Why INTEC
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) should be at the centre of a radically new approach to continuing training with a stronger European dimension.
Contrary to teachers belonging to higher educational levels (primary and secondary), the training of teaching staff in ECEC is to a great extent linked to local or national offers based on clear-cut separation between initial education and in-service training.
As highlighted in European Education and Training 2020, “participation of all ECEC staff in high-quality initial education and training and continuing professional development (CPD) programmes is key to improving the quality of ECEC provision”. However, most of the offer has mainly a local dimension and focus on the way in which they are designed.
Needs
The project partners believe there is a need of a radically new approach emphasising the crucial role of the European dimension in continuing professional development for ECEC staff.
There is a need to rethink the in-service training paths of ECEC staff in a European perspective, where knowledge and experiential learning for the improvement of their professional skills are acquired not only locally but rather in combination with a set of high-quality activities tailored at European level.
National educational systems that establish explicit links between initial training and continuing education are more likely to bolster training quality, support staff retention, and enable individuals to thrive in the sector. Regrettably, the limited availability of international training programs for ECEC professionals hampers the acquisition of diverse learning experiences abroad.
As the number of ERASMUS+ accredited ECEC organizations grows, there’s a pressing need to establish a structured European framework facilitating effective utilization of received funding for organizing staff mobilities abroad.
the objectives
The project's general objective is to develop and spread an innovative approach to ECEC staff training based on European in-service continuing education. The specific objectives are:
- To create a transnational CPD competence curriculum for ECEC professionals
- To develop a set of new training contents and courses for multiple target groups
- To strengthen the European dimension of ECEC staff training through the development of a training approach based on transnational mobility.
The Manifesto
1. Project partners affirm Early Childhood Education and Care as a public, social, and democratic responsibility. ECEC institutions are foundational spaces of citizenship, social participation, and democracy, contributing to social cohesion, justice, and sustainability from the earliest years of life.
2. Project partners place children at the centre as rights‑holders, active participants, and co‑constructors of learning. All educational practices must be child‑centred and rights‑based, recognising children’s voices, perspectives, needs, and competencies, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
3. Project partners commit to holistic education through play, relationships, and multiple languages of expression. Play is the privileged context for learning, where cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and creative dimensions interconnect through diverse expressive languages.
4. Project partners recognise inclusiveness, equity, and diversity as core principles of quality ECEC. Educational environments must actively welcome diversity, remove barriers, challenge bias and stereotypes, and ensure fair and meaningful participation for all children and families.
5. Project partners understand professional learning as a continuous, reflective, and situated process. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) must respond to real contexts and needs, linking theory and practice through reflection, inquiry, and experimentation.
6. Project partners believe professional growth happens within communities of practice, not in isolation. ECEC quality relies on teamwork, collaboration, shared meaning‑making, and collective responsibility for learning and transformation.
7. Project partners strengthen the professional identity of ECEC educators as reflective, empowered, and socially engaged actors. Teachers are facilitators, observers, co‑learners, and agents of change, actively connected to their communities and wider societal challenges.
8. Project partners promote strong, trust‑based partnerships with families and communities. Families are educational allies whose knowledge, values, and experiences enrich the learning environment and support children’s holistic development.
9. Project partners value leadership as distributed, supportive, and appreciative. Leadership in ECEC is a shared responsibility that empowers professionals, fosters wellbeing, bridges theory and practice, and sustains quality over time.
10. Project partners embrace transnational learning, mobility, and sustainability as engines of innovation and quality. European cooperation, international mobility, and shared learning strengthen professional competence, promote common values, and align ECEC practices with the goals of social and environmental sustainability.
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