ABSTRACT
Early childhood institutions are socially constructed. They have no inherent features, no essential qualities, no necessary purposes. What they are for, the question of their role and purpose, is not self-evident. They are what we, ‘as a community of human agents’, make them. This chapter is an exploration of a few of the many different constructions of the early childhood institution; it is by no means exhaustive. These constructions are constituted by and in turn constitute constructions of the young child, linking to our discussion of early childhood in the previous chapter. They are also productive of pedagogical practice. What we think these institutions are determines what they do, what goes on within them. The chapter falls into two main parts. The first examines some constructions of the early childhood institution that are dominant in many parts of the Minority World today-the early childhood institution as producer of child outcomes or as a substitute home or as a business. In the second part we examine an alternative and less common construction of the early childhood institution-as a forum in civil society where children and adults engage in projects of social, cultural, political and economic significance.
