Children’s Research Network Research Digest Edition: Conference 2017 Published: 5 th Feb 2019 1 Learning about the Principle of Participation: Possibilities and Barriers in the Professional Formation of Early Childhood Education and Care Students Sheila Long, Institute of Technology, Carlow Introduction The principle of participation in Early Childhood Education and Care The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has facilitated a sea- change in the political and legislative landscape in the Republic of Ireland since ratification in 1992. In Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) it has led to a number of key policy shifts, most significantly the national quality and curricular frameworks, Siolta (Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, 2006) and Aistear (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2009), which have resulted in radical changes in how the young child is conceptualised. Both documents are underpinned and demonstrably rooted in the UNCRC and embody a conceptualisation of the child as a rights-holder (Hayes, Donoghue-Hynes and Wolfe, 2013; Waldron, Kavanagh, Maunsell, Oberman, O’Reilly, Pike, Prunty and Ruane, 2011). The UNCRC is not yet fully incorporated into the Irish constitution, although following a referendum in 2012, two of its principles (the principle of participation, and best interests principle) are now included. Despite this limited incorporation, all professionals who work with children require comprehensive knowledge of these two principles at minimum to understand their implications for their particular practice contexts. The Better Outcomes: Brighter Future Policy Framework 2014-2020 (DCYA, 2014), and constituent strategies, such as The National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making (DCYA, 2015), and First five: A Whole-of-