No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed social organizations and altered children’s worlds. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of the institutional organization of disabled children’s lives, since March 2020 we have conducted interviews with families in rural and urban communities across Canada (65 families at the time of writing). The narrow focus of governments on the economy, childcare, and schooling does not reflect the scope of experiences of families and disabled children. We describe emerging findings about what the effects of the pandemic closures demonstrate about the social valuing of childhood, disability, and diverse family lives in early childhood education and care. Our research makes the case that ableism, exclusion, and procedural bias are the products of cumulative experiences across institutional sites and that it is critical we understand disabled childhoods more broadly if we are to return to more inclusive early childhood education and care.

The purpose of this article is to contribute new insights to critical disability and disabled children’s childhood studies that center on the valuing of disabled children’s lives—a guiding purpose in the disability justice movement. We use published findings from the Inclusive Early Childhood Service System project, a longitudinal, institutional ethnography of the ways that families and children are organized around categories of disability, which show social inclusions and exclusions before and during the pandemic. These findings illuminate: (a) institutional flexibility for the purpose of social inclusion and isolation during the pandemic as a result of institutional organization; (b) the impact of institutional decisions around closures, remote programs, and support on families’ choices and self‐determination; and (3) the ways safety is differently applied and rationalized for disabled children allowing institutions to exclude disabled children and families. We use critical disability studies and disabled children’s childhood studies to interpret these findings and position the valuing of disabled children’s lives with a call for disability justice actions.

This research explores the pedagogical practices employed by ballet instructors for engaging boys in ballet. It also examines inclusion practices for gender non-conforming children in ballet, using principles of inclusion to make recommendations for instructors to employ with all children. Four current ballet instructors shared their experiences in semi-structured interviews.An overarching finding involved the role of parents in engaging boys in ballet and in creating more inclusive practices. Findings indicate that parent education is needed for more boys to be presented with ballet as an option. With regard to teaching practices involving gender nonconforming children, participants noted the need for parents to support an inclusive environment, and be open to their child's gender expression in order for inclusive practices to be implemented. This paper presents recommendations for ballet instructors to create more welcoming environments for all students and suggestions for implementing gender-inclusive practices.

This research explores the pedagogical practices employed by ballet instructors for engaging boys in ballet. It also examines inclusion practices for gender non-conforming children in ballet, using principles of inclusion to make recommendations for instructors to employ with all children. Four current ballet instructors shared their experiences in semi-structured interviews. An overarching finding involved the role of parents in engaging boys in ballet and in creating more inclusive practices. Findings indicate that parent education is needed for more boys to be presented with ballet as an option. With regard to teaching practices involving gender non-conforming children, participants noted the need for parents to support an inclusive environment, and be open to their child’s gender expression in order for inclusive practices to be implemented. This paper presents recommendations for ballet instructors to create more welcoming environments for all students and suggestions for implementing gender-inclusive practices.