Going Beyond the Theory/practice Divide in Early Childhood Education

"Doing Justice in Early Childhood Education" is based on innovative research in to new approaches to the education of early childhood teachers. The central theme is identifying the gaps needing to be bridged to achieve a more inclusive and 'just' early childhood education, in relation to class/socia [...]
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"Doing Justice in Early Childhood Education" is based on innovative research in to new approaches to the education of early childhood teachers. The central theme is identifying the gaps needing to be bridged to achieve a more inclusive and 'just' early childhood education, in relation to class/social position, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, disabilities and age. The book explores various ways of bridging these gaps. For example, mathematics is investigated using the body, dance and music to investigate mathematical relationships and problems; different forms of experience-based narrative writing are used to understand theories as well as documented practices in early childhood education; and, students and teachers use 'deconstructive talks' to make visible dominant discourses about childhood, learning and power production. In this reconceptualized teacher education, difference - in the understandings of individual students and in their multiple subjectivities as learners - is not something to be overcome. Instead it is actively made visible and used.This can be understood as an enforcement of 'justice' in education, and also challenges the dominant understanding of inclusion in educational contexts. This book is not just about theory. It is rooted in examples of the experiences, practices and words of student teachers and will be of great value to undergraduate and postgraduate students of early childhood education.