Developing 21st century skills in early childhood: the contribution of process quality to self-regulation and pro-social behaviour

Abstract

There is a rich tradition in Europe of child-centred Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) with social development as the predominant curricular goal and free play as the main pedagogical principle for development. This tradition has been challenged by recent research showing that young children benefit from more structured learning, often called ‘guided play’. Moreover, the predominant goal of social development has been challenged by a recent survey of curricular goals in European countries that found wide support for ‘21st century’ skills such as self-regulation and some limited support for ‘emerging’ academic ones. This paper argues for the importance of observed process quality as the educational driver supporting the development of 21st century skills in the pre-school years. Based on multi-level models of children’s developmental progress in a large, longitudinal study in England, the findings demonstrate the contribution of process quality in ECEC to the development of self-regulation and pro-social behaviour (key 21st century skills) as measured at the end of primary school.