The International Step by Step's (ISSA) own principles (i.e., democratic values, child-centred approaches to teaching, parental and community involvement in children’s development and education, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion) are closely aligned with the Consultative Group’s 4 Cornerstones to Secure a Strong Foundation for Young Children:

• Cornerstone 1: ISSA’S Early Childhood Education (ECE) Programmes ISSA is firmly committed to improving care and educational services for young children in its core membership countries. ISSA’s member organisations provide training and developmental support to caregivers, teachers, school administrators, parents, educational authorities, and other representatives of the community at local, regional, and national levels.  In recent years, ISSA has introduced as set of Pedagogical Standards.  In keeping with a child-centred approach, these standards offer a unique and integrated set of materials to support teachers’ self-assessment, mentoring, assessment, and certification within the network.  These Standards are available for adaptation and implementation in new contexts.  ISSA’s Disability and Education for Social Justice Programmes pay special attention to children from ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, and children living in remote areas or in poverty.  These programmes provide training in social justice, multicultural, and bilingual education. The Disability Programme focuses on the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream classrooms, enhances teachers’ professional capacity, and advocates for the rights of children with disabilities and their families. ISSA’s Parent and Community-Based Programmes offers user-friendly materials, activities for parents and children, and modules for facilitators from the local community to support families in their effort to promote their children’s development and education.
• Cornerstone 2: Many ISSA network members have been active in providing access to and advocating for preschool programmes for children from ethnic minorities (with an emphasis on the Romani minority [e.g., OSI’s Roma Education Initiative] ), children with disabilities, and children living in remote areas or in poverty.
• Cornerstone 3: ISSA and its members continue to build upon the success of OSI’s Step by Step Programme in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Professional development programmes and primary school level methodology have been recognized and included in the official list of services by several ministries of education in the region.
• Cornerstone 4: ISSA forges links with government agencies and international organisations to ensure that successful approaches and programmes  have policy impact or become mainstreamed (e.g., in October 2006, ISSA, the Roma Education Fund (REF), and the European Early Childhood Research Association (EECERA) jointly submitted an amicus brief to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in reference to the case D.H. and others v. the Czech Republic). One of ISSA’s main priorities is to build capacity among its members.  This includes the capacity to effectively advocate for including early childhood in policies, has been realised through a partnership with the World Forum Foundation (WFF).

 

For more information, contact:
Liana Ghent, Executive Director
International Step by Step Association
Tel:  +36 1 486-2858
Fax: +36 1 266-3463
Mobile +36 20 9911855
E-mail:  lghent@issa.nl; lghent@issa.hu
Website:  www.issa.nl

News

• ISSA's 9th Annual 2008 Conference, October 9-12, 2008, Budapest, Hungary: 
  Active Citizenship—Democratic Practices in Education. Organized in partnership with the World Forum Foundation, the conference will explore how the promotion of democratic values, both in practice and through advocacy, can affect the quality of children's lives.  The conference will also include sharing of best practices in democratic teaching within preschool and primary classrooms, panels highlighting global and regional advocacy priorities, presentations on successful advocacy projects, significant key speakers, as well as exciting field visits.