GROUP REFLECTION AS A MOTOR FOR HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

An inspirational travel guide for practitioners and leaders in ECEC and primary schools.

The Guide is developed within the Reflection, Cooperation, Group Support (REC) international project funded by the European Union with the aim of introducing collaborative reflective methods for educators and other professionals working with children aged 0-10 in a total of ten child-care and educational centres in Belgium (Flemish Community), Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. It is grounded on national experiences of the consortium partners, their collaborative reflective practices in different educational systems (e.g. split and integrated ECEC systems), as well as on international research findings. Through our joint experience, we share the voices of numerous educators who, based on their experiences, advocate for the opportunity to be a part of the reflective group within their comprehensive, supportive and continuous professional development.

The Guide has been prepared so that institutions not participating in the program can find their way to the reflective methods that best suit them in order to set up sustainable reflection groups. In the chapters that follow, we will outline the route of professional learning communities as an approach to the professional development of educators. The Guide outlines the basic information on specific methods of reflection, providing links to further resources for those who want to know more. Some of the methods require trained facilitators. For more support in a particular reflective method, please refer to REC partnership resources:

Partners Hungary Foundation, Hungary

Open Academy Step by Step, Croatia

Centre for Innovation in the Early Years (VBJK), Belgium

Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, Belgium

Pedagogical institute, Slovenia.