Opinion

A new conversation has begun! 

The arena of Early Childhood Education (ECE) has always been, and continues to be, an intense area of discussion and debate, says James Hempsall, founder of hey!
James Hempsall, founder of Hempsall's Early Years (hey!)
James Hempsall, founder of Hempsall's Early Years (hey!)

While there is an acceptance birth to seven years is a uniquely significant and dramatically formative period of children’s development and growth, there remains an untapped opportunity to reach consensus in defining its explicit nature and content.

There is a general agreement all children benefit from a high quality ECE experience, although when this is the focus of debate, there is often lack of clarity, agreement, or acknowledgement of what this means in practice.  Although a steady flow of Government sponsored and other evidence appears to indicate the emergence of agreed precepts of quality, there exists a need to untangle narratives in both what this is and how they are most effectively achieved. The dialogue between politically and nationally derived ECE policy and day-to-day practice can unnecessarily compete, and we think new and positive opportunities for recognition and understanding of how ECE needs to ‘work’ are there for the taking.

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