ABSTRACT
This chapter provides both the contextual and conceptual background to the contemporary development of ECEC in England. Initially, it explores neoliberalism, in tandem with developmentalism and psychological models of childhood, which frame young children and education policy in particular ways. These legacies frame ECEC as a mechanism to ensure young children eventually become respectful, productive members of society. Next, it charts the development of the English ECEC sector, including funding, regulation, and curriculum. It highlights the Government framing of ‘childcare’ and the impact this has on children and teachers. The end of the chapter takes a reconceptualist perspective and details the other, more expansive views of young children. These are important as theory and practice that address diversity, and diverse conceptions of the child and childhood, are required to develop more holistic and capacious visions for young children. This section includes postmodern, post-structural, and posthuman conceptualisations of children, which complicate human, non-human, and multispecies kin relations and move beyond those offered by Western science. These reconceptualist perspectives are needed to respond to anti-Blackness and other marginalising tropes.
