Symposium overview:
The purpose of this symposium is to generate a discussion in Canada about the policy changes that would be needed to bring about integration for kindergarten age children. The OECD Report suggested that reconciling the differences between kindergarten and child care is a prerequisite to achieving a coherent system of early education and care in Canada. It explained that the advantages of bringing together early education and care within integrated departments include: a more unified approach; more effective investment producing greater savings; improved public supervision leading to higher quality; more coherent policy and consistency; and, enhanced continuity of children's early childhood experiences.
Achieving integration of kindergarten and child care services in Canada will require a major paradigm shift for all involved. Because both education and child care are in the provincial jurisdiction, each province and territory will need to devise its own strategies. Each will also need to respond to the same challenges. These will be comprised of both "structural" and "conceptual" components.
The symposium will focus on four key concerns:
- program design and delivery;
- program framework (curriculum);
- the reorganization of the workforce;
- and governance and funding issues, bringing experts from across Canada and around the world to contribute their knowledge to the Canadian experience.
Objectives:
- To stimulate active, positive interaction
- To find solutions to the fragmentation of the two systems: Education and Child Care
