Caring and Learning Together: A Cross-National Study on the Integration of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) within Education

This United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) study offers an assessment of the policy of integrating the responsibility for early childhood care and education (ECCE) services under the auspices of the education ministry or department. The document describes the multisectoral nature of ECCE due to its concerns not only for childcare and early education, but also for child health, nutrition, social welfare and protection, women’s employment and equal opportunities, and poverty issues. This diversity of concerns and services presents challenges in achieving coordinated and coherent approaches to ECCE that ensure the child’s holistic development. The authors provide policy insights and recommendations on the integration of ECCE, supported by analyses of countries that have been working towards integration and those that have maintained a multisectoral approach.

The multisectoral approach is described as: "Typically, the two sectors in these split systems are governed, in terms of policy making and administration, by social welfare and education ministries respectively, and are also structured in very different ways with respect to types of service, workforce, access criteria, funding and regulation (including curriculum). Given their distinct historical roots, ‘childcare’ and ‘early education’ services in these split systems embody different visions and understandings of children, programme goals, approaches and contents....To reduce the adverse effects of split systems, two main strategies have been employed: greater coordination and integration." The creation of inter-ministerial mechanisms, such as a coordination body, is one approach. Another is a more integrated response: assigning national responsibility for all ECCE to a single ministry.

The document looks at how integration, built on consensus, took place in New Zealand, Brazil, Sweden, Slovenia, and Jamaica. The reasons for integration varied, including cost cutting and boosting school readiness. Undertaking curricular and regulatory integration and upgrading the workforce are approaches that have begun to yield results. The document cites 3 broad lessons:

• "First, alliances, advocacy based on strong arguments, and leadership are needed in order to get reform in the first place.
  
• Second, to get change deep into the system, there is a need for action at all levels of government and strong and integrative concepts on which to build substantive reform.
  
• Third, to get change into actual practice a strategy is necessary - including resources and materials, support workers and training, and time, not least to reflect on practice."
  

The document concludes that there were positive results of integration in the cases studied, and only one concern raised in one of the cases. The concern, termed 'schoolification', is the downward pressure of the school system in imposing its methods and paedagogy on the ECCE system. In general, neither schoolification nor increased influence of ECCE thinking on the school systems resulted from integration, but, rather, equal partnership was the more common result. The study provides broad policy propositions and recommendations, which refer to higher income countries but which may not necessarily extend to lower income countries. These propositions are:

1. "There is a need to adopt strategies to address the challenges arising from split systems;
   
2. It is likely that education is the best location for an integrated ECCE system if integration is chosen as an option;
   
3. Simply moving administrative responsibility for ECCE into education is not enough - great attention has to be paid to the subsequent process; integration requires both re-thinking of concepts and understandings and re-structuring;
   
4. Re-thinking the meaning of education and the relationship between pre-school and school is an opportunity arising from integration; relationship with other services and policy fields must also be re-thought and restructured if necessary;
   
5. Integration in education provides an opportunity to explore new types of provision;
   
6. Deep integration requires careful thought about the conditions needed;
   
7. Countries interested in changing from a split system can gain support from developing dialogues with other countries; and
   
8. More and deeper studies of integration are required across a wide range of countries, including low income countries."