Ideas gallery 10.1 The role of early childhood education in society From Germany"However the emergent role profile(of early childhood educators] represents an extension of traditional educational perspectives. It is linked to a wider vision of earty childhood centres as forums for community networking and as institutions of social, educational and cultural significance." (oberheumer and Coleberg Schrader 1999: 255) From an Internatlonal non-profit organlzatlon, OSI, based In New Yorkc"The open Society Institute(osi funds the Step by step Program, with the belief that educating the youngest members of society in a way that encourages individualism, choice, Initiative, and appreciation of differences to generation of democratic citizens' (The operates in 26 countries across Europe the Caribbean and South Africa.) (Ford and critical pedagogical approachescan help students to construct an engaging knowledge based on their background experiences as a selfempowerment