ABSTRACT
The implementation in 2009-10 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)
spearheaded the efforts of the Australian Commonwealth government to institute a national
curriculum. The theme of the new early childhood framework follows three guiding concepts:
Belonging, Being and Becoming. In this article, we discuss these three concepts in order to
provide a theoretical context to the Early Years Learning Framework and to enrich the
debate surrounding its writing and implementation. In particular, we address the significance
of posing Belonging in contiguity with the concepts of Being and Becoming. The authors
suggest a strategy to cultivate a deeper appreciation of the dialectical relationships between
sameness and difference, belonging and nothingness. Our premise is that ‘belonging’ refers
essentially to different beings, and implicitly to the prospect of a ‘together-ness’ or identity
according to which different beings are located, understood and associated, in order that
Becoming can take effect. We offer these commentaries as a means of deepening conversation
about the importance of scholarly approaches to philosophy for early childhood research, and
especially with respect to curriculum and pedagogy.
