| Attachment | Size |
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 ACDE_Invitation_Accord_Launch.pdf | 266.99 KB |
Excerpts:
A major shift has occurred over the past 50 years in the discourse relating to the care and education of young children. From a focus on childcare as a "women's issue" relative to workforce engagement, there is now a focus on early children education with its own pedagogical discourse on child development and learning (Flanagan, 2012).
The purposes of early years education and care are framed in multiple and even contradictory ways. For some, investment in the early years is seen in terms of enhancing human capital (i.e., enhancing future society capital by reducing poverty, health issues, and other social burdens), as well as preparing children for school success and productive citizenship. Others emphasize the importance of the early years as an aspect of a democratic society, where education is seen as a basic right and where early learning spaces are conceived as a "meeting place." For example, John Dewey (1902) imagined early learning settings as places for the creation of a community of inquiry where adults and children actively "research" the world, co-constructing knowledge and understandings together.
From this contentious context has emerged a public discussion about the purposes and forms of early years care and education. Policy makers and the public are becoming more aware of the importance of the early learning years in shaping the quality of children's lives both in school and beyond. While this recognition appears to be widespread, nevertheless the quality and availability of early learning opportunities still vary considerably across Canada.
This Accord by the Association of Canadian Deans of Education (ACDE) seeks to address the uneven provision of quality early learning experiences by highlighting practices that focus on the learning and care of all children; promoting improved, better connected education for preschool and elementary children; and recognizing educator knowledge as vital to effective education for early learners and their families. ACDE's General Accord (2006) created a framework for its signatories to work together to advance the public good in Canada through education. The Accord on Early Learning, as one of ACDE's family of Accords, represents a commitment among members to advancing a set of shared goals and principles pertaining to this topic.