BE IN Project is innovative not only in its subject and focus, but also in the methods and processes:
- It focusses specifically on issues related with social and educational inclusion of migrant and refugee children (3 to 8 years old) in early childhood education contexts, assuming a strong preventive perspective, whereas most initiatives are being taken regarding older children in compulsory schooling contexts.
- Despite the fact that these subjects are part of course contents at partner Universities, all partners acknowledge, from their positions within the training of educators/teachers and their contacts with
stakeholders and with real educational settings, that educators/teachers need to have access to specific training to face the changes, dilemmas and challenges those children bring to kindergartens/schools and to the overall education systems and societies. In line with that the BL course is intended not only to deliver subject knowledge but above all to contribute to educators/teachers empowerment and enablement. - The pedagogical approach, methods and the processes designed by the team to build the BL course are original as it is intended to supported them in an action-research approach, that links knowledge generation with the production of tangible outcomes.
- We are a group of HEI teachers/researchers, aiming to work in transnational mode and to take collaboration to a quite high level, which is also a key and innovative aspect of the project. In fact, we
are convinced that this process of working together will have positive impact on the quality of the results we want to achieve, by combining our different expertise, perspectives, cultural and educational backgrounds, as well as different national situations regarding the effective demands from migrant and refugee families and children. The transnational collaborative approach will have impact on final results and products, which is considered relevant and innovative and a condition to make those products usable to other European and also overseas universities.