Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in Luxembourg : A Focus on Non-formal Education.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational leadership.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (98 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Paris : OECD, [2022]

Summary:

In supporting children's development, countries invest in the future successes of economies and societies. Awareness of the critical role early childhood education and care (ECEC) plays in setting a strong foundation for children's learning, development and well-being has grown among policy makers worldwide.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and acronyms

Executive summary

Governance, funding and equity

Workforce development

Quality assurance and improvement

Assessment and recommendations

Luxembourg's substantial investment in early childhood education and care reflects its long-term commitment to providing access to all children

The Ministry of Education, Childhood and Youth could strengthen collaboration and promote best practices across ECEC departments

The current non-formal sector funding scheme creates disparities in quality and may undermine equity

The development of ECEC-specific qualifications and programmes would help address the pressing need for qualified staff in the non-formal sector

Continuous professional development for staff and leaders in non-formal education is central to the government's ambitious 2022 reform

The focus needs to be on professional development quality, format and links with formal qualifications

Differences in working conditions and wages create uneven quality among providers of non-formal education

Luxembourg is particularly focused on how to enhance quality assurance and improvement in non-formal education

Regional officers play a vital role in strengthening knowledge on process quality in non-formal education

Further training would strengthen regional officers' ability to foster quality improvement

Reflective practice is one of the cornerstones of Luxembourg's quality assurance system, but greater staff participation within settings could be encouraged

The effectiveness of the non-formal sector monitoring system could be enhanced with increased co-ordination between agencies and a risk-based approach.

A range of data is being collected but could be shared and combined more effectively to inform and support the quality and equity of the system

Parents and children could become active stakeholders in the quality improvement process

1 Context of the review

The OECD Quality beyond Regulations project

A review of process quality in early childhood education and care in OECD countries

A specific country review of early childhood education and care in Luxembourg

Structure and scope of the report

The policy context of early childhood education and care in Luxembourg

Governance, funding and enrolment

Luxembourg is a highly multicultural and multilingual society

Non-formal education is guided by a comprehensive curriculum framework

Resources are uneven across the ECEC sector

Equity in ECEC is a priority for Luxembourg, but it is not currently measured

Luxembourg has an ambitious policy agenda

References

2 The development of the early childhood education and care workforce in Luxembourg

Introduction

The professionalisation of the workforce

Context

Higher qualified and better-prepared staff tend to concentrate in the formal sector and in non-formal contracted settings

Meeting the ECEC objectives of the country requires a broad strategy to further professionalise the workforce

Initial education and preparation

Initial education programmes could offer a stronger focus on ECEC

Practicums are included in initial education programmes, but a focus on the ECEC sector could be expanded

Expanding options for ECEC initial training to align with different roles can help match the sector's demand, but attention to quality is needed

Continuous professional development

Context.

Staff and leaders participation in continuous professional development needs to increase in the non-formal ECEC sector

Continuous professional development should further adapt to staff and leaders' training needs

Attention to the format and quality of continuous professional development is needed

Continuous professional development could help to raise formal qualifications of ECEC staff

Staff preparedness to apply curriculum frameworks

The curriculum framework for non-formal education is a milestone for the sector, but further efforts are needed to prepare staff to implement it

Recent initiatives to review the curriculum framework can help make it more accessible and practical for staff

The review of the continuous professional development system can help staff to implement the multilingual programme

Working conditions

Differences in working conditions within the non-formal sector are affecting staff retention, particularly in settings for the youngest children

Differences in working conditions between formal and non-formal education create fragmentation in the ECEC system

Plans to review the status of home-based provision can improve quality and working conditions

3 Quality assurance and improvement in the non-formal early childhood education and care sector in Luxembourg

Governance and responsibilities for quality assurance in the ECEC sector

Co-ordination between agencies with roles for non-formal education could be further improved

Clarifying the roles of the two monitoring agencies for non-formal ECEC can enhance the work of both and strengthen the mechanisms to support quality improvement.

In the short and long terms, bringing together knowledge on ECEC quality across the formal and non-formal sectors can build collaboration and create connections for children and families

Meeting demand and ensuring affordable access to ECEC require ongoing data collection

Systematic data collection on ECEC in Luxembourg is expanding and can be further strengthened

Monitoring processes and tools

Staff members can offer valuable perspectives during monitoring visits

Self-evaluation can guide improvement

Mechanisms and strategies are needed to address children's diverse needs and interests

Parents and children should be engaged in monitoring quality processes

Regional officers can be further prepared and supported in their roles

The consequences and use of monitoring results

Additional mechanisms could enhance the effectiveness of the monitoring system

The capacity of regional officers to foster quality improvement can be strengthened

Policies to improve performance in the ECEC sector can be more systematically informed by data on ECEC providers, children and the workforce

Annex A. Programme of missions conducted by the review team

Annex A. Programme of missions conducted by the review team.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789264638761

9264638768

9789264859500

9264859500

OCLC:

1344540117