What is the purpose of education? A context for early childhood education

Following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations 2015), Early Childhood Education (ECE) which includes care – is fast becoming the first part of the formal education journey experienced by C21st world citizens. Education is defined as ‘the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits’ (UNESCO 2023) and we experience education informally through everyday life from birth, non-formally, for example through hobbies, or formally through structured teaching provided by institutions including early childhood settings, schools, colleges and universities (OECD 2023a). Across the World, country governments invest in formal Education: the global average of countries’ expenditure on Education was 4.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021 (World Bank 2022). Education is a right for all, with States’ parties the main duty bearers responsible for ensuring that right, but Education is framed in diverse ways. This paper contextualises ECE within the wider field of Education, exploring some of those framings to address an important question for human development: What is the purpose of Education?