Challenging Democracy in Early Childhood Education: Engagement in Changing Global Contexts

Description

This book explores how concepts and values of contemporary democracy are variously understood and applied in diverse cultural contexts, with a focus on children and childhood and diversity. Drawing on a range of methodological approaches relevant to early childhood education, it discusses young children's engagement and voice. The book identifies existing practices, strengths, theories and considerations in democracy in early childhood education and childhood, highlighting the democratic participation of children in cultural contexts. Further, it illustrates how democracy can be evident in early childhood practices and interactions across a range of curriculum contexts and perspectives, and considers ways of advancing and sustaining practices with positive transformational opportunities to benefit children and wider ecological systems. It offers readers insights into what democracy and citizenship look like in lived experience, and the issues affecting practice and encouraging reflection and advocacy. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxi Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction: Content and Context (Valerie Margrain, Annica Löfdahl Hultman)....Pages 3-12 The Preschool as an Arena for Democratic Education: A Framework for Teacher Roles and Child Outcomes (Solveig Hägglund, Annica Löfdahl Hultman, Nina Thelander)....Pages 13-24 Front Matter ....Pages 25-25 Ethical Issues in Child Research: Caution of Ethical Drift (Ann-Britt Enochsson, Annica Löfdahl Hultman)....Pages 27-39 Talent Development in Preschool Curriculum and Policies: Implicit Recognition of Young Gifted Children (Valerie Margrain, Johanna Lundqvist)....Pages 41-55 Parental Decision-Making About School Start Age in Australia: Democratic for Whom? (Kirsten MacKinnon)....Pages 57-74 Democracy and Multilingualism in South African Primary Education: Implications for Early Literacy Development (Vuyokazi Nomlomo)....Pages 75-89 Engagement of Children of Finnish Descent in Bilingual Communicative Events in Swedish Preschool Contexts (Ellinor Skaremyr)....Pages 91-106 Front Matter ....Pages 107-107 Banning the “Incompetent Child” in Pedagogical Documentation and Discourse (Åsa Olsson)....Pages 109-122 Parent-Teacher-Child Communication and Advocacy: A Community Intervention (Snezhana Radeva, Iliana Mirtschewa, Deyan Velkovski)....Pages 123-140 Time to Tell More Stories: Children, Democracy and Education in Movement (Kristin Ungerberg)....Pages 141-151 Establishing a Learner Identity: Young Digital Citizens and the Pursuit of a Democratic and Empowering Early Childhood Education (Simon Archard, Sara Archard)....Pages 153-165 Democratic Discourses in Higher Education: Australian Preservice Student Teacher Perceptions of Quality Early Childhood Education (Anna Popova, Valerie Margrain)....Pages 167-179 Front Matter ....Pages 181-181 Narratives of Belonging: Migrant Children’s Friendship Negotiation (Birgitta Ljung Egeland)....Pages 183-196 Inclusive Practices for All: Child Perspectives (Janice Myck-Wayne, Melinda R. Pierson)....Pages 197-211 Toddlers Enacting Democracy Through Communication in Preschool (Ebba Hildén)....Pages 213-231 Preschool Children as Democratic Subjects: Agents of Democracy (Katarina Ribaeus, Lovisa Skånfors)....Pages 233-245 Preschool Children’s Resilience: An Ecological Perspective in a Taiwanese Context (Kuan-Ling Lin, Donna Pendergast)....Pages 247-261 Front Matter ....Pages 263-263 Challenging the Challenges: Democratic Spaces and Opportunities in ECE (Annica Löfdahl Hultman, Valerie Margrain)....Pages 265-274