ProW

Title and acronym: Promoting Teachers Well-being through Positive Behavior Support in Early Childhood Education [ProW]

Project type: Erasmus+ KA3 Project, Key Action 3 - Support for policy reform

Ref. no.: 626146-EPP-1-2020-2-EL-EPPKA3-PI-POLICY

Promoter /Coordinator: INTERNATIONAL HELLENIC UNIVERSITY (IHU), Greece

Duration: 28/02/2021 to 28/02/2024

Total project grant: 1.656.256,00 EUR

Total expenditure (grant) for the University of Pitești: 175.767,00 EUR

Local coordinator for the University of Piteşti: Assoc. Professor Dr. Georgeta CHIRLEȘAN

Summary:

The focus of this policy experiment is to develop evidence-based policies and practices to enhance the teaching profession and improve the teacher quality and their careers in ECEC settings, by focusing on Positive Education and Positive Behaviour Support. The policy measure to be tested is a whole school program and staff development, informed by two well researched bodies of work:

(1) Positive education and promoting teacher well-being and

(2) School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework.

The main hypothesis is that enhancing the participating early childhood teachers’ well-being and building their skills to design and implement the SWPBS framework, will have a positive impact on their professional well-being, job satisfaction, self-efficacy and will reduce their burnout levels. A randomized wait-list controlled trial will be conducted. The proposed intervention will be implemented with 60 ECEC settings, 300 early childhood teachers and 2000 children in four countries.

The expected results are to:

1. Develop an alternative way for the enhancement of teachers’ motivation and attractiveness of their profession

2. Improve teacher well-being, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and reduce burnout levels

3. Build an inclusive positive-orientated school culture, in which all children are valued and respected

4. Impact on policy efforts by scaling up and sustaining the ProW framework implementation in ECEC settings and on improving teacher competencies and careers

5. Enhance public authorities’ and ECEC settings’ capacity to support ECEC and quality teachers by own means (capacity building)

6. Improve the research knowledge on the effectiveness of Positive Education and the SWPBS on teachers’ professional development and teacher careers.

7. Establish a ‘Teacher well-being and Career Observatory’ to conduct ongoing research and develop policies for teachers’ careers and professional development.

Objectives:

The focus of this project is to develop evidence-based policies and practices that will enhance the early years teaching profession and improve the quality of teachers and the development of their careers. One of the most important factors of the success of education systems, is the quality of teaching, yet recruiting and retaining quality teachers is a known challenge for education systems. This project’s approach supports early childhood educators, by ensuring that teachers will be trained to manage effectively children’s challenging social behaviours (SWPBS) and to enhance their own career and well-being (Positive education). This will have a domino effect by improving early childhood teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, enhance their job satisfaction and reduce their burnout levels.

Work Packages:

WP1: Needs Assessment

WP2: Experimental Protocol

WP3: Field Trials

WP4: Digital platform and elearning

WP5: Project management and Quality Assurance

WP6: Dissemination & Communication

WP7: Policy Development and Scalability

Outcomes:

WP1: