Starting Strong IV - Monitoring Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report providing an international perspective on quality in the ECEC sector.  Available here.

A discussion paper on the importance of ethical practice in Early Childhood Research and Professionalism.  Click here to read this paper.

Another really interesting piece from Dr. Mary Moloney of MIC and UL regarding the care-education divide and quality in ECEC in the Irish context.  Access it here.

Caring entrepreneurs? Childcare policy and private provision in an enterprising age - This paper focusses on funding and sustainability within the Irish ECEC sector. Click here.

Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe 2019 Edition Eurydice Report.  Access it here.

This paper was influential in the development of Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education.  Click here to access the paper.

Sharing developmental concerns with parents regarding their child can be a very difficult and delicate conversation.  This really useful resource from Barnardos is a guide for helping practitioners approach these sensitive and difficult conversations.  The guide also provides information on working together with the parent to begin to plan how to "get any emotional supports and practical help they might need" (Barnardos, 2021). You can access this guide here.

This paper aims to open up the rationales that are used to argue for an increase in male participation in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce. Click here to read this paper.

"Pressure on labour-supply has rekindled concern about the low participation of men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and public debate about the ‘appropriateness’ and ‘value’ of male educators in these settings. We examined this issue from the perspective of all staff (N = 23), in two Australian ECEC centres employing a male educator. A diversity lens framed analysis, providing a contemporary and inclusive account of male educators as members of the teaching team rather than as gender-anomalies in the workforce" (Thorpe et al, 2018).  Click here to access this research.

"This paper gives an overview of international developments towards gender balance in the ECEC workforce in the last three decades. Research results on the role of male and female ECEC professionals and strategies for recruiting more men are reflected against goals of gender diversity and equality" (Rohrmann, 2018).  Click here to access this research.

"This paper is written by a leader in education, for leaders of education, drawing on recent literature and a range of experiences of the reality of leading in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector during a pandemic" (Fogarty, 2020). Click here to access this paper.

This issue of Barnardos free ChildLinks publication focusses on children's participation in decision making with articles on the national Participation Framework, addressing and overcoming challenges to children's participation rights in ECEC and the voice of the child.  You can access and download it here.

NCCA audit of Traveller culture in the early years, primary and secondary curriculum in Ireland focussing on Traveller culture and history, intercultural guidelines and resources and opportunities to incorporate Traveller culture and history into curriculum. Click here to access.

"he first five years of a child’s life is a period of great opportunity, and risk. The cognitive and social-emotional skills that children develop in these early years have long-lasting impacts on their later outcomes throughout schooling and adulthood. The International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study was designed to help countries assess their children’s skills and development, to understand how these relate to children’s early learning experiences and well-being. The study provides countries with comparative data on children’s early skills to assist countries to better identify factors that promote or hinder children’s early learning. Three countries participated in this study in 2018: England (United Kingdom), Estonia and the United States. The study directly assessed the emergent literacy and numeracy, self-regulation and social-emotional skills of a representative sample of five-year-old children in registered school and ECEC settings in each participating country. It also collected contextual and assessment information from the children’s parents and teachers" (OECD, 2020). Access the research study here.

Annual reports tracking the progress of the 5 national outcomes for children and young people from the age of 0 to 24 in Ireland as set out in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: The national policy framework for children and young people 2014-2020.  Access the annual reports here.  Access the policy framework here.

Research on levels of burnout experienced by preschool teachers in China and how this impacts their professional engagement and aspirations for further career development.  Click here to access.