Early childhood education regulations, policy makers, and our collective responsibility to children

"What happens when: Losing sight of children's rights in ECE & Care". Dr Mary Moloney (Ireland), keynote address to the NZ Future for Children in ECE Summit. Content: 1. What do children learn in Ealy Childhood Education and Care? 2. A story - children are precious, every child is precious 3. Who are the policy makers? 4. Who do they involve in decisions? And how much attention do they pay to ECE professionals and child advocates? 5. Expected to address educational disadvantage. Expected to relieve child poverty at the same time as laying the foundation for life-long learning. But at the same time support the economy, provide accessible and affordable care and support parents to go to work. Can/ should policy makers consider access and affordability without quality? 6. Discourse of outcomes and investments. Economic perspective. 7. The paradox of the ECE workforce being at the bottom of the educational continuum (teacher pay/ status/ value) but teachers are the most important determinant of quality. 8. Children are rights holders 9. The primary function of regulation 10. Even with regulation, children can be at risk 11. Roles. Responsibility. ‪@OFFICEofECE‬