This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Centres of Education and Early Childhood Education

Code: 102012 ECTS Credits: 8
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500797 Early Childhood Education FB 2

Contact

Name:
Cecilia Inés Suárez Rivarola
Email:
ceciliaines.suarez@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

It is recommended:

- To have a functional knowledge of one European Union language (in addition to one's own).

- To read educational papers related to the contents of this course and that are included in the recommended bibliography.

- To have basic research skills.

- To reflect on one's own educational experience.

- To have a predisposition for teamwork.


Objectives and Contextualisation


The course is aimed at analyzing the situation of any educational institution (schools, programs and projects) for children in the educational systems of the European Union, with particular emphasis on systems Catalan and Spanish.

It also is designed to identify and understand the processes and institutions that have promoted and promote innovations in any European territory.

This systematic approach will certainly consider the educational institution as a unit of analysis and intervention.

By the end of this course, students should: 

- Understand the Early Education and Childcare systems and network inside the European region.

- Analyze childcare systems in Spain and Catalonia.

- Identify institutions and innovative programs dedicated to early childhood that promote children's rights.

- Understand the different types of institutions of Early Childhood Education (schools, programs and projects).

- To use educational research to understand the types of Early Childhood Education institutions and their characteristics.

- To understand evidence-informed educational practices as an approach for the improvement and innovation of teaching practices in Early Childhood Education.

- To develop the research competence as early childhood education teachers.

- To develop digital competence as early childhood education teachers.

- To promote knowledge about enculturation and gender socialization in childhood and the role of women and the gender system in these processes.

- To promote knowledge and reflection on gender inequalities and the different forms of sexism in societies, focusing the analysis on Early Childhood Education.

 


Competences

  • Acquire habits and skills for cooperative and autonomous learning and promote the same in pupils.
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Appreciate the importance of teamwork.
  • Assessing the personal relationship with each student and their family as a quality factor of education.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the role, possibilities and limits of education in today's society and core competencies that affect infant schools and their professionals.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of quality improvement models with application to schools.
  • Know about international experiences and examples of innovative practices in infant education.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
  • Master social skills in dealing and relating with the family of each pupil and all families.
  • Participate and get involved in the events, meetings and events of the institution to which one belongs.
  • Participate in the development and monitoring of educational programs in infant education in the framework of school projects and in collaboration with the territory and with other professionals and social agents.
  • Place infant schooling in the Spanish education system, and in the European and international context.
  • Understand the law governing kindergartens and their organization.
  • Work in teams and with teams (in the same field or interdisciplinary).

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accept that the diversity and plurality of ideas, practices and educational institutions is a value to defend.
  2. Analyse, contextually and pedagogically, educational projects and national and international assessment reports related to nursery and primary education and that help make decisions in the field of education policy.
  3. Assessing the value of, and respecting the different pedagogical contributions of, different movements and authors of contemporary relevance.
  4. Contrast and synthesize information about infant schools in Catalan, Spanish, European and international education systems, explaining experiences and innovative examples through a study produced by a team.
  5. Critically and independently analyse the main current formulations and pedagogical practices, and be able to defend the assumption of criteria.
  6. Examining the knowledge of the main international, and especially European, pedagogical movements that have influenced contemporary pedagogical theory and practices that affect nursery and primary schooling.
  7. Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
  8. Find out about and develop a monitoring plan for infant education projects in the framework of a school that collaborates with the territory and with other professionals and social agents.
  9. Gaining a deeper knowledge of certain authors and educational movements that have had a special importance in educational thinking and practice in our country.
  10. Identifying the main changes affecting educational practice and the way teachers exercise their profession today.
  11. Observing and describing the main limitations but also the possibilities of current educational projects and practices of different centres and teaching professionals.
  12. Produce, in a group, innovative training proposals that include the typical interdisciplinary teams in an institution of early childhood care.
  13. Propose new ways to measure the success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.
  14. Understand the historical evolution of the main currents of educational thinking in terms of the various changing contexts that affect teaching.
  15. Understand the main currents of contemporary thought of educational influence and their impact on nursery and primary education.
  16. Using graphic techniques to analyse the legislation regulating infant schools and their organisation.
  17. Using social skills in relationships with children, with families and with the professionals from the centres being studied.
  18. Using techniques such as the genogram, the video frame, family photos and family albums to critically analyse personal and other family relationships.
  19. Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
  20. Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one's own and other people's proposals for improvement.

Content


The Early Childhood Education in the educational system Spanish and Catalan.

  • Different child care services and education in Catalonia and Spain.
  • Legislative support for the family.
  • The school children. Legislative framework.

Situation of Early Childhood Education in the European and international context.

  • Services for children and their families.
  • Attention collective bargaining and individual attention to different European countries.
  • Quantitative and qualitative aspects of the different services.

Educational innovation in stage 0-6. Precedents and current situation.

  • Innovations focus on curriculum development.
  • Innovations focus on the organization of the center.
  • Innovations focus on the relationship with the environment.

Schools Early Childhood Education. Types and functions.

  • Different educational support services for children.
  • Different services to support motherhood and parenting.
  • Activities of daily life.

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Field Work Seminars 5 0.2 2, 9, 1, 15, 14, 4, 12, 10, 11, 18, 16, 3
Oral presentations and Lectures 15 0.6 2, 9, 1, 15, 14, 4, 12, 10, 11, 18, 16, 3
Reading Seminars 40 1.6 2, 9, 1, 15, 14, 4, 12, 10, 11, 18, 16, 3
Type: Supervised      
Follow-up activities both face-to-face and on-line 20 0.8 5, 14, 8, 12, 10, 11, 18, 3
Self-assessment, peer assessment 20 0.8 5, 15, 8, 12, 10, 11, 17, 18, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Self-Study activities 100 4 5, 9, 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 18, 16

As showed in the following sections, this course is designed considering that the students are at the center of the learning process.

This course includes three types of learning activities: guided, supervised, and self-study activities.

Guided activities are conducted by the teaching staff involving the active participation of the class group in the learning process. These activities can be large group classes, seminars or small group sessions. Classes with the main group are based on presentations of the topics from the syllabus. The seminars and practical sessions are working spaces to deepen, analyze, contrast, debate, experience, reflect and evaluate the contents of the course.

Supervised activities are learning activities in which students, individually and/or in groups, work towards achieving learning. These activities will be structured in a concrete way, presented at the beginning of the course, and allow the deepening and application of the course content.

Self-study activities are carried out independently by the student in order to develop skills and achieve the objectives of the course.

 

Inclusive Education

Taking into account the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the principles of equity and inclusion promoted by the European Union (Declaration of Paris, 2015), the commitment made by the Faculty of Education Sciences and UAB regarding educational inclusion, and following the Decree 150/2017 on the inclusive education system in Catalonia, the professors of this course recognizes the value of diversity and are committed to considering the uniqueness of the learning needs of the students. Therefore, an inclusive perspective will be considered transversally incorporated in the teaching practices, activities and productions of the students, and contents of this course.

Digital TeachingCompetence.

This course includes activities for the development of Digital Teaching Competence.

Gender Perspective

This subject considers the Gender Perspective in teaching, as well as the need to include mechanisms that allow us to overcome inequalities and build fairer societies from Early Childhood Education. In this regard, this subject considers the assumption of gender equity values as a transversal axis to the proposed content, activities, and teaching practice.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam (individual evaluation) 30% 0 0 5, 9, 15, 14, 7, 10, 6, 13, 3, 19
Group Project Child and Family Care Services in Catalonia (Group Project) 25% 0 0 5, 2, 9, 1, 15, 4, 8, 12, 7, 11, 17, 16, 3
Group Project Early Childhood Education in Europe (group project) 15% 0 0 2, 9, 1, 15, 14, 4, 12, 10, 6, 11, 20, 13, 18, 16, 19
Individual assessment (individual evaluation) 30% 0 0 5, 1, 14, 11, 20, 13, 18, 16, 3

Learning Portfolio

On the first day of the course, the teachers will present the index of the learning portfolio that will include each of the products and the evidence that makes it up, detailing the delivery and review dates of the portfolio.

The activities will be distributed throughout the course in the different seminars. In the indicated sessions, the Learning Portfolio will be presented with the evidences that the student must have carried out according to the terms of the index.

In order to pass the course, each and every one of the evidences of the proposed learning portfolio must be presented and the self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment activities must be carried out.

Students who wish to, may carry out voluntary tasks that complement their learning portfolio. These tasks and their evidence cannot replace any of the evidence described in the learning portfolio index.

The feedback of each of the activities in the index of the Learning Portfolio will take place in the public presentation sessions of the portfolio and the student who wishes to carry out an individual review will do so in the office hours established for this course.

In order to pass the course, an average equal to or greater than 5 must be achieved. To be able to do the average with the activities, a minimum of 5 must be obtained in each of the obligatory evaluation activities.

The grades obtained in each of the evaluation activities will be given to the student through the publication of the results in the On-line Campus within 20 days of their delivery. The student who needs to review the grade will have to do so within 15 days after its publication during office hours established.

Students who have adequately followed the course through the year, but still have some aspect not achieved, will be given the opportunity to pass the course, doing additional assignments or redoing some of the activities carried out before. Each case will have to be studied depending on the situation of each student. The teachers will indicate to the students the requirements to be able to recover the parts not overcome.

Students who repeat the course may request only a final summary evaluation, but this must be discussed with the teaching staff at the beginning of the course.

One-time Evaluation

This course does not provide One-time Evaluation System.

Other Assessment Policies

Attendance to the seminar sessions of the course and to the assessment sessions’ is mandatory. The student who does not attend at least 80% of the seminar sessions and 100% of the assessment sessions will not be evaluated and will be considered as Not presented.

The supporting documents that are sometimes presented in case of absence serve only to explain the absence, in no case do they exempt from attendance. Only in cases related to medical and legal issues, and duly documented, the faculty responsible for the course may arbitrate, if possible, complementary activities that compensate for the required attendance.

An attitude compatible with the education profession must be shown as a requirement for passing the course. Some skills are active listening, respect, participation, cooperation, empathy, kindness, punctuality, non-judgment, argumentation, proper use of the mobile phone, etc.

To pass this course, the student must show, in the activities proposed, a good general communicative competence, both orally and in writing, and a good command of the language or languages used in the syllabus.

It must be taken into account that the student will have the opportunity to recover the subject by taking a written test with a maximum grade of 5 (five).

When it is considered that the student has not been able to provide sufficient evidence of evaluation, this subject must be graded as Not Evaluable.

It is necessary to show an attitude compatible with the educational profession as a requirement to pass the subject. Some competencies are active listening, respect, participation, cooperation, empathy, kindness, punctuality, not judging, arguing, and proper use of electronic devices (mobile, computer, etc.) Also, the student must demonstrate that he/she is responsible and rigorous in autonomous work, actively participates in the classes, and shows critical thinking and behaviors that favour a friendly and positive, democratic environment where differences are respected. The students’ participation, involvement, and attitude during the development of the activities and classroom sessions will be considered for evaluation. Teachers may suspend or lower the grades if they consider it does not meet academic minimums in the mentioned aspects. The importance of demonstrating an ethical commitment to the deontological principles of the teaching profession is recalled.

To pass this subject, students must show a good general communicative competence, both orally and in writing, and a good command of the vehicular language or languages that appear in the teaching guide in the activities proposed. In all the activities (individual and group), therefore, linguistic correctness, writing and formal aspects of presentation will be considered. Students must be able to express themselves fluently and correctly and must show a high degree of understanding of academic texts. An activity can be returned (not evaluated) or suspended if the teacher considers that it does not meet these requirements. In the case of the Catalan language, in the 1st and 2nd year students are required to have a linguistic competence equivalent to Level 1 for Early Childhood and Primary Education Teachers; and from the 3rd year of the Degree the student must have shown competence equivalent to Level 2 for Early Childhood and Primary Education Teachers (more information about these levels at http://www.uab.cat/web/els-estudis/a-1369). All evaluable activities will be subject to formal criteria, including spelling,writing, and presentation. Before submitting evidence of learning, it is necessary to verify that the citations in the text and references have been correctly written following the APA 7a regulations. Ed.

Copying or plagiarism in any kind of evaluation activity constitutes a crime and will be penalized with a 0 as a mark of the subject, losing the possibility of recovering it, whether it is an individual or group work (in this case, all members of the group will have a 0). If, during the completion of an individual work in class, the teacher considers that a student is trying to copy or discover some type of document or device not authorized by the teacher, the same will be graded with a 0, without the option of reassessment, and therefore, the subject will be suspended. A work, activity, or exam will be considered to be "copied" when it reproduces all or a significant part of the work of another colleague. It will be considered that a work or activity is "plagiarized" when a part of an author's text is presented as its own without citing the sources, regardless of whether the original sources are in paper or digital format.

 

The assessment and re-assessment dates are:

Group 61: 24/10, 12/12; 03/04, and 15/05. The re-assessment date is June 5th 2025.

Group 62: 22/10, 10/12; 08/04 and 13/05. The re-assessment date is June 3rd 2025.


Bibliography

Abelleira, A. & Abelleira, I. (2020). Hacia una didáctica de proximidad. “La fuerza de lo cercano”. RELAdEI: Revista latinoamericana de educación infantil, 99-117. Disponible on line. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7598822

Alcrudo, P.; Alonso, A.; Escobar, M.; Hoyuelos, A.; Medina, À. y Vallejo, A. (2015). La educación infantil en España. Planteamiento, situación y perspectiva de la educación de 0 a 6 años. Escuela de Fantasía, S.L. Recuperat de https://issuu.com/platamadrid/docs/la_educacion_infantil_en_e

Barbieri, N. (2019). Innovació social i educació 0-3 anys. Barcelona: IGOP (Projecte RecerCaixa “Edu 0-3”).

bell hooks (2000). El feminismo es para todo el mundo. Traficantes de sueños.

Blasco, J. (2016). De l’escola bressol a les politiques per a la petita infância. Fundació Jaume Bofill. Recuperat de https://www.fbofill.cat/sites/default/files/Dossier%20Premsa-petita%20infancia%20_210916.pdf

Bonal, X.S. & Saurí, E.S. (2016). Equitat en l’accés a les escoles bressol municipal. En Observatori de l’educació local. Informe 2016, (pp. 26-35). Diputació de Barcelona. Disponible en: https://llibreria.diba.cat/es/libro/observatori-de-l-educaciolocal_58236

Camacho, M. (2018). La innovació en educació. Aspectes clau i reptes de futur. En Anuari de l’Educació de les Illes Balears 2018 (pp. 16-28). Disponible en: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/6820686.pd

Departament de Ensenyament. Generalitat de Catalunya (2017). Marc de la innovació pedagògica a Catalunya. Departament de Ensenyament. Generalitat de Catalunya.

Díez Navarro, M.C. (2019). Caramelos de violeta. Hacia la dulce metamorfosis de nuestras escuelas. Graó.

Diputació de Barcelona (2001). Serveis per a la infància: marc de referència per a polítiques educatives en l’àmbit municipal. Sèrie Estudis, núm. 7. Recuperat de https://www.diba.cat/documents/113226/11c47cfa-8a3c-49e8-91b9-1cd1b66a4df6

European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice (2019). Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe – 2019 Edition. Eurydice Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Recuperat de https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/topics/early-childhood-education-and-care_en

Forner, À.; Acedo, C. i Recasens, J. (2001). Serveis per a la infància: Marc de referència per a polítiques educatives en l'àmbit municipal. Estudis educació 7, Diputació de Barcelona.

Garvis, S., Phillipson, S., Harju-Luukkainen, H., Sadownik, R. A. (eds.) (2022). Parental engagement and early childhood education around the world. Routledge.

Jiménez-Delgado, M.; Jareño-Ruiz, D. & El-Habib Draoui, B. (2016). La expansión de la educación infantil en España: entre la igualdad de oportunidades y la segregación. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 72, 19-44. Disponible en: https://rieoei.org/historico/documentos/rie72a01.pdf

Marbán Gallego, V, & Rodríguez Cabrero, G. (2020). Políticas de protección a la infancia en la Unión Europea. Presupuesto y Gasto Público 98, 49-78. Disponible en:https://dialnet.unirioja.es/ejemplar/554862

Mayordomo Martínez, E. & Millán Cañamares, X. (2017). Avances, límites y retos en la garantía de derechos de la infancia en Cataluña. Una aproximación desde el ámbito municipal. Zerbitzuan, 63, 75-88. Disponible en:http://www.zerbitzuan.net/documentos/zerbitzuan/Zerbitzuan63.pd

Moyano, S. (2020). Entre el riesgo y la certeza en las prácticas de protección a la infancia. Notas para abrir una conversación. Disponible en http://revistainterrogant.org/entre-el-riesgo-y-la-certeza-en-las-practicas-de-proteccion-a-la-infancia-notas-para-abrir-una-conversacion/

OECD (2017). Education at a Glance 2017. OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing. 

ONU (2006). Comité de los Derechos del Niño. Observación general N°7: Realización de los derechos del niño en la primera infancia, 20 septiembre 2006, CRC/C/GC/7/Rev.1, Recuperado de: http://www.refworld.org.es/docid/4ffd3dc02.html

ONU (2013). Comité de los Derechos del Niño. Observación general N°17 sobre el derecho del niño al descanso, el esparcimiento, el juego, las actividades recreativas, la vida cultural y las artes (artículo 31), 17 abril 2013, CRC/C/GC/17. Recuperado de: http://www.refworld.org.es/docid/51ef9bf14.html

ONU (2016). Comité de los Derechos del Niño. Observación general núm. 19 sobre la elaboración de presupuestos públicos para hacer efectivos los derechos del niño (art. 4). Recuperado de: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fGC%2f19&Lang=es

Perines H. (2017). Las murallas invisibles entre la investigación educativa y los docentes. Ciencia y Educación, 1 (1), 11-21.

Quinto Borghi, B. (2010). Educar en el 0-3. La práctica reflexiva en los nidi d'infanzia. Graó.

Ramis Assens, A. (2016). Famílies i mestres, Entendre'ns per educar. Eumo.

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Trotta, T. i Troya, M.S. (2018, octubre 4). La pobreza infantil en España nos lleva a desaprovechar talento. El País, secció Planeta Futuro. Recuperat de https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/10/03/planeta_futuro/1538570523_817380.html

Tejada, J. (2008). Los agentes de la innovación en los centros educativos. Profesores, directivos y asesores. Ediciones Aljibe.

Uttech, M. (2009). ¿Qué es la investigación y qué es un maestro investigador? Revista de Educación XXI, 139-150.

Vila, I. (2000). Aproximación a la educación infantil: características e implicaciones educativas. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación. Disponible en https://rieoei.org/historico/documentos/rie22a02.htm

Zabalza, M.A. (2023). Prólogo. La infància digital: entre la esperanza y el riesgo. En M. Area-Moreira, J. Rodríguez Rodríguez, J. Peirats Chacón, Á. San Martin Alonso (coords.), Infanci@ digit@l : los recursos educativos digitales en educación infantil. 1a. edición. Barcelona: Graó, 2023. Print. Disponible online a la Biblioteca d’Humanitats UAB.

Zabalza, M.A. (1996). Calidad en la Educación Infantil. Narcea.

 

Revistes i pàgines electròniques d'interés:

Diputació de Barcelona

http://www.diba.es/

Institut Infància i adolescència

https://institutinfancia.cat/

Observatorio de la Infancia de la Junta de Andalucía:

https://www.observatoriodelainfancia.es/oia/esp/index.aspx

Organización para la Cooperación y Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE)

https://www.oecd.org/

Revista Infància a Europa

https://www.rosasensat.org/revistes/infancia-europa/

Temes d'Educació- Generalitat de Catalunya:

http://web.gencat.cat/ca/temes/educacio/

Unió Europea

https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en

 

(*) Specific bibliography and web links for each Module may be provided throughout the course.


Software

Not required.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 611 Catalan annual morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 612 Catalan annual morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 613 Catalan annual morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 621 Catalan annual afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 622 Catalan annual afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 623 Catalan annual afternoon
(TE) Theory 61 Catalan annual morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 62 Catalan annual afternoon