Diagrama Foundation is inviting preschool and Key Stage 1 teachers and support staff to take part in a research project which aims to improve classroom behaviour, attendance and achievement.

The foundation is a member of the THRIVE European project, funded by Erasmus +, which is seeking professionals to take part in a focus group to help with the development of an e-learning course to support the professional development of those working with young children up to the age of 7.

The THRIVE project aims to support professional development of teachers of children up to 7 years old through an online course, in order to effectively promote positive behaviour in classrooms and future school attendance and achievement. There are six partners, and Diagrama Foundation is joined by Iasis NGO (Greece), BEST Institute for vocational education and related personal training GMBH (Austria), FVA New Media Design (Italy), Solidarity without Borders (Spain) CJD Verbund NRW Süd / Rheinland (Germany).

Diagrama Foundation European Project Manager Cristian Organero said: “We are aiming to collect suggestions from the participants regarding the format and contents of the e-learning courses that we have developed so far.  Our focus group will discuss the contents and also the structure of the THRIVE learning platform.

“The project will culminate with the production of an online course that will provide knowledge and techniques regarding early childhood education and learning through play, aiming to promote students’ motivation for learning.”

Recent research by the project partners found teaching staff across Europe wanted training in classroom management, cultural diversity, risk detection and communication to reduce stress levels and improve standards, while time and money were proving to be the biggest barrier to professional development.

Diagrama would like to hear from all pre-school and KS1 teachers, training designers, VET professionals and e-learning methodology experts.

Participants will be asked to:

1. Discuss the topics defined, with the following goals:
   1. Test and Validate if the topics are relevant for the experts
   2. Integrate the topics with suggestions emerging during the discussion
   3. Fine-tune the terminology (and validate if the titles are understandable and exhaustive)
2. Define (with the focus group participants) the contents of the topics and subtopics to be developed from the organization. Validate the structure of the training course contents template.
3. Detail what practical materials can help improve their work (i.e. exercises, case studies, best practices, examples, tips, etc…)

If you or members of your organisation are interested in taking part, email Cristian Organero at corganero@diagrama.org