Dortmund, FABIDO and Experiences concerning the Assist-Project

1. Dortmund, FABIDO andExperiences concerning the Assist-Project Oslo, January 31, 2008

2. City of Dortmund • 588,000 inhabitants • Located in the Ruhr area in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia • Formerly industrial region • New industries • Highest quote of children among top ten German cities • Districts with very different social structure

3. Westfalenpark and Phoenix

4. Westfalenpark and Phoenix (Detail)

5. The City’s social structure Unemployment rate • Inhabitants aged up to 18 years Social welfare recipients Living space by inhabitant

6. High public awareness of education and children‘s day care • Caused by the PISA-Schock (end of 2001): “Abysmal marks for German students“ (FAZ) rude awakening and high public attention on education and pre-school-education • Defined by federal law in 2004, by local statues in 2005 and 2006 and state law in 2007 (Kibiz) • Nevertheless decreasing (or at least unchanging) resources for education • Increasing demands regarding the kindergarten's tasks • German language training, foreign language training • child protection programs • documentation of developmental milestones

7. FABIDO—facts and figures • Part of the municipal authority of the City of Dortmund • Running 108 kindergartens and day-care centres (40 % of all) • 1,550 employees • 7,700 children • 550 child-minders caring for 900 children (Tagesmütter) • Kinder-Citytreff within the centre of Dortmund caring for children up to three hours while parents are shopping or taking care of other things

8. FABIDO—facts and figures • Certified as family-friendly enterprise • Process “Aging within profession” • Rebuilt structure: new regional directors • Leading and guiding about 12 day care centres • Consulting in pedagogical matters

9. Recent History of FABIDO

10. Kibiz—New law concerning on financing and organizing structures • Slightly different group types concerning the financial structure • New distribution of resources, economically more efficient • Reorganisation of staff and finances lead to challenges for our organisation • Creation of new places for children up to 3 • Better method to adapt to the parent’s needs

11. Types of our day care centres 108 day care centres, varying from 20 to 140 children and 2 to 30 employees Different groups within our institutions • Mainstream kindergarten groups (3 to 6 years) • Full-time kindergarten groups (3 to 6 years) • Young age-integrated groups (2 months to 6 years)

12. Group types:Mainstream Kindergarten Part-time care:7 am to 2 pm or 7 am to 12:30 pm and 2 to 4 pm 3 years – 6 years 25 children per group In every group:1 qualified educator0,5 qualified assistant

13. Group types:Full-time Kindergarten • Full-time care: 7 am to 5 pm • 3 – 6 years • 20 children per group • In every group:1 qualified educator, 1 childcare worker

14. Group types:Young age-integrated group • Full-time care: 7 am to 5 pm • 2 months – 6 years • 15 children per group • In every group2 qualified educators1 assistant or trainee

15. Group types: Others • To be discontinued: • Extended age-integrated groups (3 to 14 years) • After-school care group (6 to 14 years) • Additional care by childminders beginning at 6 am, ending at 7.30 pm

16. Structure of Employees • 8 % social pedagogues • 62 % qualified educators • 22 % qualified assistants • 8 % kitchen staff • In addition: trainees • other assistants (secondary labour market) • 96 % female • 44 % part-time employees • 12 % temporary engagement • Average age: 40 years • 500 child-minders with different qualifications

17. ProfessionsPreschool assistant—apprenticeship • Requirement: 9 years of school attendance • Contains basic pedagogical and nursery topics • 2 years • Final examination: certified Kinderpflegerin • Enables to work within children‘s homes and hospitals, within family welfare work and family aide • In kindergartens and day care centres as supporting staff

18. ProfessionsQualified Educator—apprenticeship Requirement: 10 years of school attendance Contains educational and pedagogical topics 5 years Final examination: certified Erzieherin Enables to work within day care centres, open day school and youth work In kindergartens and day care centres: within groups as well as a principal, acting on their own responsibility

19. ProfessionsSocial pedagogues—study • Requirement: 12 years of school attendance • Studies at the university of applied science • 4 years • degree Diplom-Sozialpädagogin • Enables to work as principals of kindergartens and day care centres • Organising both, pedagogical and administrative daily schedule

20. ProfessionsAdditional Staff • extra personnel in integrative groups (handicapped and non-handicapped children) • trainee in groups without qualified assistant • relief staff supporting as substitutes in case of illness etc.

21. Leadership in Day Care Centres • one principal in each institution • in institutions with more than 3 groups or 2 full-time groups the principal does not work in the group • additionally one assistant principal • principal can be qualified educator as well as social pedagogue

22. Kitchen staff • only provided in day care centres and kindergartens which offer full-time care • 47 kitchens in total • number of employees depends on number of children (minimum 1 person, maximum 4) • Head of kitchen: either 3 years study (dietetics) or 3 years training at vocational training college • 70 unskilled kitchen workers • each meal is freshly cooked, no ready-made meal

23. Social status of child care professions • Increasing due to the parent‘s increasing demands upon the staff • low salary = low recognition • 96 % female • 4 % male, usually working as principals • Reformation of the professional training of qualified educators • Changing political view: from raising to educating • No graduates from university in the child care groups

24. Private and public child care centres Different bodies running 284 day care centres: 57 Protestant church 54 Katholik church 1 Jewish Community 11 AWO, German Red Cross and others 52 Parents‘ Clubs 108 Municipality (FABIDO) 0 private companies

25. FABIDO—Further education program • Annual further education program for the whole staff • A total of about 70 courses, mostly 16 participants • Principals are responsible for motivating the staff to take part in • FABIDO provides a special amount for every district (depedent on number of employees) for inidviual further training courses day care centres can agree upon on their own

26. Further education program Main Topics I • Special qualifications (e.g how to talk about difficult topics with parents) • Development of children (e.g. special needs of age-integrated groups, education of children, how to deal with deviant behaviour and aggression) • Movement, music, media education • Language (e.g. acquisition of language, linguistic development, speech disorder) • Natural environment and natural science (e.g. exploratory experiences • Intercultural competence

27. Further education program Main Topics II • Common education of handicapped and non-handicapped children • Health education, nutrition and hygiene (especially for kitchen staff), first aid • Computer applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint • Special trainings for our principals (a total of 6 days, dealing with e.g. their personal leadership ideas and different types of leadership, communication, different kinds of dialogues, how to deal with problems) • Some courses are mandatory such as hygiene, first aid, other training is optional

28. Further education program Facts and figures I • Topics can vary according to political demands (more places for children under 3 may create other/new demands for educational trainings, national focus on special education topics like science or mathematics, support of native language/second language acquisition • Engagement of external as well as internal course instructors • At minimum, each staff member can attend an in-service training course every one to two years regardless of their initial professional training • All costs are covered by FABIDO

29. Further education program Facts and figures II • A wide range of further training courses offered by the municipality‘s department of personnel development (e.g. time management, working techniques, communication and rhetoric, behaviour/interaction, leadership, health promotion, financial management) • In-service training • All employees can take part

30. Further education program Curriculum work in day care centres • 2 days per year for curriculum work • during working hours • for each kindergarten and day care centre • the whole team agrees upon one item to be discussed (e.g. religious customs, Integration, language acquisition) • intensive work on pedagogical matters and childcare opportunities

31. FABIDOMain challenges and efforts • Transformation into a proprietary enterprise run by the City of Dortmund • Rebuilding the internal structure (district directors), workshop with the leadership and representatives of the staff (about 200 people) • Workshop with the whole staff to define the further FABIDO-strategy (about 1,200 people)

32. FABIDOMain challenges and efforts • Implementing a new structure for the support of language acquisition (about 600 children at risk) • Future legal claim on kindergarten places for children of 2 years, new places are needed for this group • Closing the child care groups for school children (about 1,000 places), to be continued within open day schools • Increasing expectations of the parents for qualified education und preparation for school

33. Concerning the Assist project:Some aspects we already applied • intensive training supported by in-house consultants (train the trainer) • about 10 employees (kindergarten leaders as well as pre-school-teachers) running vocational trainings developed on their own • language trainings • dances • relaxing for children • special demands of 2-years-children in groups aged 3 to 6

34. Concerning the Assist project: What we are expecting in taking part • Detailed look into needs of our staff/into our structure • Dynamic impulses for our corporate culture • Experiences of the effect of whole team training on the corporate culture • Team development • Holistic way of education • Strengthening the idea of lifelong learning • Gaining knowledge about other countries and their educational system/day care centres/further education program

35. Concerning the Assist project: Most useful topics I You are part of an organisation • No topic of our further training program nor in the apprenticeship Learning for live • Recognizing the necessity of lifelong learning • improving the motivation to take part in further education programs

36. Concerning the Assist project: Most useful topics II Communication and interactive competence + The difficult conversation • Basic needs of our staff, should be trained as often as possible • High demand for our courses dealing with these topics • Very useful, because it belongs to the attitude towards the

37. Concerning the Assist project:Most useful topics III Values and attitudes • Important all, concerning • the main basis (human rights) • the elaborated municipality’s attitude towards families and children, • Consequently the teacher’s attitude towards parents and children

38. Concerning the Assist project: Some questions • Teachers come from both, pedagogical and administrative parts of FABIDO • Possibility to teach more than 25 or 30 employees within the test phase

39. Contact City of DortmundFABIDOJens WoelkiOstwall 64, D-44141 DortmundFone +49-231-5023661Fax +49-231-5029557jwoelki@stadtdo.de