Leadership for Inclusion, LINC Programme

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Leadership for Inclusion, LINC Programme

Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) and Maynooth University – The Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education (MU-Froebel Dept.) comprise the three partners of the consortium awarded the contract from the Higher Education Authority for the delivery of the Leadership for Inclusion in the Early Years Programme (LINC).   The Programme comprises a Level 6 Special Purpose Award (Higher Education) and a CPD Programme.

LINC Level 6 Special Purpose Award

This award is designed to support the inclusion of all children in the early years. The course is offered for free to people working within early years education and is fully funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Once qualified, graduates will perform the role of Inclusion Coordinator within their early learning and care setting.

The programme is usually delivered on a blended learning basis but is delivered completely online for the 2021/2022 academic year.

LINC CPD for INCOs Programme

All graduates of the Level 6 Leadership for Inclusion in the Early Years (LINC) Programme (2016-2020) can register for the LINC CPD for INCOs Programme.  This Programme aims to

  • To equip participants in their role as Inclusion Coordinators (INCOs) with the requisite knowledge(s), practices and values to lead inclusion in early learning and care (ELC) settings and to support the implementation of the Better Start Access and Inclusion (AIM) Model.
  • To offer participants strategies and supports to enable them to respond appropriately to ensure that all children can access and fully participate in ELC settings.
  • To support participants in developing family, professional and community partnerships that contribute to the creation of inclusive ELC settings.
  • To support participants in the development of Communities of Practice that provide fora for ELC practitioners to create inclusive ELC settings.

The content for the CPD programme is only available online and is hosted on Moodle. Moodle will be familiar to graduates of the original Level 6 Special Purpose Award as it is the same system used for that programme. Participants can engage with the material at a time that suits them.

Similar to the Level 6 programme, there is no fee to participate in the CPD for INCOs Programme.

Further Information

Please see the LINC Programme website:  https://lincprogramme.ie