In March 2019, the Finnish Ministry of Education, the OECD, and Education International brought education ministers, union leaders and other teacher leaders together for the International Summit on the Teaching Profession with the aim to better support the teaching profession in meeting the formidable challenges of 21st-century education.

Research has shown that attendance at early childhood education and care programmes can have a significant impact on children’s cognitive, social and emotional development, and on their performance in school – and in life – later on. There is evidence from both randomised controlled trials and observational studies that early childhood education and care has the potential to improve the life chances of children from disadvantaged families; yet results from PISA show that advantaged children are more likely to attend, and to attend for longer periods of time. Failing to tackle this situation could mean that early childhood education and care continue to exacerbate rather than mitigate inequities in education and in society.

Research has shown that attendance at high-quality early childhood education and care programmes can have a significant impact on children’s cognitive, social and emotional development, and on their performance in school later on. This chapter discusses how these programmes can also help reduce social inequalities and be particularly beneficial to disadvantaged children.

This chapter examines two aspects of quality as the term relates to early childhood education and care: structural characteristics and process quality. Structural characteristics refer to the work organisation, including working hours, staff salaries and the ratio of children to staff, and staff qualifications in a given programme. Process quality is defined as children’s interactions with staff and with the other children in their group. The chapter discusses the research showing how the interplay of these various components can affect the quality of early childhood education and care.

This chapter reviews approaches to pedagogical practice in early childhood education and care, with a view to enhancing the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that are central to success in the 21st century. It then looks at policies that support such pedagogies. The chapter concludes with a review of approaches to curriculum design that can facilitate a smooth transition from early learning to school.

Schools, and even early childhood educational institutions, are examining whether and how to incorporate information and communication technologies (ICT) into their learning environments. This chapter examines how these technologies can be used effectively for learning. It also discusses research on the impact of using these technologies – including television, video games and social media – on children’s developing brains and bodies.