Early Childhood Education

Synonyms

Creche; Day care; Early childhood care and education; Kindergartens; Preschools

Introduction

Early childhood education (ECE) will always involve a regular gathering of children into a space in which there are adults’ intent on influencing those children’s lives. However, there are wide variations on how those spaces are organized, the frequency and resourcing of those gatherings, what those children and adults will be doing, and the related issue of what purpose those services provide to the wider community.

As such, it is difficult to define ECE precisely. Early childhood services can occur under a shady tree with a large group of young children instructed in basic literacy for a few hours a week by a knowledgeable but unqualified adult. They can occur on the top floor of a skyscraper with qualified teachers working with children to express themselves creatively within a multicultural environment. They can occur in a forest, even in wintery conditions. They can occur in the...