Reducing Inequalities by Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care

The OECD project "Translating Research into Policies for Quality and Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)" organised a series of workshops throughout 2023-24 to promote regular and structured exchanges between experts from multiple disciplines and members of the OECD Network on ECEC, on the theme of achieving equity and inclusion through ECEC.

As part of a collaborative knowledge mobilisation process, the workshops brought together representatives of the OECD Network on ECEC and the project’s expert group, proving opportunities for repeated and structured interactions in hybrid and virtual formats. Besides supporting evidence-informed policy discussions, the workshops served to present relevant policy initiatives across countries and jurisdictions and to discuss their implementation challenges.

Session 1. Achieving equity and inclusion through early childhood education and care (ECEC): What are the main recent research developments and findings from various disciplines that can be relevant for ECEC policy?

• The contribution of economics: Childhood inequality and adult inequality. Mr Kjell G. Salvanes, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Norway.

• The contribution of psychology and developmental science: Achieving equity and inclusion through early childhood education and care: What research can bring to policies. Ms Stephanie M. Jones, Harvard University, United States.

• The contribution of neurosciences and paediatrics: Cognition and education through early childhood. Ms Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz, INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, France.

Session 2. Achieving equity and inclusion through early childhood education and care: What are countries’ priorities? Roundtable among the OECD ECEC Network.

Session 3. Achieving equity and inclusion through early childhood education and care: How research can inform policies. Roundtable among experts.

Session 1. Gaps in participation in ECEC.

• The Matthew Effect in childcare: How modern family policies may amplify social inequality. Mr Wim van Lancker, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

• The knowing and doing of addressing equity gaps in ECEC. Ms Sharon Goldfeld, Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia.

• Socio-economic gaps in access to childcare: Causal evidence on determinants and consequences. Mr Henning Hermes, ifo Institute Munich, Germany.

• Determinants of the socio-economic status gap in early childcare enrolment in France. Ms Laudine Carbuccia, LIEPP Sciences Po, France.

Session 2. Differential impacts of ECEC. Gaps in quality and features of ECEC that matter (most) for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• ECEC quality and its impact on the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children. Mr Carlo Barone, LIEPP Sciences Po, France.

• Access to quality ECEC depending on socio-economic background in Chile. Ms Marigen Narea, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile.

• ECEC and child development for children varying in disadvantage. Mr Edward Melhuish, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

• Diverse ECEC settings and variation in indicators of quality. Mr Carlos González-Sancho, OECD.

Session 1. Research perspectives.

• The successes and challenges of evaluating multi-sector universal systems. Ms Sharon Goldfeld, Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia.

• Inter-agency working to reduce inequality: evidence from Europe. Ms Jacqueline Barnes, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom.

• Research and evaluation of co-ordinated services for children and families in the United States. Ms Kathleen Dwyer, Senior Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, United States.

Session 2. Recent policy developments.

• Iceland’s Prosperity Act. Ms Björk Óttarsdóttir, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Education and Children, Iceland.

• Japan’s Children and Families Agency. Mr Kiyoshi Saito, Director, Policy Planning on Early Child Growth Division, Growth Bureau, Children and Families Agency, Japan.

• France’s 1 000 premiers jours de l’enfant. Ms Mayalen Iron, Project Director, General Secretariat of Ministries Responsible for Social Affairs, France.

• Germany’s Daycare Registry. Mr Bernhard Kalicki, Professor, Children and Childcare Department, German Youth Institute, Germany.

Session 1. Approaches to identifying children’s needs and monitoring their well-being, development and learning.

• Observe, Reflect and Improve Children’s Learning (ORICL): A new tool for educators working with children from birth to two years. Ms Linda Harrison, Macquarie University and Charles Sturt University, Australia.

• Empowering ECEC teachers working with young children at-risk for developmental disability: Development of a teacher form of the Korean Screening Index for Early Development (K-SIED). Ms Eun Jin Kang, Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, Ms Hyewon Park, University of Ulsan, and Ms Kyung Ok Lee, Duksung Women’s University, Korea.

Session 2. Professional competencies and staff teams to address diverse children’s needs.

• Supporting ECEC professionals’ competences in dealing with diversity. Mr Paul Leseman, Utrecht University, Netherlands.

• Inclusive practices for supporting the implementation of quality inclusion in ECEC. Ms Elena Soukakou, University of Roehampton, United Kingdom.

• Teamwork and collaboration in developing inclusive practices in early childhood education communities. Ms Noora Heiskanen, University of Eastern Finland, Finland.

Session 3. Curriculum and pedagogical practices to address diversity and promote inclusion.

• The science and practice of social and emotional learning in early childhood. Ms Stephanie Jones, Harvard University, United States.

• Multilingual curriculum and pedagogies in ECEC. Ms Claudine Kirsch, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

• Reggio Emilia: a child-led curriculum to develop dialogue in early childhood education. Mr Cristian Fabbi, Reggio Children and Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Italy.

Session 1: Research perspectives (I): Long-lasting effects of ECEC: evidence, mechanisms and policy implications.

• Using evidence of long-terms ECEC effects for policymaking. Mr Henrik Daae Zachrisson, University of Oslo, Norway.

• Unsettled science on longer-run effects of early education in the United States. Mr Greg Duncan, University of California at Irvine, United States.

Session 2: Research perspectives (II): Sustainable funding for equitable and inclusive ECEC.

• Investing in care policies and decent care jobs for a more gender equal world of work. Ms Laura Addati, International Labour Organisation.

• The growth of private market mechanisms in ECEC systems: equity challenges and resistance. Ms Eva Lloyd, University of East London, United Kingdom.

Session 3: Recent policy developments: Allocating funding for enhanced equity and quality.

• Building equity and quality: A collaborative approach to funding ECEC in Canada. Mr Christian Paradis, Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Child Care, Employment and Social Development, Canada, and Ms Nicole Gervais, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, New Brunswick, Canada.

• Raising Preschool Quality through the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK). Ms Tan Gim Hoon, Early Childhood Development Agency, Singapore.

• (Long-lasting) Funding mechanisms for equity and development of quality and data systems in Finnish ECEC. Ms Kirsi Alila, Finnish Government.

Session 1. Integrated ECEC Services.

• Obstacles and levers to get to a more integrated system in a split context. Thoughts from the Flemish ECEC-system. Mr Jan De Mets, VBJK (Centre for Innovation in the Early Years), Flemish Community of Belgium.

• An integrated approach to the ECEC sector in Italy. Ms Cristina Stringher, National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education and Training System, Italy.

Session 2: Funding models for equity in early childhood education participation.

• Funding models to support equity and inclusion within ECEC systems: some reflections. Ms Eva Lloyd, University of East London, United Kingdom.

• Understanding the financing model for education and childcare services in Luxembourg. Mr Marco Deepen, Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, Luxembourg.

Session 3: Inter-governmental collaboration and co-ordinated services for equity in early childhood.

• Everything everywhere all at once: the challenges of integrating services for equitable early childhood development. Ms Sharon Goldfeld, Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia.

• Co-ordinated services and cooperation – Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Norway. Ms Tove Mogstad Slinde, Ministry of Education and Research, Norway.

Session 1: Policies to ensure that ECEC systems support children with special educational needs through inclusive practices.

• Overview of key challenges and policy responses. Ms Eva Björck-Åkesson, Jönköping University, Sweden.

• Inclusion in ECEC settings in Ireland: Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). Ms Aoife Collier, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Ireland.

• Policies to ensure that ECEC systems support children with special educational needs through inclusive practices. Ms Maria José Saragoça, Ministry of Education, Portugal.

Session 2: Policies to support social, cultural, and linguistic diversity across ECEC settings through inclusive practices.

• Overview of key challenges and policy responses. Mr Michel Vandenbroeck, Ghent University, Flanders, Belgium.

• Kōwhiti Whakapae - Supporting home languages and culture in Early Childhood Education. Ms Esa Samami, Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

• Policies to support social, cultural and linguistic diversity across ECEC settings through inclusive practices. Ms Milena Lauer, Berlin Early Years Institute, Germany.