About This Course
The research is unambiguous: the quality of early childhood education and care has a more powerful and lasting impact on children's outcomes than almost any other educational investment. The first six years of life are the period of maximum brain plasticity, when the foundations of language, cognition, social-emotional development and learning dispositions are laid. What happens in these years shapes what is possible in all the years that follow.
This course gives early childhood education and care professionals a thorough, research-grounded and professionally inspiring engagement with the latest thinking on early childhood pedagogy, child development and ECEC quality. Participants explore the neurological and developmental research underpinning current ECEC practice, develop practical approaches to high-quality early childhood education and connect their work to the EU's Barcelona targets and ECEC policy framework.
The course is aligned with the Council Recommendation on high-quality ECEC, the Barcelona Targets 2030 and the European Education Area Strategic Framework.
Who Should Attend
- Early childhood educators and nursery teachers (ages 0 to 6)
- Kindergarten teachers and pre-primary educators
- ECEC managers and pedagogical leaders
- Primary teachers who work with the youngest children (ages 5 to 7)
- Those new to early childhood education seeking a research-grounded foundation
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course participants will be able to:
Explain the neurological and developmental research on early childhood and connect it to high-quality pedagogical practice.
Brain development in the first six years is extraordinary in both pace and consequence. You will understand the key milestones and sensitive periods, know what the research says about the conditions that support optimal development, and be able to explain the neuroscientific rationale for play-based, relationship-centred early childhood pedagogy to parents and policymakers.
Apply the principles of high-quality ECEC as defined by the EU's ECEC quality framework to your own practice and setting.
The EU's ECEC quality framework identifies five areas of quality: workforce, governance, curriculum, monitoring and evaluation, and financing. You will conduct a quality audit of your own setting against this framework and develop a specific improvement plan.
Design play-based learning experiences that develop the full range of early childhood competences.
Play is not the opposite of learning. For young children, play is the primary mode of learning, and the best early childhood educators are masterful play facilitators. You will design a rich play-based learning environment and a set of experiences that develop language, cognition, social-emotional skills and physical development simultaneously.
Build warm, secure and developmentally supportive relationships with young children and their families.
Relationship is the medium through which all early childhood learning happens. Children who feel securely attached to their educators are more curious, more resilient and more able to learn. You will understand attachment theory and its implications for ECEC practice, and have specific strategies for building warm, appropriate relationships with very young children.
Use observation, documentation and assessment approaches appropriate for early childhood contexts.
Assessment in early childhood is not testing. It is systematic, respectful observation of children's play, language and interactions, used to understand individual development and plan appropriate experiences. You will have a range of observation and documentation tools appropriate for the 0 to 6 age range.
A 7-Day Professional Development Experience
Five days of intensive training combined with a structured arrival day and a cultural excursion. We are always open to tailoring the programme to your institution's needs.
Participants arrive and are welcomed by the Sude Nexus local team. Welcome dinner and orientation walk.
Guided cultural excursion. Participants travelling home are free to depart after breakfast.
This outline is a starting point, not a fixed schedule. Contact us to discuss how we can tailor this programme for your institution.
EU Policy Alignment
Erasmus+ 2026 Horizontal Priorities
EU Competence Frameworks
EU Policy Initiatives
Available Locations and Dates
Check the dates page for current availability across all 13 destinations.
Check Dates and Availability