Experts from sciences, politics and organisations from different European countries discussed at the expert meeting, what good quality in early childhood education and care means and how it can be achieved. Therefore, the experiences and current developments in Finland, Scotland and Germany were presented and added by examples how to deal with ethnic diversity and of the current situation in eastern Europe.
The meeting gathered about 30 experts from European level as well as from different European member states to have an intense discussion and an exchange of ideas. They discussed the current situation of quality in early child care in Europe, especially how it has to be defined and how it can be achieved and guaranteed.
These questions we addressed:
- What is the current situation like concerning quality child care in Europe?
- What exactly does quality child care mean (in the different member states)? What kind of quality dimensions should be involved?
- What could be the best way to get the best quality child care possible? Are child care standards (on national or maybe even from european level) a good way? Do they contradict innovative service options?
- If standards are preferred: How could they look like?
- What should be done on European level for better child care?
There were country reports to the current quality debate from a German, Finnish and Scottish perspective. Besides, an overview on quality issues in Europe and existing EU regulations were presented. Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kalicki (ICEC), Prof. Dr. Susanne Viernickel (Germany), Marion MacLeod (Scotland) and Dr. Päivi Kupila (Finland) were among the presenters.