This manual explains how to use Wanda within the organizations that are part of the ISSA network (International Step by Step Association). Wanda is a method to analyze and reflect on professional practices in a group setting. It is a process in time and, when performed on a regular basis, can support the professional development of practitioners and teams and thus improve practices for the benefit of children, parents and communities. Further on in this manual, we will call this method appreciative analysis (of practices).
The manual has been created during the When Wanda meets ISSA project (see below), which focused on quality improvement of ECEC practices within the ISSA network through Wanda, and is an adaptation of the Dutch version (Flemish Community of Belgium).

For more background information, we will refer to additional sources in this text or to the downloads on the Wanda website: www.wanda.community. Specific materials (quicksheet for facilitators, glasses, posters, etc.) can be found in the toolbox available for participants of Wanda-trainings. More information on www.wanda.community.

For a deeper understanding of the underlying framework of ISSA’s view on early childhood education quality, see the document Competent Educators of the 21st Century: Principles of Quality Pedagogy (2009a)2 and the ISSA Guidebook The Road to Quality. Strengthening Professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care Systems by using ISSA’s Quality Resource Pack (2015).

Almost all of the examples and experiences that you will read in this manual originated from the When Wanda meets ISSA project. A few of them come from the first Wanda-project realized in the Flemish Community of Belgium.