Journal of Childhood, Education & Society (JCES)
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162 research outputs found
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Organizing digital competence development in preschools: Professionals’ insights from three Swedish municipalities
Full text linkThis article contributes to the understanding of how digital competence development (DCD) for preschool educators is organized across three Swedish municipalities, focusing on communal preschools and drawing on participants’ experiences. With a case study approach, the research addresses the growing need for DCD to integrate digital technology into pedagogy in preschool. Continuing professional development like this can be initiated and shaped through various methods, including formal education, courses, and programs. Another often more efficient approach is to support and enhance continuous, day-to-day learning in the workplace. However, in-depth research on such workplace learning and practice is lacking despite ongoing debates on digital tool use in early childhood education. Fifteen interviews with operational developers, development leaders, principals, and information and communication technology (ICT) educators serve as the basis for this study. Billet\u27s theories on workplace learning frame the analysis, studying the organizing of DCD through the interdependence between possible learning opportunities (affordances) and the influences it has on individuals’ agency (engagement) within the cases. Findings highlight that ICT educators played a pivotal role in coaching and shaping professional development, suggesting that the learning opportunities available to staff were significantly influenced by the motivation and engagement of self-driven individuals, along with principal prioritization and municipal vision. This study also shows the availability of DCD through collegial cooperation, dedicated support groups and networks. The study underscores the importance of workplace learning for enhancing preschool educators\u27 digital competence and proposes practical strategies to facilitate staff support
The difference childhood makes: Uniqueness, accommodation, and the ethics of otherness
Full text linkThis article examines how the concept of childhood shapes understandings of social difference in education, with a focus on the intersections of ability, disability, and pedagogy. Through an exploration of childhood objects, teacher candidates\u27 reflections revealed three recurring ways to approach difference: as an expression of individual uniqueness, as requiring accommodation, and as an irreconcilable disruption. We draw on Lauren Berlant to show how narratives of uniqueness and accommodation tended to reaffirm the ‘cruel optimism’ of normative developmental frameworks and ideals of assimilation. We further show how moments of disruptive difference unsettled and inconvenienced these paradigms, creating openings to reflect on educators’ own ways of embodying alterity to create a space for criticality. By centering the ethical possibilities inherent in disruptive differences, this work invites educators to imagine education not as a site of management or resolution, but as a space of relational interdependence, where coexistence depends on valuing the inconvenience of difference. Our findings call for a reimagining of pedagogy as an ethical encounter that embraces the complexity of living with and through difference
Fostering inclusive learning through bilingual drama-based storytime and UDL for young emergent multilinguals with disabilities
Full text linkThis study explores how drama-based storytime lesson activities in two dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) developmental preschool classrooms serving emergent multilinguals with disabilities (EMwDs) align with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Traditional, one-size-fits-all educational practices often create barriers for diverse learners, including young EMwDs, by designing lessons for an “average” student. Drama-Based Pedagogy (DBP), which integrates drama strategies into academic instruction, has been shown to support young children’s language, literacy, and socioemotional development, particularly in early childhood settings. Similarly, UDL focuses on removing barriers to learning by designing instruction that accounts for learner variability through three key principles: representation, engagement, and action and expression. We argue that DBP and UDL offer complementary approaches that embrace learner diversity and promote inclusive, responsive, and accessible learning environments. This study was conducted as part of a larger professional development program designed to prepare early childhood teachers to integrate drama strategies into literacy instruction in DLBE classrooms. We analyzed drama-based storytime activities led by a drama teaching artist and a preschool educator in morning and afternoon developmental preschool DLBE classrooms, serving ten EMwDs. Using Vosaic software, we deductively analyzed 18 videotaped drama lessons. Findings revealed that drama-based storytime lessons align with UDL’s principles of representation, engagement, and action and expression, while also creating unique opportunities for EMwDs to have their abilities recognized and to actively participate through multiple modalities in English and Spanish storytime lessons
South Korean early childhood educators’ perceptions of North Korean defectors and unification education
Full text linkThis study investigates South Korean early childhood educators’ perceptions of North Korean defectors, their national identity, reunification, and unification education (UE) to provide some suggestions for an effective integrated education between the children of the two Koreas and related teacher education. Fourteen educators participated in this research in which qualitative semi-structured interviews were employed. Key findings included that most educators regarded North Koreans as the ‘Same Korean race’, with the exception of young educators in their 20s, whose view was that North Koreans are not a member of the Korean people. In addition, the participants felt there were ideological, cultural, language, and economic differences between them and North Korean defectors and their children. Some participants argued that UE for young children is not inherently ineffective due to a lack of understanding of the concept of unification. Alternately, some educators addressed North and South Korean UE through multicultural educational approaches. Recommendations are made for the application of UE via multicultural education approaches at government level, in the class and teacher training
Understanding and implementing play as a learning pedagogy: Narratives of practitioners in early childhood mobile units
Full text linkThis research examined practitioners\u27 narratives on understanding play as a learning pedagogy in early childhood mobile units. The national curriculum framework encourages practitioners and teachers in early childhood settings to employ a variety of play pedagogies to stimulate young learners to develop core skills in early childhood learning environments. Underpinned by Vygotsky\u27s sociocultural theory, the article draws from the zone of proximal development and social interaction as significant theoretical concepts to examine practitioners’ understanding of play as a learning pedagogy in early childhood mobile units. A phenomenological within the qualitative research domain was utilised to gather in-depth data on the topic under investigation. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with twenty practitioners purposively selected to provide their narratives on understanding play as a learning pedagogy in early childhood mobile units. The Atlas.ti software was used to analyse the collected data using a narrative strategy. The findings revealed that the practitioners maintained a high standard of service delivery within the mobile Early Childhood Care and Education unit contexts, which was transformative, high-quality and play-based. This paper contributes to the existing knowledge of delivering high-quality play-based learning pedagogy in early childhood settings
Racism is old-fashioned, antiracism is modern: An error occurred while checking for an antiracism system update!
Full text linkThis small-scale phenomenological study investigates the paradoxes inherent in anti-racism work within UK schools, Early Years, and Childhood settings, especially following the global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Applying a Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies lens, the study explores the experiences of Anti-Racist School Award leaders navigating significant challenges in predominantly white staff environments across England. Data were comprehensively gathered through an anonymous online survey (n=25), in-depth interviews (n=12), written reflections on interview transcripts (n=5), and a focus group examining key emerging themes (n=6). Findings highlight how racism is often perceived as an old-fashioned phenomenon external to contemporary schooling, while anti-racism is framed as a progressive, modern endeavour. This temporal framing, coupled with persistent white ignorance and institutional inertia, hinders deep structural change and reinforces whiteness as the default operating system within education. Critiquing the limitations of performative anti-racism, the article calls for a more sustained, systemic approach to dismantling racial inequities. It advocates for mandatory racial literacy training for all staff, embedding anti-racist frameworks into curriculum development and leadership structures, and establishing accountability measures to assess long-term progress beyond mere recognition or awards. Without such fundamental shifts, anti-racism risks becoming an uninstalled ‘system update’, leaving the structures of racial injustice intact
A critical reflexión to (re)open the pedagogy about race and racism with toddlers during neighborhood walks
Full text linkAnti-racist education in early childhood education centers the voices, experiences, and knowledge of people of color, fostering both positive racial identity development and critical awareness of racial issues. However, the practical implementation of anti-racist education—particularly in classrooms with very young children—remains underexplored. In response, this reflexive essay revisits two vignettes from neighborhood walks with older toddlers (ages 29–35 months) in a gentrifying community of color to examine the potential of integrating a place-based approach into anti-racist pedagogy. Grounded in the conceptual framework of haunting, this study highlights the silenced yet ever-present histories that emerge through young children\u27s everyday interactions with their surroundings. By critically reflecting on these moments, the paper bridges the gap between theory and practice in anti-racist pedagogy, and advocates for practical, embodied teaching strategies that make space for race-conscious conversations in early learning environments. Ultimately, this essay offers a way to reimagine anti-racist pedagogy in early childhood education, with particular attention to the unique needs and capacities of toddlers
Exploring Hong Kong student teachers’ perspectives on children’s play and learning
Full text linkThe concepts of learning through play and a play-based curriculum have gained widespread recognition and popularity in the 21st century. However, in Hong Kong (HK), parents, teachers, and other stakeholders still exhibit limited confidence and capacity in applying these notions to the field of early childhood education (ECE). Moreover, how ECE student teachers perceive and understand these concepts remains largely unknown. To address these issues, this research adopted the ecological system theory as a theoretical framework to 1) investigate HK ECE student teachers’ views on implementing a play-based curriculum and 2) understand the associated difficulties they encounter in the HK context. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, including a Play Belief Survey and a qualitative focus group interview. In total, 200 survey responses and 100 minutes of interview data were collected from a group of ECE student teachers from teacher education institutes in HK. The findings revealed a salient contradiction and concern among student teachers, who expressed positive beliefs about a play-based curriculum yet faced insufficient support in terms of its practical implementation in local ECE settings. This finding underscores the need to closely scrutinise a play-based curriculum in terms of the uniqueness of the HK ECE context. In addition, the implications of this research for the wider Asia-Pacific region are discussed
Understanding the literature in the United Kingdom on racially minoritised young children, families, and practitioners in early childhood education and care
Full text linkThere is a plethora of research evidence that good ECEC is critical for young children to thrive and to have positive long-term outcomes. This is of particular importance for young children in the UK from racially minoritised communities who tend to have poorer educational outcomes with disadvantage magnified into adulthood. Against this backdrop, we wanted to develop a better understanding of the amount of UK academic literature that focussed on racially minoritised young children, their families, and practitioners. To do this we undertook a PRISMA scoping review to develop a systematic list of articles, books, and reports published up to 1.11.2024 on the following databases - JSTOR, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. Using key search terms we sourced 1,387 items. The first review reduced this to 55 items and further investigations resulted in exclusion of those items that did not meet our key search terms; this left 24 books, articles, and reports. These were categorised thematically as: anti racist practice, children’s experience, culture, de/colonial play, Fundamental British Values, identity, inclusion, inequality, racism, and workforce. We took a storytelling approach to tell four stories: racism and inequality, policy and practice, children’s experiences and children’s rights. Our analysis and discussion employed Critical Race Theory to understand how racism impacted the research in the articles, and what the literature reveals about ECEC pedagogy and practice. We make suggestions for future researchers, providing encouragement to expand the canon of literature and develop research and outputs that addresses, dismantles, and challenges systemic racism in ECEC
Multiculturalism and diversity are not synonymous with anti-racist education
Full text linkAcross the Australian early childhood landscape there is a tendency for educators to veil discussions about race through the lenses of diversity and multiculturalism, falling short of addressing pervasive racism. Consequently, a more focused anti-racist education model is needed given the rise of racism and ‘othering’. Within the context of this research, teaching practices utilized by participants drew primarily on discourses of multiculturalism, premised on the shared understanding that it was important to teach about differences through similarities. Participants also identified that policy documents and professional development opportunities reinforced approaches to diversity and multiculturalism that emphasized inclusion, tolerance and acceptance, rather than addressing and disrupting discourses of race and racism. Three core tenets of Critical Race Theory illuminate how an over-reliance on discourses of multiculturalism amplifies the challenges of creating and delivering curricula that explicitly name and recognize race; a prerequisite for engaging with anti-racist endeavours. Moreover, discourses of multiculturalism are synonymous with discourses of colour-blindness, which is problematic because both engender an ‘us’ and them ‘binary’. Underpinned by Eurocentric ideologies, this binary normalizes the fabrication of a colonized racialized ‘other’. Accordingly, this paper argues that in order to reimagine and realize anti-racist pedagogy in early years education we must first recognize, disrupt and decolonize how the power inherent within Eurocentric discourses operates to silence and oppress those who are perceived as the colonized, racialized ‘other’. Only then can we critically examine diversity and discourses of multiculturalism in ways that genuinely generate and sustain opportunities and spaces for anti-racist teaching and learning