This article presents the findings of an analysis of the effects of CPDinitiatives on the quality of the pedagogical practices of ECEC practitioners. It is part of a larger study commissioned by Eurofound and jointly conducted by VBJK, IOE and PPMI (Eurofound, 2015). In order to draw policy-relevant information that might support decision makers in designing effective ECEC policies in their countries, the study reviewed existing research evidence published on this topic not only in English, but also in all the languages currently in use in EU Member States. Therefore, it involved country experts from EU-28 Member States. The research question was framed by the political priorities identified by the Council Conclusions on Early Childhood Education and Care (EU Council, 2011). The systematic literature review methodology elaborated by the EPPI-Centre for informing evidence-based policies in the field of education and social sciences was adopted to review the evidence drawn from primary research studies cross-nationally. The study revealed that long-term CPD interventions integrated into practice, such as pedagogical guidance and coaching in reflection groups, proved to be effective not only in countries with a well-established system of ECEC provision and a high level of qualification requirements for the practitioners, but also in countries with poorly subsidised ECEC systems and low qualification requirements. CPD initiatives based on the active engagement of practitioners and on peer exchanges within a shared scientific framework, proved to be the most effective.

Influenced by a growing number of longitudinal studies showing positive effects of preschool attendance, ECEC is framed as a potential equaliser of opportunities, especially to the benefit of children at risk of social exclusion and children from families with a migration background in particular. The preschool age is considered a crucial period for young children's language acquisition and there is consensus that stimulating and supportive teacher-child interactions in enriched classroom settings are paramount. However, research on daily interactions in contexts of diversity and multilingualism is still scarce and, as a result, the qualitative processes by which the preschool may be equalizing or reproducing the gap, remain under-theorized. In the present study, eight children living in poverty (most of whom had a migrant background) were closely followed during their first year in pre-primary education through detailed video-observations of daily interactions. The results of the in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis of 54 activities are presented. The results show that both the quantity and the quality of individual verbal interactions were low. The children were hardly addressed individually by the teacher, the number of verbal learning opportunities was limited and there were few opportunities for language production. The majority of the utterances of the teacher towards the children was directive and disciplining in nature and the home languages of the children were not valued. The few examples where teachers used a home language in individual interactions were intended to better direct the behavior of the child. By closely observing individual interactions, unintended mechanisms that hinder an equal distribution of learning opportunities were found in each of the four classes. As such, the results of the study suggest that preschools may also be confirming or even broadening existing inequalities.

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