was best placed to be the lead partner.
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Application Process
• A project proposal was developed and the Expression of Interest
was submitted by the 6th September deadline.
• We were informed in October that this was successful and we
were now down to a shortlist of 25 projects and asked to proceed
to full application stage.
•The full application was submitted for 26th November 2010
deadline –a most comprehensive and detailed application.
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Application Process
• Informed on 22nd February 2011 that the Donegal application was
successful in being awarded €320,000 for the proposal.
•The pre-contract stage would take a further 3 months of providing
further information, detailed project plans, budgets, staffing docs
etc. before the contract was forwarded in May 2011.
•The NEYAI was officially launched in Dept Ed. on 20th June 2011.
• The Donegal NEYAI PPP was launched in Letterkenny in Sep 2011.
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Management Structure
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NEYAI Steering Group (EYPU, CES, HSE, DES, AP)
Pobal
National Evaluation Team
Donegal County Childcare (Lead Partner)
NEYAI Consortium (VEC, FAS, IDP, CSC)
NEYAI Strategic Planning Group
Donegal Project Coordinator
PPP TEAM
Supporting Government Policy Objectives
for ECCE
Síolta
 Aistear
 Workforce Development Plan
 National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
What is the vision for the NEYAI?
 Evidence-based policy making
 EPPI Studies, EPPNI and Perry Pre-School Projects
 Improve services for approximately 360,000 0-6 year old
children in Ireland
 A sustainable legacy for the future
 €5.25M
 Robust, focussed evaluation.
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Rationale for the Donegal Proposal
Identified
Need
Implement
National
ECCE
Policy
Donegal ECCE Sector
Build
Educator
Capacity
1: Implement ECCE Policy
 Síolta, Aistear,
WDP – cornerstones
for future growth and
development of ECCE
Sector
Síolta: the National
Quality Framework
for Early Childhood
Education
Workforce
Development Plan
Aistear: the Early
Childhood
Curriculum
Framework
 A strategic,
resourced
implementation plan
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
2. Build Educator Capacity
 Lighting a fire or filling a bucket?
 ‘How’ to teach young children
 Contemporary teaching techniques
 Gaps in training
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Overall Conceptual Framework
Improved
outcomes for
children
Build
Educator
Capacity
Improved
Parental
Involvement
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
The Professional Pedagogy Project
 Training Programme
 Mentoring and Support
 Cluster Sessions
 Information Sessions for Parents
 On line Discussion Forum
 Ongoing Consultation with Children
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Key Focal Points for Training and Mentoring
 Child Development and Learning
 The Early Childhood Curriculum and Play
 Pedagogical Techniques and Strategies
 Planning and Reflecting on Professional Practice
 Extending Learning through Assessment
 Effective Transitions from Pre-School to Primary School
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Accreditation
 PPP will be put forward
for Accreditation through
LYIT – HETAC 6/7
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Profile of Participants
 3 Delivery Areas – Inis Eoghain, Letterkenny, Donegal
Area.
 11 early childhood services
 Approximately 80 educators
 Approximately 300 children and their parents
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Eligibility and Selection
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
FDC, Sessional, ECCE Childminder
Pre-School Unit as part of service
Whole Service Approach
Whole Staff Team Approach
Core Training – Minimum Level 5
Commitment – past record of CPD
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
National Evaluation
 Rigorous National Evaluation of all 11 projects
 Treatment Group vs. Comparison Group
 A sample group of 70 children and their parents from
Donegal – 35 randomly drawn from sample
 Core evaluation questions
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Baseline Measures
Child
Parent
Educator
• Questionnaire –
completed by
Educator
• Questionnaire –
completed by
Parent
• Questionnaire –
completed by
Educator
• Physical health
• Social and
emotional
competence
• Language and
communication
• Dispositions and
attitudes
• Parent supports
• Relationship with
childcare service
• General lifestyle
• Professional
qualifications
• Relationship to job
– satisfaction,
commitment,
support
• Engagement with
children, parents
National Evaluation Timeframe
 October/November 2011: Staff and Early Childhood Service
Baseline Evaluation (prior to training taking place)
September 2012: Parent and Child Baseline Evaluation
(Prior to commencing Pre-School)
 June 2013: Staff, Parent and Child Follow-up Evaluation
(End Pre-School Year)
 October 2013: Parent and Child Transition Evaluation (Primary
School)
The Professional Pedagogy Project
Building a Professional Early Childhood Workforce
Supports and Outcomes
Educator
Parent
Training,
Mentoring,
Peer Support
Leading to
increased
professional
capacity
Parent support
workshops,
improved
relationship
with educators
Leading to
improved
parenting skills
Child
Support from
skilful educator
Leading to
improved
learning
outcomes and
life chances
NEYAI PPP Opportunities
Individual
Transferrable
skills and
experience
National
ECCE
Service
Needs-led
supports
Evidence
based
policy
making
Local
Project
Leaders