Early Childhood Education in Chile

Abstract

This chapter summarizes around 200 years of history of early childhood education in Chile. For the time of the colony, the first records about childhood education are described with an account of the purpose of these schools with their Catholic tradition and the differential attention to children from different social classes and ethnicities. With the advent of the Republic, the Lancaster educational model was applied but changed over the years following ideas from several countries. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the first kindergartens with the Froebel pedagogic system were implemented. In 1906, the first public kindergarten was officially created including professional training programs. The chapter also discusses coverage and investment in early childhood education from the government, which has never stopped. Since 1990, a series of reforms in education have taken place. The last decade highlighted the major effort ever undertaken: for the first time, the Chilean government prioritized to set up a public policy toward children’s protection and well-being involving early stimulation programs, educational programs for parents, and coverage to attend full-time daycare centers. Additionally, the public policy for childcare centers offers intercultural programs for ethnic minority children from 2 to 5 years old. The last decade has been marked by an exponential scientific interest in aspects like cognitive and socio-emotional development, which is also discussed, as well as the future of scientific research to improve our understanding of child development in the Chilean context and the impact of the latest policies in early childhood education.