Preface and Summary

The study reported in this volume was undertaken collaboratively in six countries by a large number of researchers. The study identifies a major concern about life and interaction within preschool settings. Further, it was designed to coordinate with European council concerns regarding education for personal development and social cohesion. We explain how the study was coordinated with European initiatives here, and we wish to express our appreciation for the support provided by the European commission. The research team that completed the ‘relational approaches’ study have come together over a number of years, with study co-directors having expressed parallel concerns about the development of social competence of young children attending preschool experience. The research teams that we have assembled have helped to expand our expertise – especially in relation to adapting our concerns to the preschool classroom setting. This research study presented in this volume was written with three main aims. First, to make school studies and learning attractive for early education and teacher education in the European Union through analysing current peer-based early education experience of young children and making recommendations as to how this experience can lead to enhanced social inclusion, personal and social growth and cognitive development. Second, to provide for improved education and training for early education teachers through recognising the importance of peer-based early education practices and identifying programmes that may be integrated into classrooms to enhance social inclusion and cognitive development. Third, to enhance young children’s ability to learn more effectively by providing and legitimising social inclusion and learning attractiveness that may be derived through their peer-based experiences in early education. Overall, the study described here has met and advanced a number of key objectives in the Lisbon Strategy, with particular focus on education, training and social inclusion young children and their teachers