Early childhood education and care has been a political priority in England since 1997, when government finally turned its attention to this long-neglected area. Public funding has increased, policy initiatives have proliferated and at each general election political parties aim to outbid each other in their offer to families. Transforming Early Childhood in England: Towards a Democratic Education argues that, despite this attention, the system of early childhood services remains flawed and dysfunctional. National discourse is dominated by the cost and availability of childcare at the expense of holistic education, while a hotchpotch of fragmented provision staffed by a devalued workforce struggles with a culture of targets and measurement. With such deep-rooted problems, early childhood education and care in England is beyond minor improvements. In the context of austerity measures affecting many young families, transformative change is urgent.

Bringing together a collection of chapters from international experts in the field of early childhood education, Rethinking Play and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education seeks to explore how play in the Early Years is valued as a means of learning. The book discusses how play is presented, transformed by institutional and pedagogical discourses and ultimately experienced by children. Adopting cultural, conceptual and contextual approaches to play and pedagogy across its chapters, this book addresses contemporary emerging issues surrounding play and pedagogy including: the application of critical and socio-cultural analyses to play in early childhood renewed interest in the aesthetic, creative and affective dimensions of play in early childhood education competing discourses of ‘performativity’, market forces, social reconstruction and child-centredness children’s voice and participation within educational settings globalization, migration and cultural pluralism the role of digital technology in early childhood education diversity, identity and social justice within early childhood settings. With international appeal and relevance, this book will be of interest to students taking undergraduate, Masters and doctoral courses in early childhood education, childhood and education studies as well as academic teachers and researchers, policy-makers and international agencies working with young children.

Nurture, Care, Respect, and Trust is the first collection of interdisciplinary and logically interconnected papers from nationally and internationally acclaimed researchers in philosophy, psychology, history of education, teacher training, educational leaders and practitioners, child advocates, and educators who have been motivated by the philosophy and pedagogy of Dr. Janusz Korczak (1878-1942), a world famous moral exemplar and champion of children’s rights. The book provides answers to timely questions of how to respect children’s rights in K-12 schools, community centers, summer camps, and colleges; how to create an atmosphere of trust and safety, and provide social-emotional learning in the classroom; how to become a genuine child advocate; and how to support growing child agency. It also tells the story of Korczak, his life, and the lives of the children in his charge. Nurture, Care, Respect, and Trust details how Korczak’s legacy encourages and stimulates new projects and spreads around the world. The volume serves as a rich resource of practical materials for teachers and university instructors, introducing a number of innovative lesson plans, examples of students’ works, and school projects inspired by Korczak’s pedagogy.

Early childhood education and care is a major policy issue for national governments and international organisations. This book contests two stories, both infused by neoliberal thinking, that dominate early childhood policy making today - ‘the story of quality and high returns’ and ‘the story of markets’, stories that promise high returns on investment if only the right technologies are applied to children and the perfection of a system based on competition and individual choice. But there are alternative stories and this book tells one: a ‘story of democracy, experimentation and potentiality’ in which early childhood centres are public spaces and public resources, places where democracy and experimentation are fundamental values, community workshops for realising the potentiality of citizens. This story calls for transformative change but offers a real utopia, both viable and achievable. The book discusses some of the conditions needed for the story’s enactment and shows what it means in practice in a chapter about project work contributed by a Swedish preschool teacher. Critical but hopeful, this book is an important contribution to resisting the dictatorship of no alternative and renewing a democratic politics of early childhood education. It is essential reading for students and teachers, researchers and other academics, and for all other concerned citizens.

Learning by design guide.