| Abstract: | This is not an article, but a series of compressed notes which attempt to set down what the writer sees as the principal concerns highlighted in recent studies of early childhood socialisation from birth to about eight years. It draws heavily upon personal and professional experience of education and care systems in some sixteen countries as well as upon current OECD and UNESCO data. It deals with the concerns surrounding a minority of the world's children, however; that is the 10% or less, born into the rich portion of the (largely western) world. It focuses on the context surrounding the growing need for 'institutionalised' provision for children from birth in those OECD countries where divorce is common-place, where the birth rate has fallen dramatically and where, increasingly, most adult women work outside the home. It notes especially the gradual congruence of early childhood care and early education in policy and practice. It emphasises the vital contribution of appropriate early experience and learning to the creation of a humane society, briefly considers the policy preoccupations with literacy, and notes especially that the biggest single factor contributing to high quality provision lies in the quality of the professional staff concerned. |
