ABSTRACT
This chapter indicates that that the research based on pedagogical sciences in early childhood education is an important source of information for understanding and improving the quality and outcomes of children’s experiences in early care and education settings. It contends that the study of pedagogy is a science in its own right that must be attended to if the field is to move forward. The earliest studies of teacher cognition in early childhood education tended to focus on studies of teachers’ beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices; in part because the first published guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice were released in 1987 in an effort to challenge perceived academic pushdown. Over the past two decades a scholarly movement has challenged the developmental knowledge base underpinning teaching practices in early childhood education. A large amount of this critical research on teaching examines the ways gender discourses are taken up and spoken into action.
