12 TWO-DAY EXPERT MEETINGS WERE HELD – COUNSELING FOR ALL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATES OF PUBLIC PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS IN SERBIA

The Preschool Institutions (PE) Support Program developed within Component 2 of the Ministry of Education project – “Inclusive Preschool Education” recognized, among others, the role of professional associates as carriers of change and the importance of supporting and strengthening them in that role.

To this end, the Ministry, through the Project, prepared, organized and implemented 12 two-day regional professional meetings with the aim of supporting the professional development of professional associates of all profiles as reflective practitioners whose role is to lead change through the development of democratic, inclusive and reflective practice.

Based on the findings of monitoring and evaluation within the framework of the Preschool Education Support Program and the previous experiences of professional associates in the implementation of the Foundations of the Preschool Education Program (PEP) – The Years of Takeoff, the counseling activities are focused on empowering professional associates to create targeted support for practitioners from their PE through horizontal exchanges – learning between kindergartens within the institution, but also between institutions.

Twelve two-day meetings, attended by around 380 professional associates of all profiles (psychologists, pedagogues, physical education, music, art and speech therapists), were implemented in the period April – May 2024 at 7 locations: three groups each in Belgrade and Fruska Gora, two groups in Kragujevac and one each in: Vranje, Čačak, Niš and Šabac.

During the first day, the professional associates, based on the results of the monitoring and the role of the professional associate in the development planning and monitoring of the practice of the PE, identified challenges and searched for possible solutions in mutual exchange. This included defining action proposals (short-term and long-term goals) as well as concrete support for practitioners, but also support for children’s learning and development.

During the second day of the Consultation, activities dealt with the role of professional associates in developing the PE community (stages in the change process and internal horizontal professional development).

The final activity was related to the development and presentation of an Action Plan for each specific PE.

The consultations, with the support of Component 2 of the Project and UNICEF, were developed and led by pairs of experienced practitioners from public primary schools who were also training leaders for OPs and mentors for the OPs: Jasmina Vuletić and Staniša Čabarkapa, Ana Kojić and Aleksandra Ružičić, and Violeta Vrcelj Odri and Snezana Bulatović.

These consultations are a continuation of the support to professional associates that was implemented in the period June – November 2021 and March – April 2022, when 280 psychologists and educators from public primary schools attended a two-day training – Professional Associates as Agents of Change (SNOP), which, based on the Decision issued by the Minister of Education, received the status of a program of public interest.

This training, which is based on theoretical premises aligned with the modern understanding of the nature of practice change and with the concept of the Foundations of the PVE Program – Years of Takeoff and represents a significant form of professional development, was developed by the Institute of Pedagogy and Andragogy of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, within Component 2 of the Inclusive Preschool Education project.

Empowering professional associates to lead change is based on understanding the nature and process of change, through strengthening competencies for transforming the culture of the institution into a learning community and through strengthening capacities for developing the quality of PE practice.

You can see the photos here.