Diversity can be a rich source of possibility and opportunity in early childhood education. Appreciating that learning and development are shaped by culture and context, history and values, the diversity of cases found in this volume provide a useful tension in considering one’s own practices, policies and beliefs.
Pedagogies for Diverse Contexts draws on the knowledge and professional experiences of actors from a wide range of countries and cultures. For some, early childhood’s dominant narratives have been influential, while others push back against universalistic orientations and the power of a neoliberal hegemonic agenda. Written to provoke, to stimulate and to extend thinking, these chapters provide insights and examples relevant not only for front-line practice and programme development, but for education, assessment, research and policy development.
The twelve chapters are divided into four key sections which reflect major influences on practice and pedagogy:
- Being alongside children
- Those who educate
- Embedding families and communities
- Working with systems
Considering varied international practices, this key text will enhance understanding, support self-directed learning, and provoke thinking at both graduate and postgraduate levels, particularly in the field of early childhood education and care.
About the Editors and Contributors
Preface: Learning through many voices, Michael Reed and Alma Fleet
Introduction: Wondering and Wandering, Alan Pence and Janet Harvell
Section 1: Being Alongside Children
Chapter 1: Precocious children: Cultural priming by parents and others, Robert LeVine and Sarah LeVine
Chapter 2: Jenaplan and pedagogical tact: an alternative approach to engaging children, Jeannette Broer
Chapter 3: ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’ - A reflection on inclusive practice when working alongside visually impaired children, Leighton Reed.
Editorial provocations: Engaging readers and extending thinking, Janet Harvell and Alan Pence
Section 2: Those Who Educate
Chapter 4: Te Wai a Rona: The well-spring that never dries up: Whānau pedagogies and curriculum, Mere Skerrett and Jenny Ritchie
Chapter 5: It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day … developing an Early Years workforce for a 21st century China, Janet Harvell and Lixin Ren.
Chapter 6: ‘We’re still being dragged to be white’: Learning from Yolŋu ‘growing up’ their children in two worlds, Lyn Fasoli, Läwurrpa Maypilama, Anne Lowell, Yalŋarra Guyula, Rosemary Gundjarranbuy, Megan Yunupiŋu & Rebekah Farmer
Editorial provocations: Engaging readers and extending thinking, Alan Pence and Janet Harvell
Section 3: Embedding Families and Communities
Chapter 7: Indigenous Children in the Context of Family and Nationhood, Margo Greenwood, Roseann Larstone and Nicole Lyndsay.
Chapter 8: Cultural practices in child rearing in Tanzania and their potential in supporting responsive caregiving to young children, Josephine Pascal Ferla.
Chapter 9: The impact of policy, culture and family on early education provision in Sri Lanka: challenges and opportunities, Shanthi Wijesinghe.
Editorial provocations: Engaging readers and extending thinking, Janet Harvell and Alan Pence
Section 4: Working with Systems
Chapter 10: Systemic challenges for integration of ECDCE programmes with African cultures of early childhood socialization, Robert Serpell and Reuben Mashebe Mukela.
Chapter 11: Viewing the child holistically: The Experience of the National Policy for Early Childhood Development in Colombia, Constanza Liliana Alarcon Parraga, Adrianna Castro and Andrés Motta.
Chapter 12: Working from within to help educational systems evolve: An experience with Indigenous Education in Mexico, Robert G. Myers and Jose Francisco Martinez.
Editorial provocations: Engaging readers and extending thinking, Alan Pence and Janet Harvell.
Coda: Thinking Forward – Diversity and Context, Michael Reed and Alma Fleet
Biography
Alan Pence is UNESCO Co-Chair for Early Childhood Education, Care and Development (ECD) and Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria, Canada.
Janet Harvell is Course Leader of the Foundation Degree in Early Years and Senior Lecturer at the Department for Children and Families, School of Education, University of Worcester, UK
