A Call for a Shift in Thinking: Viewing Children as Rights-Holders in Early Childhood Curriculum Frameworks

Abstract

The authors conduct a document analysis of the Early Learning for Every Child Today: A Framework for Ontario Early Childhood Settings (2007) to identify children's rights as reflected in a widely used early childhood curriculum framework in Ontario, Canada. They argue about the significance of looking at curriculum through the lens of children's rights in order to create a global community and strive toward a “rights-integrative approach to early learning.” The findings from the analysis indicate how curriculum documents used for guiding early learning practices may serve as ideal vehicles for introducing discourses on children's rights.