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<p>The integration of early childhood education and care (ECEC) is critical for child development and equity. However, structural and conceptual challenges persist globally. This systematic literature review (SLR) synthesizes 22 peer-reviewed, English-language studies (2014–2023) identified via Web of Science and Scopus, plus two frequently cited journals. The corpus spans 24 countries, diverse settings, and multiple stakeholder groups to address the research question: What challenges impede ECEC integration, and how can they be overcome? Findings reveal systemic challenges and linked strategies, including governance instability, inconsistent funding, enduring care-education division, access barriers, workforce professionalization deficiencies, and curriculum/pedagogy discontinuities: The review frames quality as an emergent ecosystem property rather than an endpoint attribute, advancing an integrated ECEC quality ecosystem that links macro-level rules and resources to access, workforce practices, pedagogy, and child outcomes, incorporating feedback loops from classrooms back to policy. Implications emphasize that sustainable integration requires a dual focus on systemic reforms and conceptual reorientation, embedding quality-assurance mechanisms across ecological levels. Future research should prioritize observation-based, scale-driven, quantitative, mixed-method, longitudinal, and subnational studies, exploring cross-disciplinary cultural consensus, child development, integration impact, policy effectiveness, and leadership frameworks to enhance ECEC integration and bridge the academia-practice gap.</p>

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A Systematic Review of Challenges and Strategies for the Integration of Early Childhood Education and Care

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月13日

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  • Shuting He,
  • Yue Yang,
  • Mingyue Pu

摘要

The integration of early childhood education and care (ECEC) is critical for child development and equity. However, structural and conceptual challenges persist globally. This systematic literature review (SLR) synthesizes 22 peer-reviewed, English-language studies (2014–2023) identified via Web of Science and Scopus, plus two frequently cited journals. The corpus spans 24 countries, diverse settings, and multiple stakeholder groups to address the research question: What challenges impede ECEC integration, and how can they be overcome? Findings reveal systemic challenges and linked strategies, including governance instability, inconsistent funding, enduring care-education division, access barriers, workforce professionalization deficiencies, and curriculum/pedagogy discontinuities: The review frames quality as an emergent ecosystem property rather than an endpoint attribute, advancing an integrated ECEC quality ecosystem that links macro-level rules and resources to access, workforce practices, pedagogy, and child outcomes, incorporating feedback loops from classrooms back to policy. Implications emphasize that sustainable integration requires a dual focus on systemic reforms and conceptual reorientation, embedding quality-assurance mechanisms across ecological levels. Future research should prioritize observation-based, scale-driven, quantitative, mixed-method, longitudinal, and subnational studies, exploring cross-disciplinary cultural consensus, child development, integration impact, policy effectiveness, and leadership frameworks to enhance ECEC integration and bridge the academia-practice gap.