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Parents play a vital role in identifying children's needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children's well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children's well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European countries (England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal). Results revealed that parental perspectives largely converged with quality features discussed in ECEC research. Process quality features were mentioned more frequently than structural features for all children 0- to 6-years-old in almost all countries. However, care-oriented features were mentioned more frequently for under 3 years, and educational-oriented features were mentioned more frequently for the older group. Regarding structural features, patterns of responses across the two age groups were similar in most countries. Age differences were not more pronounced in countries with a split governance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners nowadays are convinced that social and emotional skills (SES) are a crucial element in human development. Numerous scientific research studies and international and national reports show the significance of attaining SES in the early years. Supporting the development and improvement of social and emotional skills in children from an early age increases to a great extent their chances of success in school, work, and life. This will influence on one-hand side children's level of development as a whole, not only in the field of the social and emotional domain, but also has an influence on their families, kindergarten and school community, and the overall society. The EU-SELF project presents an innovative approach that integrates scientific knowledge and proficiency in the realm of SES with its applied implementation into educational practices. Within the framework of the project, a Europe-wide webbased platform was developed. It provides reliable, professional and user-friendly information on SES states regarding several key areas like skills development, their assessment, and approaches to interventions for early childhood education and care (ECEC) (i.e., children aged 0 to 7 years old). Some of the project outputs are (1) country-specific SES descriptions for all the European countries, (2) a program SES compendium for Europe, (3) SES assessment measure compendium, and (4) a systematic review. The EU-Self platform functions as both a repository of information and a means of communication and exchange for early childhood education and care providers, teachers, researchers, stakeholders, and experts in Europe and worldwide. It supports the achievement of EU key priorities, raises awareness and promotes SES development in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to explore how the belonging and participation, as well as its related concepts, are framed in the national curriculum guidelines of the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. We employed a scoping study with concept-mapping methodology. The results reveal macro level principles related to human rights and values, multiliteracy and language, policy measures and ideologies. Meso level principles stressed that education is supposed to guarantee a child's overall development and skills acquisition, participation involvement in the activities related to a child's environment and cultural heritage. The micro level principles were indicative of the need for inclusive and accessible physical and social environments, along with teaching methods which foster positive attitudes about diversity and teachers' expertise levels to address diversity. We also found the importance of designing opportunities that encourage socializing, building relationships, and belongingness. Additionally, the results show how frequently the chosen key concepts are represented in the guidelines. Based on our study we can conclude that curriculum guidelines do not provide sufficent frameworks for promoting children's belonging and participation. Further exploration on those concepts is needed, along with increased scholarly attention within the spheres of ECEC and compulsory education practice to enable inclusion for all children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]