The concept of 'subjects' has posed a philosophical dilemma and polarised debate within early childhood education. Consequently, little attention has been paid to teachers' and children's subject knowledge and the role these might play in early childhood curriculum and pedagogy to extend and enhance children's learning. This article reports on a study that explored beliefs and practices about subject knowledge in one kindergarten in New Zealand. The study's findings are analysed from two contrasting perspectives: categories of teacher knowledge and sociocultural theory. The article argues that a contemporary sociocultural view of knowledge has potential within the existing philosophy underpinning early childhood curriculum and pedagogy to recognise and strengthen the position of subject knowledge. Implications for curriculum, pedagogy and teacher education are discussed.

A continuing struggle over curriculum in early childhood education is evident in contemporary research and debate at national and international levels. This reflects the dominant influence of developmental psychology in international discourses, and in policy frameworks that determine approaches to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Focusing on early childhood education, we argue that this struggle generates critical questions about three significant themes within curriculum theory: content, coherence and control. We outline two positions from which these themes can be understood: Developmental and Educational Psychology and contemporary policy frameworks. We argue that within and between these positions curriculum content, coherence, and control are viewed in different and sometimes oppositional ways. Following this analysis, we propose that a focus on 'working theories' as a third position offers possibilities for addressing some of these continuing struggles, by exploring different implications for how content, coherence, and control might be understood. We conclude that asking critical questions of curriculum in early childhood education is a necessary endeavor to develop alternative theoretical frameworks for understanding the ways in which curriculum can be considered alongside pedagogy, assessment, play and learning.

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