Editorial

The final edition for 2022 reflects the amazing range of topics that our journal has become renowned for. They all approach their research discussions with innovative ideas and methodologies that enable alternative and dynamic ways of viewing issues that give insights and ideas for action and reflection.

In the opening article entitled; Lines in the snow; minor paths in the search for early childhood education for planetary wellbeing, Myrstad, Hackett and Bartnæs interrogate what place means for early childhood education in times that are characterised by uncertainty and apprehension regarding the treatment of our environment. This article is based on a research project that was conducted in Norway; a country in which the children spend a great deal of time out in snowy environs and considers their movements in and through snow, and the lines or pathways, that they create. The authors suggest a shift away from the notion of humans controlling the environment for sustainability, to one in which bodies moving in snow reflect ways of learning which are more compatible with notions of sustainability.

The second article by Iorio, Hamm and Krechevsky, Going out and about: Activating children as citizens of the now, shares a project in which children are viewed as young citizens of the now who are engaging in meaningful relationships with country and community. They draw on the work of Harraway to incorporate innovative pedagogies so that children can create relationships with country that are characterised by co-construction of complex problems that adhere to an ethical consideration of caring for land. They include stories of participatory, collective research approaches that lead the community, with their teachers, to educate for sustainability.

In The red blanket: a dance of animacy, Christine MacCrea focuses her attention on bodies and the ways in which they these bodies matter in encounters. MacCrea attempts to change the discourse around play to ‘deploy’ the figure of the ‘post-human’ child to challenge existing conceptualisations, where outcomes are focussed on a child’s mastery – of self and of the world. Her reconceptualising of the term recognises the relational and impact of bodies on play and suggests that existing definitions of play cannot achieve this.

In Re-imagining society and childhood: An analysis of cultural politics of childhood in Turkey, Toran suggests that tokenistic support for the rights of young children have consequences. The article explores ethical considerations that act as a major focal point for the research as the authors grapple with the idea of who ‘fixes’ ethical dilemmas in research. The authors use a critical discourse analysis of Turkey’s 5 year development plan and strategic vision, to explain the ways in which the cultural politics of childhood work to produce future citizens and workers.

Gaches article entitled; Using critically reflexive ethics in practice to address boundaries in the ethics of children’s rights-based research inquires how, and who, can speak in children’s rights-based research. The example she presents and deconstructs will assist others who research in this critical area and encourages them to continually undertake critically reflexive ethics in their practice.

Edwards draws on her experiences in Tanzania in the paper entitled; Globalisation and Divergent Constructs of Childhood and Valuable Knowledge: Influences on Expectations for Young Children in Post-colonial Rural Southern Tanzania. She notes that childhood is a complex and socially constructed process made more complex by globalisation which has implications for the provision of education for children globally. The ethnographic study conducted in Tanzania ‘argues a way forward in the global dialogue regarding the construction of diverse childhoods through the education of young children to balance these influences’. Edwards critical analysis reveals that international donors and NGOs have a major impact and influence on the provision of education and often do not consider the importance of local conditions and view of parents and community members in the design of schooling. She argues that this is a critical omission which needs to be rectified.

In the final article Oliveria, Barbieri and Alex analyse children’s drawings created while they are in detention and separated from their parents on the US-Mexico border. The drawings offer reflections regarding the feelings and experiences of the children that are insightful in terms of their experiences and the authors suggest that they need to be considered and listened to while decisions are made about their status.