FairStart Training is a free 15 step online program developed by child psychologists in Denmark, in collaboration with a team of childcare professionals, with support from the European Commission. It is a development program that aims to improve the professional care giving skills of those working with young people in public care (focused on children aged 0-3) through daily practices and also organizational development. The training is designed to be integrated into the daily work of the staff of the institution or agency, with 15 two-hour training sessions that can be conducted during staff meetings or whenever convenient.
The stated aim of the program is to offer children placed in professional care a secure base for playing and learning, so the contents and principles in the FairStart program are called “The Secure Base Model of professional care giving”. The training approach is participant and learning oriented, using pedagogic working methods that enable common reflection and interaction between the staff participants. It focuses on developing coherent care giving practices to promote secure attachment in children, increase early brain activity and development through daily stimulation, and support the development of family like groups for children in order to promote normal attachment, peer relations and social skills. The training works by combining increased knowledge and understanding about child development and in particular Attachment Theory with practical exercises by staffs to reflect upon the implication of this knowledge on their care giving practices and arrangements. Interactive methods and media are used, including video and other training material. A leader (manager of the childcare institution or of the foster home) is to be appointed together with an instructor who will be responsible for knowing the education material and conducting the sessions with staffs. A handbook for the leader and instructors is also available on the website.
Scorecards are also available to enable the instructor to provide an overall idea about the quality of childcare in the institution or the foster families the agency manages. The cards are then used to identify areas of improvement and to focus the training on developing professional theory and practice in those areas.
The FairStart training modules cover the following topics.
- Introduction to the FairStart training sessions
- Understanding Basic Attachment Theory
- What is professional care giving?
- The Hospital Model
- Insecure attachment
- Evaluation and adjustment
- The Secure Base Model
- Care taker style and brain development I babies ad toddlers
- Promoting relations work in practical tasks
- Designing family-like groups for attachment
- Promoting the development of peer relations
- Promoting social, emotional, and cognitive learning
- Breaking down social barriers between placement and community
- Evaluating staff development process
- Future development and knowledge sharing
The training material is free of charge and available in eight languages at: www.fairstart.net/training.
UPDATE (February 22, 2013): In the case the FairStart training weblink above does not work, please use the following provisional link to access the online training until further notice.