Helping our Youngest to Learn and Grow

Foreword
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
	What are the ingredients of quality early childhood education and care?
	Which pedagogies work best for the youngest learners?
	What do we know about children’s use of technology?
Chapter 1. Policies for early learning: Providing equitable access
	Box 1.1. Definitions of terms used in this report
	Box 1.2. Sustainable Development Goal 4.2
	Attendance at early childhood education and care and learning outcomes
		Figure 1.1. Enrolment rates in early childhood education and primary education, by age
	Equity in access to early childhood education and learning outcomes
		Figure 1.2. Age at starting early childhood education and care, and science proficiency at 15, by socio-economic status
		Figure 1.3. Differences in duration of attendance at early childhood education and care, by school characteristics
		Figure 1.4. Percentage of 15-year-old students who had attended preschool for two years or more, by socio-economic status (2015)
	Addressing social inequality through early childhood education and care
		Box 1.3. International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 2. Policies for early learning: Work organisation and staff qualifications
	Dimensions of “quality” in early childhood education and care
		Box 2.1. Starting Strong: Improving the impact of early childhood education and care
	Work organisation in early childhood education
		Working hours
			Figure 2.1. Organisation of annual teachers’ contact time with children in pre-primary public institutions (2017)
		Child-to-staff ratios
			Figure 2.2. Ratio of children to teaching staff in early childhood education (2016)
		Staff salaries
			Figure 2.3. Annual statutory teachers’ salaries in pre-primary education (2017)
	Staff qualifications
	Using work organisation and staff qualifications as “quality drivers”
		The quality of child-staff interactions
			Figure 2.4. More positive staff-child interactions are associated with higher levels of child emerging academic skills
		Exposure to developmental and educational activities
		Child-staff ratios
			Figure 2.5. Greater exposure to developmental and educational activities is associated with higher levels of children’s skills
		Group size
		Relationships between quality indicators
		Pre-service training
		Licensing family childcare
		In-service training
		Staff practices and engagement with children
		Sorting children
		Monitoring systems
		Locating early childhood education and care centres within schools
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 3. Policies for early learning: Shaping pedagogy
	Approaches to pedagogical practice in early childhood education and care
		Pedagogical approaches and the development of academic, social and emotional skills
			Table 3.1. Overview of pedagogical approaches and practices and their effects
	Shaping pedagogy through policy
		Table 3.2. Key pedagogical approaches and practices in case-study countries
	Policies to facilitate transitions from pre-primary to primary education
	Curriculum alignment between pre-primary and primary
		Table 3.3. Curriculum organisation in seven jurisdictions
		Figure 3.1. Percentage of jurisdictions where early childhood and primary education curricula are either aligned or integrated (2016)
		Figure 3.2. Values and principles included in both early childhood and primary education curricula (2016)
		Table 3.4. Ensuring pedagogical continuity: Challenges and strategies
	Learning areas in early childhood education and care, and primary school curricula
		Figure 3.3. Learning content in early childhood and primary education (2016)
		Figure 3.4. Broadening pre-primary curricula to include emerging learning content (2011 and 2015)
		Box 3.1. Selected reforms of pre-primary curricula
	Conclusions
	Notes
	References
Chapter 4. Children, technology and teaching
	Technology, learning and teaching
		Figure 4.1. Time spent using the Internet and science performance
		Figure 4.2. Change in the use of digital devices at school between 2012 and 2015, by type of activity
		Box 4.1. Using technology to support enquiry-based science teaching
		Figure 4.3. Teachers’ need for professional development related to ICT
	Technology, the brain, cognition and well-being
		Table 4.1. Screen time recommendations in different countries
		A note on brain plasticity
	Impact of television on children: Cognition and well-being
		On co-viewing
		“High-quality” programming: The quality vs. quantity debate
	Effects of video games on the brain and executive functions
	21st-century children and social media
		Figure 4.4. Change between 2015 and 2018 in use of social media platforms among US teenagers
		Box 4.2. The Internet and interpersonal skills and well-being
		“Facebook addiction”, excessive social media use and risky behaviours
	Implications for physical health
		Sleep
		Stress
		Overeating, sedentary lifestyles and obesity
		Activity, energy and co-ordination
		Musculoskeletal discomfort and posture
	Safe and responsible Internet use: The role of schools
		School organisation and policies
		E-safety in the curriculum
		School communication with families
	The role of peers
		Box 4.3. Internet safety helplines
	Developing policies
		Regulation strategies
		Common characteristics of successful policies
		Considerations for policy development
	Conclusions
	Notes
	References