Prof. Valerie Sollars from the Department of Early Childhood & Primary Education has recently visited Oranim Academic College of Education in Tivon, Israel. This visit was possible through the Erasmus+ ICM inter-institutional agreement between the College and the Faculty of Education.

Several meetings were held with academic and administrative staff at Oranim including Ms Jackie Levy Atias, the Head of Oranim’s International school, Prof Lilach Lev Ari, the Dean of the Graduate School; Dr Gail Suskin, currently heading the Early Childhood Department which offers a B.Ed. programme at the Faculty of Education; Dr Rachel Rachid who researches inclusive education with M.Ed. students whilst working with families of children with special needs; and Dr Smadar Dolev and Dr Sigal Ahituv - the former and current head of the M.Ed programme for Early Childhood Education offered at the Faculty of Graduate studies. Dr Dolev, Dr Achituv and Dr Ravid have all visited Malta through the agreement between the two institutions.

The purpose of these meetings and discussions was to explore possibilities of research of mutual interest, deepen the understanding of practices in early childhood education which are prevalent in the Israeli contexts and engage in professional development by engaging in dialogue and comparing policies and practices in early childhood education. During the visit, Prof. Sollars gave a lecture to graduate students and subsequently held further discussions with them focused on their professional work and studies in various ECEC contexts. Two visits to kindergarten settings were also organised: one visit was to a Steiner school in Yodfat and a second visit was to Nurit which is a special education kindergarten setting in Nof Galiel.