Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
Children 2020 – developing a 10-year national
plan for ECEC in Ireland
Dublin, 17 November 2010
John Bennett
Visiting Fellow, Thomas Coram Research Unit
For comments: bennett.paris@gmail.com
Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
Quotation from Children 2020
 Investing in young children will lay the foundations for
growth in the future, both for the economy – with high
economic returns to such investment – and for our children,
whose well-being and development must be a central
priority in policy-making.
 Our immediate priority, given today’s economic climate,
must be to preserve the current level of expenditure on
services and supports for young children and their families.
The progress that has been made in the last decade must
not be lost.
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
The American Business Round Table 2008
 “Environmental, financial, health and nutrition factors influence
significantly a child’s early development and school readiness.”
 “Investments in high-quality early education programs have the
highest rate of return of any social investment.” James Heckman, Nobel
Laureate Economist : Lessons from the Technology of Skill Formation,
2005… the evidence base
 Children in poverty, from single-parent homes... face additional
challenges. “Kids who start behind, stay behind.”
 “In today’s world, where education and skill levels determine future
earnings and national growth, the costs of NOT taking action on early
childhood education are far too great to ignore, especially when the
benefits far outweigh the costs.”
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
Québec
 11 years ago, Quebec created a $5 dollar a day system of early
childhood centres. Its goal: to give some respite to families, who were
paying very high fees for child care
 Eleven years later, the cost has increased to $7 a day child care, but
women’s labour market participation had jumped by 30%.
 The effects on family poverty has also been significant. In 1997, nearly
60% of single mothers raising young children living below the poverty
line. Seven years later (in 2004), this proportion had dropped to 30%. And
it continues to decline…
 Obviously, early childhood services were not the sole factor in this
improvement, but “the creation of nurseries at the reduced contribution
was one of the determinants of the influx of women into the labour
market", says economist Pierre Lefebvre, author of a series of studies on
the presence of mothers on the labour market.
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
The economic arguments are clear...
But we need to renew again with the best European traditions
1. That future Irish policy will place the child at the centre

“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime
is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of
the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time
his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses
are being developed. To him we cannot answer “tomorrow," his
name is “Today!” Gabriela Mistral

For this reason, even in harsh economic situations, the State needs to
maintain resources adequate enough to meet the developmental needs of
children, particularly disadvantaged and at-risk children. Without sustainable
supply-side funding, the public and non-profit providers will not be able to
expand access or provide the range of services or the kind of quality that
families in poverty and their children need.
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
2. That children are not young professionals in business suits
In many societies, education is increasingly seen as knowledge for employment,
that is, literacy, numeracy, technical and professional skill predominate.
Achievement in education is often seen as competition with others, first at the
personal level and then among nations.
The goal of education is also to prepare children for life and living
The UNESCO Delors Report describes the aims of education as:
o Learning to be
o Learning to do
o Learning to learn, and
o Learning to live together
 These goals are admirably suited to young children...
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
3. That education should promote democracy
 A fundamental goal of education is to model and teach democracy (Dewey, Freire,
Malaguzzi...). This may seem strange when speaking of early childhood centres:

Democracy forms the foundation of the pre-school. For this reason all pre-school activity
should be carried out in accordance with fundamental democratic values. Each and
everyone working in the pre-school should promote respect for the intrinsic value of
each person as well as respect for our shared environment…

The attitudes of adults influence the child’s understanding and respect for the rights and
obligations that apply in a democratic society. For this reason adults serve an important
role as models. Upholding these fundamental values requires that the attitudes from
which they are derived are clearly apparent in daily activity.
Source: Swedish Curriculum for pre-schools (Lpfö, 1998)
 The three ‘transformative (democratic) principles’ of early childhood work:



Staff and parents promote the agency of the child
Staff work collegially, that is, as a democratic and specialised team
Staff consult with and work daily with parents...community services
Source: Aldo Fortunati, Director, San Miniato
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
4. That early childhood services would restore and enhance the notion of
care in education

The task of EC pedagogy is understood in much of Northern Europe as an equal
balance between the upbringing, care and the education of young children

The need to give greater attention to an ethic of care – not childcare as a
commodity to be bought in order to facilitate the labour market, but a service
that includes real caring for children, for parents (mothers) and the women //
professionals who look after children in the services: ...
Kindergartens shall promote fundamental values such as a sense of community, care
for others and joint responsibility, and shall represent an environment that supports
respect for human worth and the right to be different. Human equality, equal
opportunity, intellectual freedom and tolerance are important social values that shall
provide foundations for the care, upbringing, play and learning in kindergartens.
The equality of the genders shall be reflected in the education provided by
kindergartens. Kindergartens shall bring up children to relate to and create an equal
society.
Source: Norwegian Framework Plan for the Content and Tasks of Kindergartens
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
5. That care and education together would address the long term
future of children
 Leaving a world fit for children: Underlying all this is the duty of adults to leave
behind us a world fit for the children. Our record so far is a matter for concern:
 Can we address these issues appropriately in early childhood policy and in public
education? e.g.
 To take a long-term view and seek to predict what will help the young
children to survive and achieve well-being in the world they will inherit;
 To invest more in young children and protect them, at least, from the ravages
of extreme poverty in the here-and-now;
 To reinforce certain themes in early childhood curricula, e.g. fairness and
learning to live together; the outdoors and respect for nature - to awaken in
young children an interest in the natural sciences.
 No doubt , everyone will have their own idea, but here we return to the question
of democracy in education and community-based early childhood services...
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
The songs are many…
National Policy Documents:

Strengthening Families for Life – 1998

Ready to Learn - White Paper on Early Childhood Education, 1999

National Childcare Strategy -1999

National Children’s Strategy - 2000

POLICY REPORTS on ECEC: OECD 2004 ; NCCA Framework 2004; NESF Report
2005; NWCI 2005; DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools ) Report
2005; The Developmental Welfare State 2005 ; Revised preschool regulations
2006; The Agenda for Children's Services: A Policy Handbook 2007

CECDE publications: 2004 Insights on Quality; 2004 Review of International
Policy, Practice & Research; 2006 ; Síolta: National Quality Framework. (+ the
NCCA Framework for Early Learning 2009)

CSER publications: 2006 A Decade of Reflection; 2008 Getting it Right for
Children
 International Reports: UNCRC Committee – Irish Reports 1996, 2005,
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
Let us take THIS report seriously and act on it
 Children come first: All children have rights. Children’s well-being and development should
be the driving force in early childhood policy.
 Aim for high quality: The quality of young children’s experiences in all settings – both in the
home and in services outside the home – is critical to their well-being and development.
The Government must prioritise quality in services and supports for young children and
their families.
 All young children matter but especially the disadvantaged: High quality services and
supports should be universal – provided for all children, affordable and accessible – with
additional supports for those who need them.
 All families need support and information: Families are central in young children’s lives. A
wide range of mainstream supports and information should be readily available to all
families.
 Link governmental and private services. Promoting children’s well-being and development
requires well-coordinated services and supports for families across the complex early
childhood field.
Allow me to add one other item:
 Provide work-life balance to Irish parents: Ireland could improve itsgender equity
reputation by promoting a better work-life balance for parents with young children.
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
Some resources
 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/docs/social_inclusion/data_overarching_en.xls Europa
press release: Social situation report 2007 – social cohesion through equal opportunities
 http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf UNICEF: An overview of child well-being in rich
countries, 2007
 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/17/41733586.pdf Moss, P. and Korintus, M. (eds) (2008)
International review of Parental Leave Policies
 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-EI-08-001/EN/KS-EI-08-001-EN.PDF Eurostat:
Key Figures on Europe, 2009
 http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eurydice/documents/098EN.pdf Tackling Social and Cultural
Inequalities through Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe, Eurydice 2009
 http://www.oecd.org/document/12/0,3343,en_2649_34819_43545036_1_1_1_37419,00.html Doing
better for children, 2009
 http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php Prosperity without Growth? - The transition to a
sustainable economy, Tim Jackson, 2009
 http://www.unesco.org/new/en/world-conference-on-ecce/reports/ Early childhood care and education
regional report: Europe and North America, 2010
 http://www.eurochild.org Ending child poverty within the EU? A review of the 2008-2010 National
Strategy reports on social protection and social inclusion, 2010
 Wilkinson & Pickett: The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Penguin
Books, 2009
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Start Strong: Children 2020
Dublin 17 November, 2010
THANK YOU !
For comments: bennett.paris@gmail.com
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