ABSTRACT

This powerful edited collection disrupts the deficit-oriented discourses that currently frame the field of early childhood education (ECE) and illuminates avenues for critique and opportunities for change. Researchers from across the globe offer their insight and expertise in challenging the logic within ECE that often frames children and their families through gaps, risks, and deficits across such issues as poverty, language, developmental psychology, teaching, and learning. Chapters propose practical responses to these manufactured crises and advocate for democratic practices and policies that enable ECE programs to build on the wealth of cultural and personal knowledge children and families bring to the early learning process. Moving beyond a dependence on deficits, this book offers opportunities for scholars, researchers, and students to consider their practices in early education and develop their understanding of what it means to be an educator who seeks to support all children.

chapter 2|17 pages

Dismantling Racialized Discourses in Early Childhood Education and Care

A Revolution towards Reframing the Field

chapter 5|16 pages

A Capability-Oriented Lens

Reframing the Early Years Education of Children with Disabilities

chapter 6|20 pages

Fighting for the Unity of Care and Education in Early Childhood

Understanding and Disrupting Challenges to Professional Knowledge and Action

chapter 8|17 pages

Deconstructing Child Rights in Special Educational Needs

Representations of Deficit and Development in Educational Psychology