The project aims to address the shortcomings in higher education across Georgia and China by systematically engaging HEIs in new practices with a learner-centred focus. More specifically, the project aims to achieve this by building capacity at PC institutions for implementing learner-centred teaching, raising awareness about learner-centred learning in PC institutions and in society at large and creating a basis for cooperation through international network for exchange of experience.The consortium wishes to undertake this project to aid the partner countries in making a shift to learner-centred philosophy a reality. Behind the project several unsuccessful attempts of country-wide reforms stand.The project results will be used by the project participants, primarily from partner countries. At the university level it reaches out to partner universities, its academic and administrative staff. Partner universities, that will be involved in all the project activities aimed towards manual development, formation of CPD units, teacher and administrative staff training and exploitation of project results throughout the universities. At national level, other partner country universities will benefit from attending the interim and final conferences within the project aimed to inform the stakeholders about the project achievements and introduce them with the new manual on learner-centred approach. CPD units in each partner country university which will conduct regular workshops in learner-centred approach.At international level, Chinese and Georgian partners will profit from European partners’ expertise in developing partnerships for staff exchange that will promote continuous development of academic staff at partner countries.International network for exchange of experience will contribute to staff development.

In the project Social inclusion, Education and Urban Policy for Young Children we approached the complex questions about how to enhance social inclusion and avoid exclusion in society. We especially focused on the professional educational work with young children aged 0 to 8 years in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). We aimed at establishing a collaboration between different stakeholders within this field: Professionals in the ECEC practice, lecturers of education for pedagogues, researchers and policy makers at a municipality level. During the project period of three years, from September 2016 until September 2019, eleven partners have been working closely together to reach the goals that were set for the project. We worked to develop education and training supporting social inclusive, inter-cultural competences and – in an urban perspective - combating discrimination and segregation. The cities involved in this project are all facing growth of population and the need for inclusive education. This includes providing the necessary conditions to support the development and education for young children in the cities and their families. The project builds on existing knowledge and practice and focuses on the necessary inter-professional and inter-sectional cooperation to create inclusive practice in an urban environment, and the urban policy supporting this.The participating organizations came from six European Cities, organized in ‘The City Network’ [Municipalities of Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Ghent, Ljubljana and Rotterdam], coordinated by Childcare International. Other partners were from Research/Higher Education Institutions [Pedagoski Institute in Ljubljana, VBJK in Ghent, University College Copenhagen and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences] and from ECEC organizations [VTRC Hansa Christiana Andersena in Ljubljana and Kindertagesstätten Berlin Süd-West]. All together about 30-35 persons have been actively participating and contributing to the good results of the project. It has been a continuous group of people, with only very few changes during the three year period. Furthermore there have been active contacts with the work field, since a big number of field visits have been organized for smaller groups by each of the five transnational meetings and also during the exchange periods in the autumns of 2017 and 2018 with students and researchers/lecturers from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Ljubljana and Ghent.The results that have been produced during the project period are: Four literature reviews (from Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Ghent and Ljubjiana) + a synthesis report; reality based cases from all partners + a competence profile on inclusion; a film website including 19 interviews with stakeholders and four documentaries on 'working inclusively in practise'; a framework for an educational program and finally an article with a set of recommendations for policy makers in the cities. On a longer term this broad approach to the issues involved has created a solid ground and the possibility to implement new approaches to social inclusion. The educational material [cases, competence profile, films] is already in the curriculum planning to be used in the programs for future professionals in The Netherland and in Denmark from the autumn semester 2019 onwards. This material will also be used as training material in the practice field in all countries. The Policy paper offers important issues to be further discussed in and amongst the municipalities, and the literature reviews are very useful in (applied) research projects. At the final transnational meeting and in the written evaluations [see appendices] all partners have expressed that the exchange with European partners has been impactful and there are various plans to continue collaboration. Action is taken to organize inspirational networks, job shadowing, student exchange and new applications for projects.

As a holistic, relationship-centred way of working with children, young people and adults in educational and care settings from early years, school support, foster care, youth justice, residential child care, family support, support for people with disabilities and elderly care, social pedagogy is well established in many European countries. In the UK, pilot projects have consistently demonstrated its potential to improve outcomes and contributed to growing interest in social pedagogy. However, taking social pedagogy to scale has been hampered by the cost of training a substantial part of the workforce and a lack of free comprehensive learning resources that can offer compelling insights into social pedagogical practice in other countries and support innovation. Learning about social pedagogical traditions in other countries is not only of value to a British audience, and we have found interest even in countries with a vibrant tradition of social pedagogy. The project therefore aimed to (1) develop a high quality social pedagogical learning resource in English (and Spanish), accessible to all, (2) highlight commonalities and central features in social pedagogy, (3) promote exchange of ideas and creation of learning networks around the world, and (4) illustrate how social pedagogy is understood and applied in the different countries and how this connects to different societies. To achieve these aims, we formed an international multi-sector partnership between 8 organisations leading social pedagogy developments in higher education, vocational training and organisational capacity-building. These included: ThemPra Social Pedagogy, a pioneering social enterprise providing organisational capacity-building through vocational courses in social pedagogy, strategic consultancy and team development; University of Central Lancashire, one of the largest Schools of Social Work in the UK which offers social pedagogy degree programmes; Københavns Professionshøjskole (UCC), a leading provider of full-time distance learning degree programmes in social pedagogy; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, who are at the forefront of social pedagogy qualifications and lead the social pedagogy discourse in Spain and Latin America; Masarykova Univerzita, one of the largest universities for social pedagogy studies and actively involved in sector developments in Central and Eastern Europe; Universiteit Gent, with substantial teaching and research expertise in social pedagogy, contributing to its discourse both in Flanders and internationally; KJSH - Stiftung für Kinder-, Jugend und Soziale Hilfen, a large not-for-profit organisation providing social pedagogical services in youth care and VET activities in Germany; and CommonView, a VET organisation providing coaching and consultancy in social pedagogy both in Denmark and the UK, with expertise in cross-cultural learning transfer of innovative social pedagogical practice. To create space for dialogue and learning between us and thus develop, refine and review the project outputs, we undertook 8 transnational project meetings.Our partnership succeeded in creating the first Massive Open Online Course in Social Pedagogy across Europe. Available on Coursera, the world’s biggest online learning platform providing universal access to the world’s best education, the 8 MOOC sessions offer unique insights into social pedagogy in the partner countries. Learners have completely free access to all learning resources, with the option to gain certification from our partners at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.To support learning transfer and influence policy-making, we also jointly authored an insight report on how a social pedagogical perspective can enable education and social care professionals to meaningfully respond to social justice issues. Alongside the MOOC, the insight report has succeeded in sharing innovative practice across linguistic barriers that have frequently prevented cross-fertilisation in social care across Europe.These open access resources were disseminated through 2 bespoke multiplier events with nearly 200 delegates, conference presentations, webinars and dissemination activities through extensive networks. So far, roughly 2,500 learners have engaged with the MOOC, with more joining each week. Feedback from MOOC graduates has been very positive, and many organisations have started to use the MOOC as a learning resource for their whole teams. Several universities are also using various sessions as part of their curriculum. The MOOC has thus begun to become a significant resource contributing to intercultural learning and dialogue around the benefit of social pedagogy. Together with the insight report it showcases the variety of traditions and highlights what we all have in common. Both outputs make a strong case for how practitioners and decision-makers can promote social justice through relationship-centred practice and structural changes that will have lasting benefits.

Many schools are unprepared for changing context in terms of managing language and social diversity in the classrooms and many teachers are increasingly overwhelmed by the challenges. As a result, both teachers and children might drop out of school, or their ability to perform adequately at school might be significantly reduced. The overall aim of this Erasmus+ project is therefore to enhance teacher well-being by strengthening teachers' capacity to manage linguistic and social diversity in schools. The EU Commission’s report on how to prepare teachers for diversity states that teachers must be effectively prepared to embrace the benefits of diversity for schools and students (2017). The experiences gained through the activities implemented in TWBD partner schools reveal that in order to embrace diversity, we must also simultanously acknowledge the challenges and complexity of diversity. This way supporting teachers in seeing and making use of the resources of diversity became an effective strategy to reach project objectives: •Develop strategies that promote teacher well-being in schools in order to promote quality education for all children.•Improve and strengthen the understanding of social and lingual diversity and teacher well-being in teacher training curricula.•Foster scholarly collaboration through joint knowledge exchange, publication and dissemination of findings.•Inform policy and advocacy debates through joint learning forums and media.The collaborating partners in the project are higher education institutions (HEIs) and schools in South Africa, Denmark, Ireland and Norway. In these countries, project members have explored teaching, learning and research in the fields of multilingualism, inclusive education and health promoting schools. There are 10 participating organisationa - five HEIs representing departments of Teacher Education and Early Childhood Education, four primary schools and one high school representing communities of professional practice. The departments of Teacher and Early Childhood Education cover a wide range of project relevant research areas.The South African university and school partners did bring much added value to the project in terms of experience and research on a teacher well-being community outreach programme implemented in Schools over the years 2007 - 2012.By focusing on the teacher, this project differ from many educational projects as their focus is on the learner or student. Project main results and activities can be summarised as follows:Capacity building of teachers and teacher educators in multilingualism was achieved through the sharing of innovative pedagoical methods, tools and strategies amongst the project partners. Teachers have been trained in seeing and making use of the resources of multilingual and social/multicultural diversity. Coping strategies focusing on the teachers have been tested and are increasingly involving more teachers. These are key to a sustainable inclusion of all learners in the school. Improvements in collegial cultures and the building of teacher and learner resilience in partner schools: trust needed for professional sharing of practice is enhanced and space for staff reflection and well-being activities has been created. Changes in school environments indicate improvements in terms safety, communication and respect amongst teachers, learners and parents. Added value to the project was also achieved through teachers and teacher educators benefiting professionnally from engaging in communities of professional practice, networks and partnerships at local and international level. Key project members have published articles and presented project results at a large number of conferences globall . Project focus on teacher well-being activities and results have been published in local newspaper, online forums and HEI online newspapers. . Impact of the project on participants and participating organisations directly involved seem high. The project represents both unique and complementary significant contributions to other projects assisting teachers in dealing meaningfully with the new educational challenges. Project results have been shared with other primary and secondary schools in the immediate network of project schools.The concept and methodology of TWB are being utilised in the teacher training of all participating HEIs. Longer term impact of the project is enhanced through future conference presentations, new or revised teaching modules at all project HEIs. Project results and materials, such as the Handbook for novice teachers and Manual for TWB curriculum in primary and secondary schools, are accessible on the Erasmus+ e- platform and the project's website.

"In most European countries, media pedagogy has a secure place in the education and training of pedagogical professionals in early childhood education. Therein pedagogical professionals acquire knowledge and skills on media use as well as critical questioning. Creative competencies in the media field, which are a prerequisite for the responsible active use of digital media, are rather not promoted. Hence, our surveys on the use of digital media in institutions of early childhood education showed that pedagogical professionals have a great need for training to provide competent support for children in the digital age. Against this background, the project ""Digital media competence for educational staff in early childhood education"" developed concepts for the education and training of educational professionals for the active and creative use of digital media in kindergartens and preschools.Five partners from Germany, Denmark, Belgium & Norway worked together in the project: three institutions for the education and further training of pedagogical professionals in early childhood education, one institution for child and youth research, an out-of-school educational institution with a focus on STEM-ICT and a company for organisational development and quality improvement in day-care centres. In the course of the project, an advanced training institution, an advanced training provider and day care providers from Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden were also involved in the project. Through the project partners' access to makerspaces in some of their institutions, they were able to identify possibilities & potentials of tools, learning environments & methodical approaches of the maker spaces as well as to adapt them for application in further education & training concepts. Thus, the method of ""challenge-based learning"" as well as a co-constructive pedagogical basic attitude could be identified as methodical core of educational offers for children as well as of further education and training concepts for pedagogical professionals. On the basis of their survey results, the partners developed a training course on digital media in early childhood education. In order to communicate the contents of the training course, they trained pedagogical professionals from their institutions or childcare providers to become trainers. After its testing, reflection and further development, pedagogical contents, methods and didactic approaches of the advanced training concept were integrated into existing training curricula of the participating training institutions.The further educated trainers and their from them further educated pedagogical professionals learned approaches and methods for the use of digital media in early childhood education in the project. They apply them in the daily practice of day-care centres & pass them on in their plus other institutions. They can develop or create learning offers & learning environments in the form of makerspaces. By sensitising, educating and advising parents about the opportunities and limitations of digital media in early childhood education, they give important impulses for parental work in their institutions. The participating educational institutions use the new impulses for linking theory & practice in their educational practice and for the (further) development of their teaching in the field of digital media.The children in institutions of early childhood education are supported by the trained and advanced pedagogical professionals in their technical, production and information literacy - which were identified as building blocks of digital media competence in the project. This enables them to deal critically and age-appropriately with digital media and supports them in their ability to analyse and evaluate them. In addition, they acquire knowledge and skills in dealing with digital tools. By using various tools, their analytical skills and understanding of scientific interrelationships are supported. Finally, they will be prepared for the use of digital media & tools in school.The project website www.mini-maker.eu summarises in German & English learning & teaching materials (texts, lectures, tutorials, projects carried out by trained or advanced pedagogical professionals). Here you will also find the reviews of the expert days, including workshops, inputs and documentation. The website is permanently extended with contributions by all those involved - including the advanced & trained pedagogical professionals. The training course & the education concept are available as digital resources in German & English & can be used by institutions interested in the development of an active & creative use of digital media in early childhood education."