ABSTRACT
Central to the realisation of young children’s rights in early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts are rights-informed and respected educators. Close attention to government obligations under Articles 28, 29 and 42 of the UNRC reveals gaps that can be addressed by comprehensive and systematic children’s rights education (CRE) initiatives for ECEC educators. Sustaining a children’s rights perspective and drawing on contemporary legal scholarship and the commentary of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, this chapter outlines salient features of CRE relevant for the initial education of ECEC educators. By examining the case of the Republic of Ireland, the chapter contextualises a broad-based analysis of the legislative, policy and institutional changes that followed ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1992. Powerful legal and non-legal examples illuminate Ireland’s progress, including constitutional change, strong policy commitments to the principle of participation, and a broad ECEC curriculum framework that provides an entitlement to CRE for young children. However, barriers continue to obscure progress, so this chapter concludes with recommendations that have potential to spark debate among a wider international audience of ECEC students and educationalists interested in applications of the UNCRC to ECEC theory, policy and practice.
