The document begins with some detailed background about the Early Childhood
Actionorganisation, and the raison d’être behind its founding in early 2012.The new
framework document, Unhurried Pathways, is then presented, with key sections on
Overarching Concepts, Principles, Ways of Understanding Children, Engaging with a
Range of Different Theories, and Learning Competencies and Aspirations (rather than
‘Learning Goals’ and normative developmental templates). Young children are seen as
contributing to a world full of change, in which learning should be enabled to occur in
inclusive ways, and with children’s expression of a diversity of experience being of
central importance. The theme of ‘Living in a Sustainable World’ is therefore a key aspect
of this framework, with the focus of Unhurried Pathways being far more that of
preparing young children for life rather than for school.