Appeals to transformative education are so ubiquitous that if an educational advertisement claimed to only offer instruction, consumers might worry they were being shortchanged. However, the meaning of transformative education is often superficially understood, shifting between various conceptions, each bearing distinct ethical complications. The…

This paper takes a 'networking of theories' approach to understand the complexity of the phenomenon of agency. We examine an episode, where a kindergarten teacher and nine children work on an addition problem, from three different perspectives: Valsiner's zone theory; Radford's theory of objectification; and Pickering's dance of agency. Our…

This article offers a theoretical provocation through conceptualizing a pedagogy of care as a means of caring "with" students and each other to interrupt the dominance of developmentalism in Canadian post-secondary early childhood education programs. The authors' conceptualization of care-"full" as pedagogy is rooted in the…

This Perspectives article proposes a renewed vision of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) through a translanguaging (TL) stance, grounded in critical sociolinguistic inquiry and embodied practice. A TL theory of language asserts an activist agenda to dismantle mono/lingualism, inviting a more dynamic and expansive view of…

This article asks the question of what documentation is doing, rather than what documentation means in the context of early childhood education. By focusing on the documentation of a young child's playful exploration with water that inhabits a classroom wall, new materialist theories are put to work to ponder documentation's agentive capacities…

In recent times, education policy and reform discourses have become increasingly politicised by neo-liberalism, with critical policy methodologies struggling to catch up. Critical policy sociologists have noted that critical commentaries rarely succeed in changing or impacting dominant education policy pathways. This article presents a framework…

The construct of moral injury is usually utilized to understand cases in which individuals perform or witness actions they consider morally wrong. In this paper, we suggest the construct of "moral trap", which entails circumstances in which teachers face pressure to act but are unable to simultaneously meet the demands of care, justice,…

The landscape of how to best prepare minoritized young children for the uncertainties of an inequitable American society demands a change in the way we view the connection between early childhood educators' lived experiences and their pedagogy. Using the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory, Black feminist thought, and intersectionality,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explicate the links between public pedagogy, ethics of care and storying as a methodology and method in Oceania. Design/methodology/approach: This paper explores the role of extended families as First Teachers in iTaukei and Indo-Fijian Early Childhood contexts in Fiji. Using storying as methodology, the…

In its discussion of the three levels of teaching and learning -- whole school philosophy, classroom policy and specific teaching frameworks -- "Educating Young Children," originally published in 1992, addresses the twin themes of teacher ethics and pedagogic theory. In developing their argument the writers draw on both empirical…

Although social-emotional learning (SEL) and ethics education are important, it remains a challenging issue to effectively implement these practices. In this study, a Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood approach is proposed for developing children's social-emotional competence and Theory of Mind. To evaluate the effectiveness of this expanded…

During his long and distinguished career as scholar and teacher, Howard Gardner has made vast contributions to our understanding of learning and how to create environments that support growth in all learners across their lifespans. In this compelling collection of his writings, Gardner lays out his principal ideas about education. While known…

This study builds on another project focused on primary grade teachers' integration of technology (screencasting). Original findings showed that participating teachers changed their practices to better align with research-based practices in early mathematics teaching. Two years later, the authors returned to the district to work with teachers from…

Early childhood education settings can be understood as public forums where adults and children engage together in the implementation of national policy. The authors reflect on ethical dilemmas for leaders in early childhood education arising from the implementation of national policy. Dilemmas can be problematic in the sense that they are…

Indigenous perspectives and knowledges have been rendered "difficult" to teach and learn due to settler-colonial norms that are naturalized in Ontario's public K-12 education system. We explore how we as educators and teachers with diverse populations of students critically engage pedagogy and knowledge to take up Indigenous perspectives…