ASSIST structured inservicetraining for preschool assistants and preschool teachers

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ASSIST structured in-service-training for
pre-school assistants and pre-school teachers

• Kick-off Meeting
• Oslo
• 30/31 January 1 February 2008
• Municipality of Milan
• Family, School and Social Policies Department

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Inhabitants in Milan
Total 1.308.981 (Census 2005)
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Children in Milan
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School System in Italy
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CENTRAL DIRECTION FAMILY, SCHOOL AND SOCIAL
POLICIES
Director of Central Direction
Secretarial staff
Support to Director
Services for the Family
Services for Infancy
Services for Underage and Young people
Services for Elderly
Services for Adults in difficult situation
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SERVICES FOR INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Director of department
Secretarial staff
Administrative support
Educational activities for age 0-6
Supplementary educational activities
Support services for the family
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EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR AGE 0-6
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EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL
Total personnel in the Central
Direction 5534
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58 DIDACTIC DIRECTIONS

• 484 services overall
• (for each Direction from 420 to 620 children)

277
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SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES
Family nurseries
Time for families
Toy-libraries
Hospital sections
Tagesmutter
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EDUCATOR / CHILD RATIO

• Ratio as provided in the most recent Trade Union
  agreement
• Age ratio
• 0 - 3 1/6
• 3 6 2/25

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EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL - NURSERIES

• Number of educators in nurseries 1315
• in particular
• with fixed-term contract 280
• with open-ended contract 1035
• Assistants 428

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EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL NURSERY SCHOOLS

• Number of educators in nursery schools 1853
• in particular
• with fixed-term contract 218
• with open-ended contract 1635
• Assistants 450

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DISABLED CHILDREN

• Nursery schools 306
• Nurseries 43
• Micro-nurseries 1
• Contracted nurseries 8
• Total 358

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CHILDREN ENROLLED school year 2007/08
Nursery schools 21.364 Nurseries
8.254
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PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

• Director Co-director

University degree in psycological, sociological
or pedagogic subjects Employed in municipal
services after specific selection/public
competition
University degree in psycological, sociological
or pedagogic subjects Employed in municipal
services after specific selection/public
competition
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TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Director
Co-Director

• Organizational, pedagogical-teaching, and
  administrative management of services
• Coordination of the whole Direction
• Detection of training needs in order to ensure
  the personnels technical and professional
  updating and to support and develop the specific
  competences

• Administrative, organizational and
  pedagogic-didactical management
• Support to the director

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PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

• Educator
  Assistant

Degree of junior high school Employed in
municipal services after specific
selection/public competition
Degree of secondary specific school (social
service worker, children assistant, assistant for
children communities) Employed in municipal
services after specific selection/public
competition
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TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Educator Assistant

• Responsible for the direct contact with children
• Responsible for the planning, class management,
  observation, documentation and assessment
• Room arrangement and care
• Ensure orizontal and vertical continuity
• Encounters with parents
• Obligatory involvement in collegial activities
  and updating
• Teaching activities and extra teaching activities

• Room and equipment care, including safety,
  hygiene and room tidyness
• Initial information to users
• Support for teachers

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DEMANDS FOR TRAINING

• Detection of educational needs for the staff
• Reinforcement of the basic skills of the teachers
• Awareness of new teaching problems in the lights
  of social-cultural changes and acting accordingly
• Awareness of a family-focused method, parents
  playing a primary role in the upbringing of
  children
• Updating relational skills toward parents and
  families
• Theoretical-practical updating of the staff based
  on new regulations for preschools and nurseries
• Theoretical-practical updating of the assistants,
  i.e
• Support to teachers in their activities
• Initial information for users
• Vigilance and surveillance of children
• hygiene

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DEMANDS FOR TRAINING

• Training plan 2008-2009
• Themes
• Care for infants (educators)
• Problems and disabilities (educators)
• Relations with the family (educators)
• Portfolio teaching programme and documentation
  (directors, co-directors and educators)
• Rules and limits 0-6 years of age (directors and
  co-directors)
• Training on dietetic programmes (directors,
  co-directors and educators)
• Training on Italian legislative Decree on Safety
  on Italian Food Safety law (directors,
  co-directors, educators and assistants)
• Average course duration 40 hours

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SKILLS

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SKILLS

• Professional competence it finds expression
  through practices of facilitation, easiness and
  structuring learning. It is regulated by the
  childrens feed-back
• Accurate methodological awareness, able to
  overcome both single, spontaneous interventions
  and the severity of an action only based on
  method
• The main object is children s advantage, needs
  and results. The more competence, the more the
  results of children are reinforced and ensured.
• Taking into account each role, work-building is
  important.

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CHALLENGES

• New organization of educational services
• (in progress)
• Continuity 0-6 (creation of spring classes)
• Exchange of personnel in municipal nurseries and
  pre-schools, in order to export the municipal
  model
• Multicultural approach to education (improving
  multicultural subjects and opening to new
  needs)
• Reaching more children age 0-6 through a variety
  of supplementary and integrated services
  (tagesmutter, bonus bebè, family nurseries...)

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STATUS

• Workers in the educational and teaching fields
  are differently respected and considered
• Altough they have nowadays a very high level of
  education, pre-school teachers still have a lower
  status if compared with other kind of teachers
• Until recently, their level of education and
  qualification was actually lower, whereas today
  an university degree is required. It didnt help
  to raise their profile a long-lasting process is
  required.
• There is still a difference between educators for
  0-3 and teachers 0-6 children, which is being
  gradually removed. In Milans services it is used
  the word educator only.

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NURSERY SCHOOLS PUBLIC/PRIVATE

• Municipal nursery school 170
• State nursery schools 22
  
• Private nursery schools 106

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NURSERIES PUBLIC/PRIVATE

• Public nurseries 277
• Private nurseries 192

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EXPECTATIONS

• European Benchmarking
• Detecting improvement areas
• Identifying of timing, costs and resources
  necessary to perform improvements

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Which parts of Sagene Model will be more
interesting for your setting?

• Detection of training needs through a survey to
  be carried out among the staff
• In-service-training work and learning occuring
  simultaneously, with no division between theory
  and practical experience
• Use of skills organizing and sharing skills and
  experiences
• Innovative training program more instruments for
  assistants in order to detect and manage problems
  correctly

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• the end
• thanks for your kind attention