Gender in Early Childhood Revisited

Abstract

The debates on children's socialisation and, recently, in this respect, on gender issues continues to flourish. The current vogue is to view feminist poststructural theory as a basis for framing gender equity programs in early childhood (MacNaughton, 1997, p.23). This paper proposes that the issues of gender equity are complex and cannot be addressed solely by taking a feminist poststructural approach or, for that matter, any one approach. What is important, this paper will argue, is the adoption of a view which embraces the wider issues surrounding gender and the formulation of an approach which recognises that the socialisation of both boys and girls needs more than an application of any one theory.