Shaking the Habitual closing meeting
Reykjavik, September 19-21, 2017. The project Shaking the Habitual came to an end.
The motivation and background of the project is a need for more gender awareness and equality, along with a longing to expand horizons, share experience and create new ways of working towards gender equality. The main objectives of the project are to break down gender stereotypes and for everyone, staff, children and parents/caregivers to become more norm critical, in the hopes of creating a more equal society, free of discrimination and exclusion. There are four participants in the project:
Agnebäcken preschool, in Harryda, Sweden which has had a gender focus for several years. Gender has been a focus area for further education of preschool teachers in the municipality and the preschool recognizes the value of expanding the issue to include an international perspective;
Hjalli preschool in Iceland has a long experience of working with single gender groups, gender compensations projects, controlled mixed gender settings and gender equality and is a part of Hjallastefnan, an education company that runs both preschools and primary schools. From its inception Hjalli has maintained a strong gender equality discourse, developing distinct ways of working with gender, while looking to improve and continue to lead the way in gender equality in preschools in Iceland;
Progettinfanzia in Italy which has in the last few years made efforts to create awareness around gender issues in early childhood education. In Italy the discourse on gender equality has been rather weak, however Progettinfanzia is taking part in the debate on a local, regional and national perspective. The work done on the field has focused on adults’ awareness and self-reflection staff holding the capacity of the practitioners to read and de-construct gender stereotypes and biases;
Nikolaigården-Egalia, the first preschool in the world to be LGBT-certified (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). Nikolaigården-Egalia has a lot of experience in the matter of gender and equality and wants to share and take part, to inspire and get inspired
Each participant will host two transnational meetings with a specific theme, providing information on that theme as well as a lecture. During the meetings participants will relay information about previous work and discuss and plan future work. Brainstorming will be done and best practices shared. Between meetings participants will share articles connected for gender and equality in preschools and exchange other relevant information. The project progression and success will be measured in the beginning, middle and end of the project with questionnaires as well as throughout the project through a focus group at each individual preschool. All information at the transnational meetings will be recorded in meeting minutes and relayed through the project website on eTwinning. The expected results of the project are more aware and informed staff on issues of gender and equality, and work that is specifically aimed at dismantling stereotypes and being norm critical. Gender mainstreaming is also an expected outcome, along with tools to help carry out consistent gender equality work. The preschool students are expected to become more aware of gender norms and to question and defy them. Parents and caregivers are also expected to become more aware of gender norms and to support their children in stepping outside gender boundaries. Potential long term benefits, and one of the main goals of the project is to change how gender is viewed in society and the impact it has on individuals, bringing about more freedom from gender constraints and more equality on a whole.
See the e-twinning web page.
Parenthood 2.0 is a project funded by Erasmus+ and is a so called strategic partnership (K2) between Stadsdelsförvaltningen Västra Göteborg and Unione Dei Comuni Bassa Reggiana.
The goal of the Project is to develop the quality of preschool education through parents’ understanding the role of preschool in education. Through parental participation the project will increase the quality of education and hopefully reduce early school leavings. The priority ”Enhancing the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care” is therefore an overall priority for the Project, which means the assurance that all children should be allowed a good start in their education.
The project can be summarized as to:
1. Create knowledge about data, gathering data and presenting the data as a means to improve the quality work
2. Create mutual knowledge and experience of how to analyze these data for learning
3. Based on the data, develop sustainable and new forums and arenas, physical and digital, for cooperation and participation of parents, families and citizens
4. Through this enhancing the quality of early childhood education and care and as a consequence creating understanding of the importance of education and by doing so supporting schools to prevent early school leaving.
The Preschool can also be a part of the integration process of new comers by creating forums for meetings between families and with a focus on children’s opportunities for a good life through education, this project can ultimately strengthen democracy, understanding of human equality and quality in preschool.
The participant of the Project are Preschool Directors, Pedagogistas and other relevant stakeholders that can contribute to project. Parents will also be involved in the Project.
The project will be followed by researcher Tarja Karlsson Häikiö at the University of Gothenburg.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the Projects progress – 
Shaking the Habitual is a EU funded project about Early Childhood education and gender equity. The aim of the project is to raise awareness on stereotypes and gender bias in early education, focusing on the different behaviours of teachers.
The BRIC project is a EU funded action research about Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy. The partners are ASBR (Municipal Preschools in Bassa Reggiana, Reggio Emilia, Italy), the Barn Pedagogiskt Forum, Goteborg, Sweden, and the University Anglia Ruskin, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The project started in 2014.
Valencia. The pedagogista Alessandra Ferrari and Mascia Marconi have presented the experience of the Bassa Reggiana preschools in Valencia, 
Seoul, 26th of July, 2017. Patrizia Benedetti, pedagogista, and Giuseppe Vitale, pedagogista, held a seminar in Seoul, 
Alessandra Ferrari, pedagogista from Bassa Reggiana, visited the preschool Pinocchio, specialized in bilingual education (italian and german) and discussed with the founder, Marina De Maria, former municipal councelor, and the preschool teachers about the development of leanguage in children.
The relation with the preschools in Frankfurt, 
The study visits from Barn Pedagogiskt Forum (three visits each year) use to attend a workshop with Giuseppe Vitale.
The aim of the workshop was to investigate the graphic and narrative language with different techniques, expanding the horizon of experimentation and interacting with the surrounding environment, combining graphic techniques and nature, and vice versa. From informal to formal approach, the participants tried to give meaning to experience, binding the traces in small books with which the group wanted to analyse the experience of the visits in the preschools different points of view. The result was a a catalog of graphic emotions, feelings through the drawings.
Progettinfanzia is an association of Municipalities (Boretto, Brescello, Gualtieri, Guastalla, Luzzara, Novellara, Poviglio, Reggiolo) in Province of Reggio Emilia, operating preschools.
27th September 2017. A group from the Evangelic Center of Darmstadt (
26th and 27th September, 2017. A study visit from the Union of Workers DGB, Essen, Germany, visited the preschools in Bassa Reggiana 20th of September 2017. Study Visit operated in partnership with ISTORECO.