Comparing Past and Current Efforts to Unify Early Childhood Education

• In Event: Looking Back to Move Forward: Professional Dialogues for Change

Abstract

Unification of the field of early childhood education (ECE) is a central focus of cotemporary early educational advocacy. Proponents include advocates of pre-K-3 alignment, the National Research Council, which co-developed a unifying foundation for the ECE workforce, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which co-authored a unifying framework for the field. This is not, however, the first time that prominent early educational organizations have attempted to unify the field: The first such attempt occurred over a hundred years ago, when the National Council for Primary Education was founded in 1915 in order to advocate for the unification of kindergarten and primary education. This paper explores similarities and differences between past and current ECE unification efforts.

Author

• R. Clarke Fowler, Salem State University
  Presenting Author