Themes and Sub-themes

Theme and Sub-themes

Theme: Quality Education: The Key to Prosperity and Well-being

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential for promoting quality, equitable and inclusive learning from the start, fostering children’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth, and helping bridge gaps for children from diverse backgrounds. This foundation relies on well-supported, qualified professionals and inclusive policies that prioritize parental involvement and leadership focused on pedagogy over administration.

Access to resources, multidisciplinary support, and ongoing professional development enables educators to address students’ diverse needs, well-being, and prosperity, while prioritizing educators’ health and well-being strengthens their ability to promote quality learning, equity, inclusion, and positive societal outcomes. Furthermore, educators play a crucial role in empowering children to actively shape their own futures. A child-centred approach values children’s voices, encouraging them to engage meaningfully in their education.

Through diverse representation and strong, trusting relationships, educators foster children’s sense of agency, responsibility, and critical thinking.

Sub-theme 1: Building a Foundation for Equitable and Inclusive Education:

The role of high-quality early childhood education and care

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) lays the foundation for equitable and inclusive education by fostering children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development during their most formative years. Effective national policies must prioritize ECEC with clear curricula and play-based learning, which is vital for young children’s growth. Research underscores the importance of qualified, well-supported ECEC professionals who understand the importance of children’s development, learning, and growth. However, many countries face a shortage of qualified ECEC professionals, which threatens the quality of education and care. Leadership also plays a crucial role, but ECEC leaders often face administrative burdens, limiting their focus on pedagogy. Inclusive high quality ECEC is very important for all children, especially to promote equal opportunities for children from diverse social, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Parents and guardians are essential partners in this process, ensuring holistic support for children’s learning and development.

Discussion questions

  1. How can governments, teacher unions, and educational institutions work collaboratively to attract, retain and develop the ECEC professionals needed to advance the sector from access to quality and inclusion, and from care to education.
  2. How can government and teacher unions provide ECEC leaders with better opportunities to focus on pedagogical leadership, enabling them to support educators and others in delivering high-quality childhood experience for all children?
  3. How can ECEC settings better support and empower children from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure equitable access to quality early childhood education, fostering inclusion from an early age?

Sub-theme 2: Supporting Educators to Foster Equity and Well-being:

How well-established services enable educators to promote inclusive, supportive learning environments

Empowering and supporting educators is crucial to promote learning, inclusion, well-being, and prosperity for all children and young people in an ever-changing society. Access to multiple resources and multi-disciplinary support services is essential for educators to create inclusive learning environments that meet children and young people’s cognitive, social, and emotional needs. Key to this is equipping educators with the competences to implement quality teaching practices and fostering collaboration through teamwork and peer-support throughout their careers. Policymakers and education authorities must also focus on the health and well-being of education staff as a foundation for cultivating a positive learning environment for children and young people.

Discussion questions

  1. How can policymakers and school leaders ensure the well-being of education staff as a prerequisite to create the learning environments needed to promote quality, equity and well-being?
  2. In what ways can genuine empowerment of teachers be achieved and collaboration and peer-support among educators be strengthened to foster more effective, inclusive and equitable learning environments for students?
  3. What types of resources are most effective in helping educators create inclusive, supportive learning environments? In this context what are the opportunities and challenges presented by AI and digital technologies for both students and staff?

Sub-theme 3: The Educator’s Role in Child-Centred Education Systems:

Educators empowering children and young people to actively participate in shaping their own future

Children have various role models in the education system, including teachers, school staff, administrators, youth workers, parents, and peers, all contributing to their education. In a child-centred education system, the child ‘s well-being is key to its ability to take an active part in schoolwork and learning. A child-centred approach emphasizes the right of the child to impact their own education and to make their voices heard within the school. For educators to be able to reach and engage with children and young people in a diverse society they need to reflect that diversity. One of the roles of an educator is to ensure an active involvement of children and young people when it comes to their education, future options, and opportunities.

Educators in schools, youth, and leisure work play a crucial role in building strong, trusting relationships with children and young people and positively impacting their active participation. Empowering children and young people to actively participate in shaping their lives involves fostering a sense of agency, responsibility, and critical thinking.

Discussion questions

  1. How can educators encourage children and young people to voice and express their own opinions and what systems or participation models need to be in place?
  2. What enables education systems to empower children and young people to actively effect their own education and the education system on a local and national level?
  3. How can governments, unions, educators, schools, youth, and leisure work ensure that children and young people have equal opportunities and options in participating in a wide range of studies (non-formal education)?
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