In this time of rapid curriculum change within early childhood education, critical pedagogy is an ideal framework from which to view early childhood curriculum practice and research. It is the intention of this paper to provide a snapshot of the basic tenets of critical pedagogy and how these can be applied to early childhood curricular decision-making, particularly in relation to preschool education. This paper is conceptual in its make up and maintains that early childhood education benefits from being part of the inter-sectoral curricular discourse. Its aim is to familiarise early childhood educators and researchers with the language of critique offered by critical pedagogy and show how this can be a useful framework for thinking about early childhood curriculum.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllowayN. (1997). Early childhood education encounters the postmodern: What do we know? What do we count as ‘true’? Australian Journal of Early Childhood Education, 22(2), 1–5.
2.
AyersW. (1989). The good preschool teacher: Six teachers reflect on their lives. New York: Teachers College Press.
3.
BallS. (2000). Perfomativities and fabrications in the education economy: Towards the performative society. Australian Educational Researcher, 27(2), 1–24.
4.
BrookerL. (2002). Starting school: Young children learning cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press.
5.
CannellaG. S. (1997). Deconstructing early childhood education: Social justice and revolution.New York: Peter Lang.
6.
CannellaG. S. (2000). Colloquia: Critical and feminist reconstructions of early childhood education: Continuing the conversations. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education, 1(2), 215–221.
7.
CarrW., & KemmisS. (1986). Becoming critical: Education, knowledge and action research (rev. edn).Burwood, VIC: Deakin University.
8.
CranstonN. (1999). Re-engineering schools and re-inventing teaching. In MeadmoreD., BurnettB. & O'BrienP. (Eds.), Understanding education: Contexts and agendas for the new millennium (pp. 123–129). Sydney: Prentice Hall.
9.
DahlbergG., MossP., & PenceA. R. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Postmodern perspectives.London: Routledge Falmer.
10.
EdwardsR., & UsherR. (2000). Globalisation and pedagogy: Space, place and identity. London: Routledge.
11.
EllsworthE. (1989). Why doesn't this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 297–324.
12.
GirouxH. A. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals: Toward a critical pedagogy.Granby, MA: Bergin and Garvey.
13.
HatchA., BowmanB., Jor'danJ. R., MorganC. L., HartC., SotoL. D., LubeckS., & HysonM. (2002). Developmentally appropriate practice: Continuing the dialogue. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education, 3(3), 439–457.
14.
HyunE., & MarshallJ. D. (2003). Teachable-moment-orientated curriculum practice in early childhood education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(1), 111–127.
15.
JipsonJ. (2000). The stealing of wonderful ideas: The politics of imposition and representation in research on early childhood education. In SotoL. D. (Ed.), The politics of early childhood education (pp. 167–177). New York: Peter Lang.
16.
KanpolB. (1999). Critical pedagogy: An introduction (2nd edn). Westport, CO: Bergin and Garvey.
17.
KesslerS., & HauserM. (2000). Critical pedagogy and the politics of play. In SotoL. D. (Ed.), The politics of early childhood education (pp. 59–71). New York: Peter Lang.
18.
LabareeD. F. (2003). The peculiar problems of preparing educational researchers. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 13–22.
19.
LatherP. (1995). Post-critical pedagogies: A feminist reading. In McLarenP., (Ed.), Postmodernism, postcolonialism and pedagogy (pp. 167–186). Melbourne: James Nicholas.
20.
LatherP. (1998). Critical pedagogy and its complicities: A praxis of stuck places. Educational Theory, 48(4), 487–498.
21.
LingardB., LadwigJ. G., & LukeA. (1998). School effects in postmodern conditions. In SleeR., WeinerG. & TomlinsonS. (Eds.), School effectiveness for whom? Challenges to the school effectiveness and school improvement movements (pp. 84–100). London: Falmer.
MaloneyC., & BarblettL. (2002). Proving quality or improving quality: Who's minding the shop? Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 27(1), 14–23.
24.
McLarenP. (2003). Critical pedagogy: A look at the major concepts. In DarderA., BaltodanoM. & TorresR. (Eds.), The critical pedagogy reader (pp. 69–96). New York: Routledge Falmer.
25.
NovingerS., & O'BrienL. (2003). Beyond ‘Boring Meaningless Shit’ in the Academy: Early childhood teachers under the regulatory gaze. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education, 4(1), 3–31.
26.
SanguinettiJ. (2000). An adventure in ‘postmodern’ action research: Performitivity, professionalism and power. In GarrickJ., & RhodesC. (Eds), Research and knowledge at work: Perspectives, case-studies and innovative strategies (pp. 232–249). London: Routledge.
27.
SotoL. D. (2000). The politics of early childhood education.New York: Peter Lang.
28.
SotoL. D., & SwadenerB. B. (2002). Toward liberatory early childhood theory, research and praxis: Decolonializing a field. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education, 3(1), 38–66.
29.
WalkerK. (2004). For all our children: National preschool education inquiry report.Melbourne: Australian Education Union.
30.
WoodE., & BennettN. (2001). Early childhood teachers' theories of progression and continuity. International Journal of Early Years Education, 9(3), 229–243.
