How to evaluate quality in the ECEC system: some epistemic aspects of structural and process quality

Abstract

Both the structural and the process quality in ECEC systems show a range of epistemics critical points, in fact they are usually introduced in the public debate using such contradictory utterances that the research directly disprove (such as in the case of some structural affirmation). Furthermore, some beliefs that give rise to indicators of pedagogical quality are in some cases doubtful or problematic as demonstrated by research on executive functions in preschool. On a more hypothetical level we conjecture some definitions of the concept of quality depend more on the need to transpose scientific knowledge into opaque and ambiguous indications under pressure from political decision-makers, and it is no coincidence that there is only limited or null evidence, in the process quality, that quality improvements also lead to an improvement in children's learning outcomes.