Children’s right to participate in early childhood care and education settings and relative innovatory supportive digital tools for ECCE professionals’ development

Young children’s participation is key to developing a culture of human rights, democracy, and rule of law and according to Council of Europe (2017) and United Nations (2005). In these terms, children’s right to participate is described as a key aspect in the framework of educational quality, and the positive relationship between children’s right to participate and early childhood care and education (ECCE) quality is already documented. Although this concept is not new to ECCE professionals, its application seems to remain a challenge within everyday activities. It is thus important for ECCE professionals to reflect on this right and on the practices towards its promotion, in order to be able to supply high quality education. The paper presents the innovatory attempts regarding the digital tools developed within the PARTICIPA Erasmus+ project (Professional development tools supporting participation rights in early childhood education) aiming to involve three target group -directors, teachers and teachers’ assistants- working in all types of early childhood care and education settings, so that have a digital space to reflect about children’s right to participate and its implementation. More specifically, the paper presents (a) a training program targeting the ECCE settings’ professionals provided through a massive open online course (MOOC) in 5 languages and disseminated in an online learning platform, focusing on the theoretical and practical aspects of children’s right to participate (i.e., state of the art, relevant pedagogical practices), (b) toolkits (i.e., validated self-assessment questionnaires) for ECCE directors and teachers and teacher assistants supported by discrete qualitative studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Children’s right to participate: The Lundy model applied to early childhood education and care

Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them, and to have them considered and given due weight. Children’s participation is most meaningful when rooted in children’s everyday lives, and its promotion should be encouraged from the youngest ages, especially in early childhood education and care (ecec). In this paper we apply the Lundy model of participation, widely used in policy, practice and professional development initiatives, to the ecec context. Based on examples provided by ecec professionals from Belgium, Greece, Poland, and Portugal, we illustrate the implementation of the elements of space, voice, audience and influence, proposed by the Lundy model. We also discuss the interrelations among these elements and the need for organisational and contextual support to enhance children’s participation. This paper adds to existing literature, highlighting theoretical and practical issues associated with the promotion of children’s right to participate in ecec.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Technology and School Unit Improvement: Researching, Reconsidering and Reconstructing the School Context through a Multi-Thematic Digital Storytelling Project

Digital stories comprise a technological tool which can engage learners in collaborative learning as well as lead them to experientially acquire knowledge through a constructive process. The aim of the current action research, for which a cooperative network between academics and teachers was created, is to show how digital storytelling can emerge as an inclusive education tool through investigating the changes brought about by its implementation on the academic and social context of a school unit. The research was conducted in a Greek primary school and lasted seven months, involving two fifth grade classes and an integration class. It followed the three stages of a multi-thematic digital story project (preparation, implementation, and evaluation) and learners were called to research and process information, at their own pace, from diverse cognitive domains (art, science, coding). The research tools employed were participatory observation, diary research, and semi-structured interviews. The research positively influenced the reconstruction of the school unit since teachers reconsidered some of their educational techniques as non-inclusive, utilized technology as an instrument of constructive and experiential learning based on the diversity of each student, and reinforced learners’ critical thinking and imagination while cultivating a climate of empathy and self-confidence among students

Smart rehabilitation garment for posture monitoring

Posture monitoring and correction technologies can support prevention and treatment of spinal pain or can help detect and avoid compensatory movements during the neurological rehabilitation of upper extremities, which can be very important to ensure their effectiveness. We describe the design and development of Smart Rehabilitation Garment (SRG) a wearable system designed to support posture correction. The SRG combines a number of inertial measurement units (IMUs), controlled by an Arduino processor. It provides feedback with vibration on the garment, audible alarm signals and visual instruction through a Bluetooth connected smartphone. We discuss the placement of sensing modules, the garment design, the feedback design and the integration of smart textiles and wearable electronics which aimed at achieving wearability and ease of use. We report on the system's accuracy as compared to optical tracker method

Self-perceived quality of sleep among COPD patients in Greece: the SLEPICO study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide accompanied by a substantial social and economic burden for the patient and the society. Poor sleep quality among COPD patients is frequently unnoticed and unaddressed by physicians and patients themselves, although it is a major source of further deterioration of these patients’ quality of life. The aim of the present study was to record the quality of sleep in COPD patients among the Greek population and correlate these findings with various features of these patients, using the COPD and Asthma Sleep Impact Scale (CASIS). This was a cross-sectional observational study. Forty different variables (demographics, vital sign measurements, COPD-related medical history parameters, comorbidities, CASIS questionnaire results, COPD assessment test, COPD severity based on spirometry measurements, COPD stage based on the ABCD assessment approach, inhaled COPD treatment report) were collected from 3454 nation-wide COPD patients (Greece). The study sample consisted of COPD patients, mainly male (73%) with a median age of 69 years and a median BMI of 27.2. More than half of COPD patients (60.6%) suffered from moderate disease severity and 23.8% from severe disease, while less than half (42.1%) suffered from at least one exacerbation of the disease over the last year prior study enrollment. About 14% reported frequent to very frequent issues affecting their sleep quality, between a fourth and a third of them reported occasional night sleep disturbances, and at least half of them reported no or very infrequent problems in their night sleep. Our study indicates that the COPD assessment test (CAT) and the spirometry-based disease severity can predict the poorness in the quality of sleep (F2,3451 = 1397.5, p < 0.001, adj. R2 = 0.45) as assessed by CASIS score, and that the latter also correlates with age (ρ = 0.122, p < 0.001) and disease duration (ρ = 0.104, p < 0.001). On the contrary, there appears to be no correlation between sleep quality and number of exacerbations. Finally, untreated patients with COPD suffer from poorer quality of sleep compared to treated subjects, independently of the use of inhaled corticosteroids (F2,3451 = 21.65, p < 0.001). The results of the SLEPICO study show that increased age, prolonged disease duration, and especially CAT score ≥ 10, and severe COPD stage, might act as important indicators for deterioration in the quality of sleep, with potential consequences in the daily routine of those patients, thus urging potentially for further pharmacological interventions or modifications. © 2022, The Author(s)

Author Correction: Self-perceived quality of sleep among COPD patients in Greece: the SLEPICO study (Scientific Reports, (2022), 12, 1, (540), 10.1038/s41598-021-04610-z)

The original version of this Article contained an error in Funding information. “The RELICO study has been sponsored by Menarini Hellas S.A.” now reads: “The SLEPICO study has been sponsored by Menarini Hellas S.A.” The original Article has been corrected. © The Author(s) 2022