The Kindergarten as a Factor of Inclusion for Migrant Children and their Families (KINDINMI)

Erasmus+ 2017-1-SE01-KA203-034587

The KINDINMI project (The Kindergarten as a Factor of Inclusion for Migrant Children and their Families) has been supported by an Erasmus + grant (2017-2020). It is a collaborative and comparative research project on local, regional, national and European strategies and innovative practices concerning the inclusion of recently arrived young migrants in kindergarten/preschool education as a means to encouraging better opportunities for them as well as their families for social orientation and inclusion in the host country. Partners are teams from universities in Austria, the Czech Republic, Scotland and Sweden (coordinator), who are involved on different levels in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).

The recent wave of immigration to Europe has led to many issues concerning the inclusion of migrants in the host countries. Although education is considered as a medium for inclusion, learning often meets barriers, not only those of language but even of understanding how things work in the new country.

A lot of focus has been put on older newly arrived children who often have difficulties learning the new language (or becoming literate) as well at catching up with the curriculum. Meanwhile, very little attention was given to younger children in the age of attending nursery school or preschool.

Preschool, although it is not compulsory in our countries seems to be a possible way for migrant families to better integrate and be included in the host country. For instance, parents or some member of the family usually bring younger children to school and are therefore given the possibility to come into contact with teachers and other parents, as well as to become familiar with the habits, traditions and way of life of the new country. Preschool -or kindergarten- can be considered as a possible threshold to better inclusion not only of the children, but also their guardians, which is why KINDINMI focuses on families with infants and children aged 6 months-7 years as the main beneficiary target group for the project.

One in our eyes original goal was to facilitate cooperation between different social actors: in other words, the global objective of the project was to promote preschool as a social and cultural meeting place. During the project, preschool/school teachers, mother tongue teachers, headmasters, university staff and students, stakeholders, NGOs, parents, including those from the host country and children were – and still are, involved at different levels: surveys, questionnaires and formal or informal interviews were conducted with all categories of participants. Some participated in activities and many have now used our pedagogic kit.

In order to reach our goals, we had to map and compare practices in different contexts and, although the situation may vary from one country to the other, develop common tools and materials that may even be adapted and used at a European or international level. The different mappings developed through the project have therefore resulted in courses aimed for existing or future preschool personal and educational tools for practitioners, children and families. Curricula are now available from this website, in Czech, English, German and Swedish and are easily adaptable to different contexts and target groups.

We have produced articles out of our research and observations, podcasts on different issues related to the project and a webinar about picture books and inclusion, all available online on this website and on our blog, where you also can have a glimpse of different activities conducted during the project.

To the KINDINMI blog

To our eyes, the project’s most important product is the Heartspace pedagogic kit: this material is meant to be interactive and reflexive. Based on multimodality, the Heartspace journal is aimed at preschool staff in initial and in-service education, teachers of mother tongue or other relevant persons working with ECEC. The Heartspace sharing book is an activity-based tool aimed to travel between preschool, parents, children. You will find a sample of the Heartspace material on this website. The Heartspace journal is in English, the Heartspace sharing book exists in English and Swedish. As our material is meant to be regularly updated, please contact us to make sure to get the latest version.

Link to contact form

You can of course write to us to give us feedback and share your ideas of improvement for our curricula or the pedagogic material.

Welcome to KINDINMI!

Pädagogische Hochschule Wien

The University College of Teacher Education Vienna puts great effort into making the teaching profession its focal point. Education, Training and Continuing Professional Development, in conjunction with Research ensure that the demands of the teaching profession and other related educational professional fields are met in a sustained manner. These efforts require education to be based on educational science, teaching methodology, subject didactics and teaching practice. The exceptionally high strength of the University College of Teacher Education Vienna lies in the confluence of research-based educational competencies in all educational fields and across all age groups, which are strongly embedded in professional practice.

There is experience in the field of mother tongue teaching in form of a curriculum for mother tongue teachers employed at the board of Vienna and all federal states of Austria. We are also researching the different L1 of our students who are studying in our institution and working on a three years research with about 2000 filled in questionnaires (students and staff). The training of students and teachers in the field of German as a second language started on the basis of a new established curriculum in October 2017. Having finished two ERASMUS-KA2-projects - LinguaInclusion (co-ordinated by EURAC-Bolzano/Italy - 2010) and AMuSE (co-ordinated by EURAC-Bolzano/Italy - 2013), we know much about dealing with diversity in general, especially in the fields of bilingual education, language acquisition and about building bridges and how to reduce barriers between social - lingual - cultural - ethnological walls viewing integration concerning newcomers, esp. young children.

At our institution, we established the center "KoMMM”, a competence center for Multilingualism Migration and Human Rights. Furthermore we organize seminars for mono- and multilingual in-service teachers in primary and secondary education: "German as Second Language in Primary Education" (20 ECTS), "Teaching L1: Mother tongue teaching in primary and secondary education" (30 ECTS).

Team members

Rainer Hawlik, Senior Lecturer
Martina Sturm, Lecturer
Pädagogische Hochschule Wien

Univerzita Palackého V Olomouci

Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci (Palacký University Olomouc, PU) is one of the oldest universities in Central Europe. Drawing on 440-year tradition of higher education it is a renowned centre for teaching and research. With more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students at eight faculties, it provides quality education and excellent background for research in a wide range of academic disciplines.

UP belongs among top Czech research universities and hosts several internationally recognized research centers.

PU has developed comprehensive international student and staff services.The roots of the tradition of education at the University of Olomouc go back to the 18th century. That is why the Pedagogical Faculty was one of the faculties that opened immediately after the re-establishment of Palacký University after the Second World War. Over the next years there were ups and down in its development but it has always had an important position both within the region and in the European context. Now it ranks among the largest of the eight faculties of Palacký University.

The Faculty of Education strives for maintaining the tradition, versatility and modernity in the education of students for their teaching careers or other positions in education. This is done in cooperation with the other faculties of Palacký University but the priority is the development of education in the region of Olomouc and in providing qualification of graduates for positions outside the national borders. The Faculty of Education of the Palacký University in Olomouc provides university education for future teachers and other educationists destined for various types of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and school and after-school education facilities. It also focuses on training staff in the field of state administration and self-government. The faculty offers an established range of accredited Bachelor, Master’s and Doctoral programmes in teaching as well as related non-teaching fields, as full-time or combined forms of study.

The Department of Primary and Pre-primary Education is responsible for a five-year MA degree study programme Teaching at primary schools, provided both as full-time and part-time study. Further, it is in charge of a three-year bachelor’s degree programme Teaching in pre-school education, again in both full-time and part-time form and a follow-up master degree programme Pre-school Education, which is only a part-time programme. Within lifelong education programmes, the Department offers a variety of programmes providing qualification extension. In cooperation with the Centre for Lifelong Education at the Faculty, the Department provides so-called parallel study programmes Teaching at primary schools, and Teaching in pre-school education, and a professional programme Teaching at primary schools for teachers working in lower secondary schools and a programme Teaching in pre-school education.

Team members

Alena Vavrdova, Senior Lecturer
Eva Smelová, Head of Department

Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci

University of Aberdeen, School of Education

One of the oldest universities in Scotland, the University of Aberdeen is today at the forefront of teaching, learning and discovery. The 'global university of the north' has an international outlook and a commitment to excellence in teaching and research. Following curriculum Reform in 2010, all programmes must now demonstrate how they support graduates to leave the University with enhanced skills as critical thinkers and effective communicators, better prepared to be active citizens. The university is fully committed to equality for all its staff and students.

The School of Education seeks to contribute to the development of a world class education system in Scotland through excellence in teaching, and research which informs policy and practice. The work of the School of Education is centred on the career and lifelong learning of educators and related professionals and includes a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees in education. The school is at the forefront of the use of emergent communication technologies for interactive and distance learning. The staff team work closely together to bring congruent educational philosophies and distinctive pedagogic approaches to professional development programmes for educators in all sectors, including early years, school, post-compulsory school and community education.

Team Members

Catriona McDonald, Senior Lecturer
Sheila Nutkins, Senior Lecturer
Kirsten Darling-Mcquistan, Lecturer
Katrina Foy, Lecturer
University of Aberdeen

Department of Education at Uppsala University

Uppsala University, founded in 1477, was the first university in Scandinavia. At Uppsala University there are about 40.000 students (approximately 23.000 full time students) and 6.300 employees. Uppsala University is a broad research university with well-defined missions and core values such as: To gain and disseminate knowledge for the benefit of humankind and for a better world, be a local, national and international meeting place for knowledge, culture and critical dialogue, to have an ethical attitude and approach, and activities characterized by equal opportunities, to conduct research and education of the highest quality and to collaborate with the surrounding community and contribute to achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing society.

The Department of Education (EDU) is one of the largest departments at Uppsala University, with around 200 teachers, researchers and administrators and around 3.000 students. The subject areas are: Curriculum Studies, Educational Sciences and Sociology of Education. The most extensive education commission is within the core courses of the Teacher Education Programs. The Teacher Education Programs consist of Preschools and Preschool Classes, (Preschool Classes, preparatory for children aged 6-7). Primary Schools, divided into a Preschool Class and grades 1-3 and grades 4-6. Secondary Schools Grades 7-9 and Upper Secondary Schools. The department has a tight cooperation with the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket), both about initial and in-service training teacher education. Internationalization of higher education is also a high priority for the department.

The Department of Education has during the past years aimed significant efforts to reinforce teaching and research competence about the education of newly arrivals, in fields such as additional language learning, mother tongue tuition for speakers of languages other than Swedish, inclusion and diversity, social justice, adult education (short track for immigrants to use their previous work competence).

Team members

Véronique Simon, Senior Lecturer
Katarina Gahne, International Coordinator
Uppsala University