Chapter 2: Early years curriculum: past, present and future – trajectories

In this chapter, we explore and analyse developments in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) curriculum, tracing philosophical concepts and policy influences, to identify what has shaped current understandings of an ECEC curriculum. This journey of evolving ECEC examines the influence of early years pioneers, such as Fredrich Froebel (1826), Maria Montessori (1912), Margaret McMillan (1919), Rachael McMillan and Susan Isaacs (1929), identifying how the roles of adults, children and environments within ECEC have developed over time to promote high-quality pedagogy. We critically consider the interplay of policy initiatives in the evolution of the ECEC curriculum in England, highlighting where policy has both drawn on and contradicted the philosophical origins of ECEC. International research illustrates different philosophical conceptions of child-centredness within ECEC and how children can be made “present” and actively central within early learning (Campbell-Barr and Georgeson, 2021). We conclude with insights and recommendations for a future early years curriculum centred around the child.