quality
Quality should be at the core
Quality – a pillar of the $10/day plan – should be at the core of all early learning and child care (ELCC) provision. Research shows that high quality ELCC programs are beneficial for children, but poor quality child care may be negative. As international ELCC official Adam Pokorny declared, “access without quality is of little merit.”
Multiple definitions of quality
Understandings of ELCC quality are determined in part by the stakeholder’s perspective – child, parent/family, or early childhood professional – and in part by ideas about the purpose of ELCC, informed by societal values and historical, economic, and political context. Nevertheless, common elements emerge from consideration of ELCC quality globally.
Common elements of ELCC quality
- Safety;
- Good hygiene;
- Good nutrition;
- Opportunities for rest;
- Equity and inclusion;
- Opportunities for play;
- Opportunities for motor, social, language, cognitive, and cultural learning;
- Encouragement of emotional growth;
- Positive interactions with adults;
- An environment and practices that support positive interactions among children.
A quality system
Some analyses of ELCC quality focus on quality at the level of the individual child care centre or service, often using indicators of quality or measures of process quality (such as the ECERS or CLASS).
Another way of looking at quality is at the system level. In OECD research, the major obstacles to ELCC quality found across countries were structural failings – lack of adequate financing, unfavourable staff to child ratios, poorly qualified and poorly remunerated staff, inadequate pedagogical theory, and inadequate implementation.
A consensus has emerged that some system-level conditions are essential for ensuring that high quality ELCC programs are the norm, not the exception. Early childhood education expert Mathias Urban emphasizes that inclusive, ongoing processes of exploring, debating, and searching for ELCC quality are fundamental to democratic and transformative ELCC practice.
Elements of a high quality early learning and child care system
Childcare Resource and Research Unit, article, Sep 2005. Canada
Quality child care in focus: What parents should look for
Childcare Resource and Research Unit, video, Feb 2013. Canada
Envisioning quality in early learning: Essential actions for a national program
Early Childhood Pedagogy Network, video, Mar 2024. Canada
A review of research on the effects of early childhood education and care (ECEC) upon child development
University of Oxford, report, Dec 2014. Europe
Conditions for moving beyond “quality” in Canadian early childhood education
Early Childhood Pedagogies Collaboratory, article, Dec 2020. Canada
Starting wrong? A critical perspective on the latest permutation of the debate on the quality of early childhood provision
Alliance for Childhood European Network Foundation, book chapter, May 2015. Europe
Providing quality early childhood education and care: Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018 (TALIS)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), report, Oct 2019. International
Starting strong VI: Supporting meaningful interactions in early childhood education and care
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), report, Jun 2021. International
Quality by design: What do we know about quality in early learning and child care, and what do we think? A literature review
Childcare Resource and Research Unit, article, Jan 2006. Canada
Inclusion quality: Children with disabilities in early learning and child care in Canada
SpeciaLink, book, Jun 2021. Canada
Will the increased investment in early childhood education and care in Canada pay off? It depends!
Canadian Public Policy, journal article, May 2024. Canada
An examination of regulatory and other measures to support quality early learning and child care in Alberta
Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care and The Muttart Foundation, report, Nov 2020. Alberta
