Change and Criticism: Thinking Critically in Early Childhood Collaboration

Abstract

In early childhood, as in many fields confronted by criticism and change, adopting a critical stance has often been and continues to be difficult, uncomfortable, and poorly practised. Aspects of the current context of early childhood are creating a strong imperative to adopt a more critical perspective on policy and practice. This paper asserts that the strong tradition of collaboration in early childhood provides a foundation on which to build in adopting critical stances to researching our own practice, both informal and informal circumstances. Critical collaborative relationships provide supportive and potentially productive sites for the examination of the structures and assumptions that underpin practices. Adopting a critical stance to our collaborative endeavours has the potential to help the field to resist the temptations, overcome the challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities presented by change.