(Re)Centering Quality in Early Childhood Education: Toward Intersectional Justice for Minoritized Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Souto-Manning ◽  
Ayesha Rabadi-Raol
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Definition Of

In this chapter, we offer a critical intersectional analysis of quality in early childhood education with the aim of moving away from a singular understanding of “best practice,” thereby interrupting the inequities such a concept fosters. While acknowledging how injustices are intersectionally constructed, we specifically identified critical race theory as a counterstory to White supremacy, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies as counterstories to monocultural teaching practices grounded in deficit and inferiority paradigms, and translanguaging as a counterstory to the (over)privileging of dominant American English monolingualism. While each of these counterstories forefronts one particular dimension of oppression, together they account for multiple, intersecting systems of oppressions; combined, they expand the cartography of early childhood education and serve to (re)center the definition of quality on the lives, experiences, voices, and values of multiply minoritized young children, families, and communities. Rejecting oppressive and reductionist notions of quality, through the use of re-mediation, this article offers design principles for intersectionally just early childhood education with the potential to transform the architecture of quality.

Learning within the Context of Play: Providing Typical Early Childhood Experiences for Children with Severe Disabilities

1993 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Frances Hanline ◽  
Lise Fox
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

Early childhood educators regard child-initiated, child-directed, teacher-supported play as the primary context in which young children learn, whereas special educators have relied more heavily on teacher-directed activities that are focused on specific skill development. The purpose of this manuscript is to suggest that a play-based environment is the most natural instructional context for young children with severe disabilities. The application of a play-based curriculum requires neither an abandonment of effective instructional special education practice nor a violation of early childhood education best practice. Adopting such an approach, however, does represent a conceptual step away from existing practice. Further, allowing play activities to form the foundation on which effective instruction and classroom organization are built requires the utilization of best practice in the fields of early childhood education and early childhood special education in conjunction with effective practices for educating students with severe disabilities.

scholarly journals Pursuing Justice-Driven Inclusive Education Research: Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) in Early Childhood

2021 ◽  
pp. 027112142199083
Author(s):  
Hailey R. Love ◽  
Margaret R. Beneke
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Children Of Color ◽  
Educational Processes

Multiple scholars have argued that early childhood inclusive education research and practice has often retained racialized, ableist notions of normal development, which can undermine efforts to advance justice and contribute to biased educational processes and practices. Racism and ableism intersect through the positioning of young children of Color as “at risk,” the use of normalizing practices to “fix” disability, and the exclusion of multiply marginalized young children from educational spaces and opportunities. Justice-driven inclusive education research is necessary to challenge such assumptions and reduce exclusionary practices. Disability Critical Race Theory extends inclusive education research by facilitating examinations of the ways racism and ableism interdependently uphold notions of normalcy and centering the perspectives of multiply marginalized children and families. We discuss constructions of normalcy in early childhood, define justice-driven inclusive education research and its potential contributions, and discuss DisCrit’s affordances for justice-driven inclusive education research with and for multiply marginalized young children and families.

scholarly journals Positioning Children Citizens: Exploring Discourses in Early Childhood Curricula in China and Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Peng Xu
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

 Positioning young children as citizens, now rather than as citizens in waiting, is an emerging discourse in early childhood education internationally. Differing discourses related to young children and early childhood reveal various ideas of children as citizens, and what their citizenship status, practice and education can be. This paper analyses the national early childhood education (ECE) curricula of China and Aotearoa New Zealand for the purpose of understanding how children are constructed as citizens within such policy discourses. Discourse analysis is employed in this study as a methodological approach for understanding the subjectivities of young children and exploring the meanings of young children’s citizenship in both countries. Based on Foucault’s theory of governmentality, this paper ultimately argues that young children’s citizenship in contemporary ECE curricula in China and New Zealand is a largely neoliberal construction. However, emerging positionings shape differing possibilities for citizenship education for young children in each of these countries.

iPods, Internet and Apps, Oh My

2013 ◽  
pp. 1650-1668
Author(s):  
Sally Blake ◽  
Denise L. Winsor ◽  
Candice Burkett ◽  
Lee Allen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate Practice ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Design And Technology ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Beliefs About Technology ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

This chapter explores perceptions about technology and young children and includes results of a survey answered by Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) and Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals in relation to age appropriate technology for young children. Integration of technology into early childhood programs has two major obstacles: (a) teachers’ attitudes towards and beliefs about technology and (b) perceptions of what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in their classrooms. The issue of what constitutes developmentally appropriate practice for young children in relation to technology in early childhood education classrooms is one that may influence technology use in educational environments. The framework for this chapter explores perceptions of early childhood and instructional technology practitioners and their views of what is and is not appropriate technology for young children.

Why Teach Coding to Early Elementary Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Claudia M. Mihm
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Early Elementary ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Way Of Thinking

As coding and computer science become established domains in K-2 education, researchers and educators understand that children are learning more than skills when they learn to code – they are learning a new way of thinking and organizing thought. While these new skills are beneficial to future programming tasks, they also support the development of other crucial skills in early childhood education. This chapter explores the ways that coding supports computational thinking in young children and connects the core concepts of computational thinking to the broader K-2 context.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Teacher–Child Interactions With Multilingual Young Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annegien Langeloo ◽  
Mayra Mascareño Lara ◽  
Marjolein I. Deunk ◽  
Nikolai F. Klitzing ◽  
Jan-Willem Strijbos
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Childhood Education

Teacher–child interactions are the most important factor that determines the quality of early-childhood education. A systematic review was conducted to gain a better understanding of the nature of teacher–child interactions that multilingual children are exposed to, and of how they differ from teacher–child interactions of monolingual children. Thirty-one studies were included. The included studies (a) mainly focused on multilingual children with low language proficiency in the majority language and (b) hardly compared between monolingual and multilingual children. The review shows that teacher–child interactions of multilingual children are comparable to the interactions of monolingual children, although teachers do adopt different strategies to facilitate the development of multilingual children, such as the use of the home language and nonverbal communication to support understanding. Worryingly, several studies indicate that multilingual children are exposed to unequal learning opportunities compared with their monolingual peers.

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