Toward Liberatory Early Childhood Theory, Research and Praxis: Decolonizing a Field

Soto, Lourdes Diaz; Swadener, Beth Blue

doi:10.2304/ciec.2002.3.1.8

Cited by 56 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The difficulties experienced by both Nat and Sally in working with this difference is not surprising for, despite many calls from researchers working toward educational reform for more heterogeneous views of children than offered within a developmental framework, Western child development ideology has continued to maintain hegemony in most educational institutions. As Soto and Swadener (2002) assert, in the early childhood discourse of child development 'Issues of power, issues of language and culture are rarely discussed and when they are included, children and families are essentialised and categorised' (p. 56). As Nat and Sally discuss issues of culture, they struggle with difference in ways that assign some children to categories of deficit.…”

Section: Unbelievable Children and Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novice teachers' work: constructing ‘different’ children?

Krieg

2010

Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education

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Susan is a senior lecturer in the Flinders University School of Education. She has responsibility for the development and implementation of an innovative new early childhood (Birth -8) degree. Susan's research is concerned with teacher education, early childhood education curriculum and pedagogy, equity and social justice. Acknowledgements (Optional)1 Krieg, S., 2010. Novice teachers' work: constructing 'different' children. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38(1), 57-68. Paper reproduced here in accordance with the publishers' policies.

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Section: Unbelievable Children and Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novice teachers' work: constructing ‘different’ children?

Krieg

2010

Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education

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“…This democratic approach differed from more traditional classroom problem-solving strategies, as the sociodramatic sessions were meant to provide students with a space that aided them in exploring topics of their choice, not preconceived ideas presented by myself as the researcher or Mrs. Greene as the classroom teacher. This approach is quite unique to the atmosphere of standardsbased accountability that currently exists in many of today's classrooms and does not always consider or represent young children's needs, abilities, or interests (Aina 1998;Aronson 2004;Diaz Soto and Swadener 2002;Garcia 1999;Grumet 1988;Intrator 2005;Noddings 1984Noddings , 1995.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining External Influences in Young Children's Explorations Within Sociodrama

McLennan¹

2010

Youth Theatre Journal

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Sociodrama is a tool of dramatic exploration, which engages participants within an aesthetic, three-dimensional problem-solving process to examine, explore, and reflect upon issues of personal and collective importance. Using twelve sociodrama workshops, eleven students (six males and five females) from one senior kindergarten classroom were encouraged to create and reflect upon common social issues and concerns as a classroom community through warm-ups, sociodramatic activities, and oral group reflections. Using modified activities inspired by the works of both discovered that they held the power to modify their own responses and behaviors in specific social situations. Although sociodrama naturally exists as a spontaneous, realistic learning activity where participants have power and control over their experiences, it appeared in this study as though influences beyond the students' control including the school environment, the classroom teacher, and the students themselves may have influenced and limited the shape and scope of the dramatic explorations.Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world. (Shaull 2003, 34)

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“…These researchers argue that child development theory, with its focus on the individual 'ahistorical, asocial and apolitical child' (Grieshaber & Cannella, 2001, p. 12), has contributed to the construction of 'deficit' children. Soto & Swadener's (2002) research challenges the 'colonisation' of a 'single official early childhood pedagogy' and they argue that 'only when we work in solidarity and as allies with multiple voices will diverse children, families and communities experience social justice and equity ' (p. 58).…”

Section: An Early Childhood Knowledge Base: the Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Professional Knowledge That Counts in Australian Contemporary Early Childhood Teacher Education

Krieg

2010

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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Australia is typical of many western countries where the provision of quality early childhood services has become a government priority. The government initiatives in Australia include repeated demands for 'well-qualified' early childhood educators. As a result of these demands the preservice preparation of early childhood educators is under intense scrutiny. This scrutiny raises many questions regarding the knowledge base considered to be essential for early childhood educators and leads to further questions about who has the authority to produce this knowledge. This article explores these questions by firstly examining some of the ways Australian early childhood teacher education is situated within the current knowledge environment. This is followed by a discussion regarding the debates about what early childhood educators 'need to know'. The third section of the article traces some of the historical features of Australian early childhood teacher education, for the author argues that contemporary questions about 'which' knowledge is to be included in early childhood teacher education are best understood alongside their historical precedents. The article concludes by considering the implications of the debates for contemporary early childhood teacher education and suggests that a way forward involves reconsidering the traditional binary between theory and practical knowledge.

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Toward Liberatory Early Childhood Theory, Research and Praxis: Decolonizing a Field

Cited by 56 publications

References 53 publications

Novice teachers' work: constructing ‘different’ children?

Novice teachers' work: constructing ‘different’ children?

Examining External Influences in Young Children's Explorations Within Sociodrama

The Professional Knowledge That Counts in Australian Contemporary Early Childhood Teacher Education

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