Children in Europe is put together by representatives of magazines for childhood educators from seven different European countries. The UK partner is the charity Children in Scotland, which publishes its own monthly magazine about issues affecting children, young people and families in Scotland.
Kenneth Munro, the convenor of Children in Scotland, said, 'We are delighted that Scotland has been chosen as the venue for the launch of this new magazine. The magazine is being published simultaneously in seven languages and is fully independent of the European Commission and national governments. It will offer not only a valuable forum for the exchange of information, ideas and practice across the European Union, but an independent perspective on policies and developments relating to children and young people.'
The first issue explores listening to children and includes an article from Carlina Rinaldi, the recently retired pedagogical director of early childhood centres in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She explains that practitioners there view children as 'active, competent and strong, exploring and finding meaning - not as predetermined, fragile, needy and incapable'. She describes how teachers and children should listen to each other so that the focus shifts from teaching to learning, both children learning by themselves, and adults and children learning together.
Another contribution comes from Alison Clark, a researcher from the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the University of London's Institute of Education. She explains the 'mosaic approach', a framework for listening to young children which aims to build up a picture of everyday life at an early childhood centre from their perspective. The approach includes children taking photographs of things that are important to them, and taking adults on tours of the setting.
In Belgium, a project funded by the European Union has sought to develop children's participation in out-of-school centres, as another article in the magazine explains. The practitioners involved have found that relaxed and playful approaches to listening, such as using a 'cheering and booing' book in which children can record their opinions, work better than formal meetings -although they warn that children quickly lose enthusiasm if they do not see concrete results.
Children in Europe will be published twice a year from September 2001. A year's subscription costs 7. Copies are available from Children in Scotland, Princes House, 5 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 $RG (0131 222 2411) or from Children in Wales (02920 342434).
