Children’s learning, development and well-being are directly influenced by their daily interactions with other children, adults, their families and the environment. This interactive process is known as “process quality”, and leads to a key question: Which policies set the best conditions for children to experience high-quality interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings? The OECD launched the publication "Starting Strong VI: Supporting Meaningful Interactions in Early Childhood Education and Care" and present its findings for Canada. Co-hosted by Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada, this launch webinar looked at five main policy levers and their effect on process quality, focusing particularly on curriculum and pedagogy, and workforce development.

1. Starting Strong VI
Supporting meaningful interactions in early
childhood education and care
Andreas Schleicher
OECD Directorate for Education and Skills
28 June 2021

2. Enrolment in ECEC and primary education for children
aged 3 to 5 is on the rise
Percentage of children enrolled in early childhood education and care (ISCED 2011 Level 0) or primary education
(ISCED 2011 Level 1), 3-5 year-olds

3. Predicting later life outcomes …
EDUCATION
ATTAINMENT
AT SCHOOL
HEALTH
OUTCOMES
REPORTED
WELL-BEING
LATER
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STATUS
Emergent
literacy +++ ++ + ++
Emergent
numeracy ++ ++ n/a +
Self-regulation +++ ++ + ++
Pro-social skills,
including empathy
and trust
+ + + =
Non-disruptive
behaviour ++ + + +

4. Combined early cognitive and social emotional
development has enduring effects
Predicted percentage
effects on adult
earnings of early
childhood programmes,
based on test scores
versus adult outcomes
End-of-programme test scores
(Source: Bartik, 2014)
Third grade test scores Adult outcomes
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
CPC
Head Start
Perry
Abecedarian

5. Meaningful interactions define high-quality early
childhood education and care
Importance of children’s daily interactions with other
children, staff and teachers, for their development,
learning and well-being
Known as process quality

6. Main question of the project:
Are policies in OECD countries supportive of meaningful
interactions in ECEC settings?
Framework:
5 policy levers with a
focus on 2 of them
that are the closest to
children’s interactions
within ECEC settings
Visit Starting Strong: Mapping
quality in early childhood education
and care website at:
https://quality-ecec.oecd.org

7. In many countries, complexity is a feature of the
organisation of ECEC
• Responsibilities often at a sub-national level
26 countries and 41 jurisdictions answered the policy questionnaire
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec,
Saskatchewan, Yukon
• A multiplicity of settings in many countries - Childcare, crèches, kindergarten, integrated centre-
based ECEC, home-based settings
Information on more than 120 different types of ECEC settings (32 types of settings in Canada)
• A multiplicity of approaches
Information on 56 different curriculum frameworks (13 curriculum frameworks in Canada)
To enable international comparisons, the study uses standardised age groups: 0 to 2; 3 to
5/primary school; 0 to 5/primary school (integrated approach)

8. Curriculum frameworks are powerful tools to shape
ECEC staff’s interactions with children and parents
• More likely to be mandatory for children aged 3 to 5 than those aged 0 to 2
• In almost 25% of participating countries and jurisdictions, more than one
curriculum in place per age group
• In 14% of participating countries and jurisdictions, no curriculum
framework for the youngest age group, aged 0 to 2
The absence of curricula for the youngest children can make transitions to
pre-primary education more difficult
Multiple curricula for the same age group can result in differences in the
quality of ECEC across settings

9. Broad coverage across
age groups and settings
Specific coverage across
age groups and settings
Jurisdictions
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Québec
Saskatchewan4
Ages covered by ECEC
curriculum
framework(s)
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
all ECEC ages
Common curriculum
framework(s) across age
groups and settings
yes
yes
no
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
Single curricula per age
group
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
In all participating
jurisdictions, youngest
children are covered by a
curriculum
At least one curriculum
covers all age groups and
settings
Multiple curriculum per
age group and no
overarching curriculum
Single curriculum per age
group and no overarching
curriculum

10. Specification of developmental and learning goals for children in
curriculum frameworks adapts to children’s age
Curriculum frameworks covering
children aged 0 to 5/primary school
Broad
concepts +
Principles and
values
Principles
and values
Traditional
learning
areas + Broad
concepts
Traditional
learning
areas
Traditional learning
areas + Broad
concepts + Principles
and values
Traditional
learning areas
+ Principles
and values
Curriculum frameworks covering
children aged 0 to 2
Percentage of curriculum frameworks with goals stated as follows:

11. Curriculum frameworks specify multiple pedagogical
approaches adapted to children’s age
Percentage of curriculum frameworks specifying the following pedagogical approaches, all countries/jurisdictions,
by age group, 2019
In Canada, all curricula specify multiple approaches, with the constructivist and social pedagogies
included in almost all of them and the readiness for school pedagogy never specified

12. More types of stakeholders could be involved in the
design of curriculum framework
Percentage of curricula that involved the following categories of stakeholders in the development of the most recent
version, all countries/jurisdictions, by age group, 2019
In Canada, parents, community groups and children are also the least likely stakeholders to be included

13. Curriculum framework implementation not always
externally monitored
Percentage of curriculum frameworks for which implementation is monitored with the following frequencies,
by age group, 2019

14. Monitoring of curriculum frameworks’ implementation focusses on
interactions between ECEC staff and children and less so on other
types of interactions
Percentage of curriculum frameworks for which the following interactions are monitored, 2019
In Canada, for the 3 settings with external monitoring, monitoring includes (among others) interactions between ECEC
staff and parents (2 out of 3) and between children and their communities (2 out of 3)

15. Curriculum framework implementation is more likely to be included as
a topic in teachers’ initial training for settings for children aged 3 to 5
Age 0 to 2 Age 3 to 5/primary school entry Integrated for age 0 to 5/primary school entry
Percentage of settings for which the inclusion of curriculum framework in teachers’ initial education and training
is regulated, common practice or not regulated/required, by age group, 2019

16. Practicum more often required for teachers and settings for
children aged 3 to 5
Percentage of settings that require a practicum, by age groups and staff type, 2019
In Canada, almost all participating jurisdictions require that initial training programmes for teachers include a
practicum but not for assistants.

17. Professional development adapted to staff initial preparation,
experience and role can help them effectively engage in meaningful
interactions
• Several countries have requirements for participation in professional
development (e.g. mandatory number of hours; certification conditional to
training)
• Most countries do not regulate the monitoring of quality of professional
development
• The assessment of staff professional development needs, and barriers to
participation is not a common practice in several participating countries
and jurisdictions
In several jurisdictions, participation of staff in professional development is required. The assessment of professional
development needs and barriers to participation is not regulated in most jurisdictions. Exceptions include Ontario and
Québec.

18. Protected time for activities without children not available in
all settings and more likely for teachers than for assistants
Percentage of settings in which staff are given protected time separate from their contact time with children for
the following activities, by age group and staff type, 2019
Teachers and to a lesser extent assistants are given time reserved for activities separate from direct contact with children in
order to protected participate in training in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Québec.

19. Training in pedagogical leadership is common but not universal
among leaders, especially in settings for the youngest children
Percentage of settings for which pedagogical leadership is regulated, common practice or not regulated/required as part
of initial training, by age group, 2019
Age 0 to 2 Age 3 to 5/primary school entry Integrated for age 0 to 5/primary
school entry

20. Key findings for Canada
• Enrolment of children at the age of 5 in pre-primary education is almost universal while the percentage of
children aged 2 to 4 attending ECEC ranges from around 30% to more than 70% in various jurisdictions.
Ensuring that fees to parents do not make ECEC unaffordable to families is a key challenge in several
provinces and territories.
• Almost all provinces and territories have a curriculum framework in place. Most provinces have in place an
integrated curriculum framework covering children aged 0 to 5 in all settings.
• Curriculum frameworks put process quality at their core. They typically build on the idea of active children,
recognising play as crucial for their development. Curricula aim to support the quality of children’s
interactions with ECEC staff and other children and also between staff and parents, families and local
communities.
• Staff working in regulated settings are required to have a two-year post-secondary ECEC diploma in the
majority of jurisdictions. In addition, jurisdictions generally use professional certification.
• A minimum number of hours of professional development is required in several provinces and territories.
• Responsibilities for monitoring ECEC quality in Canada are shared between provincial/territorial
governments and individual ECEC settings.