Early childhood education has earned a prominent place on the political agendas of many countries throughout the world because it concerns one of the most important topics for people and societies—educating and caring for children and respecting their rights. Given the global attention and action related to early childhood policies and curricula, the time to explore the tensions, political agendas, and taken-for-granted notions about children, childhood, and learning is now.

This volume contains pan-Canadian research from scholars grounded in reconceptualist curriculum theorizing that draws from sociocultural, feminist, critical, postmodern, and decolonizing understandings about early childhood, education, and care. These reconceptualist perspectives exist to examine limits, problematics, and possibilities of ECE, and to provide counter narratives to dominant ECE discourse of developmentalism, economic investment, and the universal child.

Luigi Iannacci, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Education and Professional Learning at Trent University. He coordinates and teaches courses focused on language and literacy and special needs learners.

Luigi Iannacci's profile page

Pam Whitty, EdD, is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and the director of the UNB Early Childhood Centre.

Pam Whitty's profile page