New evaluation tool "Evi:P" published
To what extent are children in daycare centres involved in decisions that affect their everyday lives - e.g. in room design or educational processes? The educational scientists Professor Dr Timm Albers and Sarah Meusel from Paderborn University have published the new evaluation tool "Evi:P"[1] together with the Parit?tischer Gesamtverband. The tool helps educator teams in daycare centres to systematically develop their practice and focus on inclusion, participation and children's rights.
Inclusion as a continuous process
"Evi:P does not see itself as a control tool, but as a friendly companion," emphasises Professor Albers. "The tool invites collegial reflection and helps teams to recognise barriers in practice, make strengths visible and plan concrete development steps."
The focus is on seven central areas of inclusive daycare practice: an inclusive welcoming culture, social-emotional learning and interaction, linguistic diversity and inclusive communication, child-centred and participatory educators, an inclusive design of the (learning) environment, the involvement of families as well as leadership and management. For each area, "Evi:P" offers detailed criteria, reflection questions and space for notes and practical examples. The tool can be used flexibly by individual professionals, teams or entire centres.
"Evi:P" is the German adaptation of the Finnish instrument "KAMU", which has been used successfully in Helsinki for years for quality development in early education. For use in Germany, it has been extensively revised, technically adapted and linked to current German early education standards - including the "Common Framework of the Federal States for Early Education in Child Day Care Centres", the Index for Inclusion and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Strengthening children's rights and participation
A central element of the German adaptation is the strong emphasis on participation as a child's right. Unlike many international approaches, "Evi:P" not only looks at children's activities, but also at their actual participation in decisions that affect their everyday lives. The "mental environment" approach has also been further developed into an inclusive welcoming culture that visibly values diversity and actively breaks down barriers.
Quality development as a joint process
"We developed 'Evi:P' to support daycare centres in their continuous quality process. The tool therefore also offers a structured development plan with the aim of being able to define and review measures and timeframes," explains Professor Albers.
The "Evi:P" evaluation tool is now available as an open access publication.
Launch event
The tool will be presented to the public as part of an online event organised by the "Childhood, Children's Rights, Family Policy" expert committee of the Working Group for Child and Youth Welfare. On Wednesday, 13 May, Professor Albers will present international perspectives on inclusive early childhood education together with Iina Hanka (City of Helsinki) from 1 to 2.30 pm (via Zoom). The event is open to all interested parties.
This text was translated automatically.
[1] Full title: “Evaluation tool for participatory and inclusive practice in child day care”
