ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author starts by unpicking some of the ideas underpinning the stated aim of the Contesting Early Childhood series. This ground breaking new series questions the current dominant discourses surrounding early childhood and offers instead alternative narratives of an area that is now made up of a multitude of perspectives and debates. The stated aim of the contesting early childhood series connects three important ideas: the importance of narratives or stories; the power of certain narratives – or dominant discourses; and the existence of other narratives, alternatives that resist or contest dominant discourses. The author talks a lot about 'dominant discourses' and offers an example of 'The Emperor's New Clothes', though one that has nothing to do with early childhood education. He refers earlier to a 'resistance movement', a global community of people who do question and contest the dominant discourses in early childhood education and offer a rich array of alternative perspectives and narratives.