New e-book supports Child-Centred Competences for Early Childhood Education and Care

An international team from the UK, Ireland, Spain, Denmark, Croatia and Italy have launched a free e-book resource to help students in Early Childhood Studies and early childhood education and care courses to understand and implement the idea of child-centredness in their practice.  Funded through the Erasmus+ programme and led by researchers at the University of Plymouth, the e-book is freely available on the website of sector membership body Early Education.

The book brings together four years of research undertaken by early childhood academics and educators to help articulate both what child-centredness means and what it looks like in practice. The e-book is divided into three chapters, each with two sections that help to structure a series of indicators. Each indicator provides a description, summary, resource, suggested points for reflection and further reading. You can go through each indicator in turn or use the table of contents to click to the ones that you most want to look at.

Project lead, Dr Verity Campbell-Barr said:

“We hope this e-book will provide a helpful resource to support students developing their understanding of child-centredness.  The international perspectives provide a comparative perspective on similarities and differences on how it is approached in different countries. We’re keen to get feedback from colleagues in further and higher education and other training providers on what they think of the e-book and how they will incorporate it in their teaching.”

The e-book can be accessed at www.early-education.org.uk/child-centred-competences-early-childhood-education-and-care