ABSTRACT
Early debates on early childhood education in the 1970s and 1980s focused on reconceptualizing curriculum theory, research, policy, curriculum, and pedagogical practices. The work of Beyer and Bloch illustrated the importance of teachers in the construction of theoretical knowledge. The ways in which diverse theories framed the relations between practice and theory, were critical to this process. Cannella; Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence; Ryan and Grieshaber; and MacNaughton directly focused on reconceptualizing pedagogical practices. In these ways, reconceptualist ideas appeared at first to be highly constrained by the immediate requirements perceived necessary for the setting. While reconceptualist ideas were visible in all of our thinking and some actions, certain things were done as required to serve children, families, and community members. Reconceptualizing ideas from the ground up are shifting ideas; reconceptualist theories in practice are opening up new spaces for discussions that once seemed impossible.
