Integrated Policies For Early Childhood Education And Care – Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) or pre-school education does not yet have a clearly defined provision. At different periods it was classified in other more developed fields – sometimes education, health or social. Depending on the time of the governmental structure of society, the dominant social system, culture, tradition, wealth / poverty and other existing resources, power/status of individuals in relation to society and the state, a system of ECEC or preschool education can vary through time, space and the community in which they are created and formed. Recognizing the importance of the social context in the identification of the role of ECEC or preschool education by individuals in a community, it opens the possibility of considering the social context – how the social practices and relationships create value through public policy. This paper aims at providing some reflections on the policy development and implementation of integrated services of early childhood education and care (ECEC) within a systemic perspective.