In this conceptual article, I argue that there is a difference between codified ethics and the ethical. I begin by situating code of ethics in the broader professionalization movement in early childhood education. Drawing upon Gunilla Dahlberg and Peter Moss (2005), I discuss the dematerialization of early childhood educators (ECEs) and the…

The complex and fluid nature of knowledge is a key dimension of the early childhood curriculum and of early childhood teaching and learning. Such complexity adds to the already complex and dynamic work of an early childhood teacher. With a dynamic view of knowledge in mind, this article reports on research with a team of early childhood teachers…

Research about transitions in early childhood education has had an upsurge especially in the last 15 years. Much attention has been directed to what constitutes and builds up positive transitions. Although, as learning is one of the main tasks in educational settings, there is a need for more explicit research discussions in the transition…

This research explores how the material environment in kindergarten frames social practices and everyday life and how change may affect pedagogy. Data were drawn from an ethnographic study conducted in a large, newly established kindergarten in Norway. The analyses focus on one conversation between two educators and the head of the kindergarten.…

This paper shares reflections and stories from a collaborative design process between the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab and a global network of community-based educators to develop a creative coding app called OctoStudio, which supports children and families to create and share interactive projects on mobile devices. The app…

Drawing from transnational feminism, we describe the interplay of multiple identities influencing teaching and research. By exploring our stories of border crossing as first/second-generation immigrant women, we highlight the importance of building communities of care in collaborative relationships. We explore the reciprocal relationship between…

This article explores how pedagogical documentation, as the refusal of method, can be aligned with post qualitative inquiry, opening up possibilities for refuting dogmas and methods in early childhood pedagogy, theory, practice, and research. It delineates understandings of pedagogical documentation in the educational project of Reggio Emilia, and…

Early childhood education (ECE) in Ghana has grown from a traditional approach to a more formalised and modernised system of care and education services for young children. As a valued practice, ECE reflects a distributive, regulatory or redistributive policy. The paper analyses Ghana's ECE policy implementation using McDonnell and Elmore's…

In the United States, 48 states have recognized the educational importance of the early years by awarding stand-alone early childhood education (ECE) licenses that require specialized training in teaching young children. Yet, at the same time, teachers with elementary education (ELED) licenses are allowed to teach kindergarten in 34 states and 1st…

This article is based on data generated in an ethnographic study of gender in a Swedish preschool. Drawing on Judith Butler's understanding of performativity and (un)doing of gender, a new theoretical concept, "situated decoding of gender," is further developed by showing how the material and spatial dimension of the educational practice…

The early years are times of wonder for children. Curious about everything, they seek to explore and understand their world. During these early years, they attempt to interpret their world and make meaning through pretend play, drawing, and conversations with those closest to them. Although these first steps toward literacy may not look much like…

Care is traditionally researched in ECEC as a dyadic, human phenomenon that relies heavily of tropes of females as care providers. The assumption that care is produced in dyadic relationships occludes material care practices that occur beyond the dyad. Drawing on Bernice Fisher and Joan Tronto's care ethics and Karen Barad's focus on the agency of…

Child development ideologies have long informed early childhood education, shaping teachers' perceptions of children and their classroom practices through teacher education programs and education policies. Following the rise of post-developmental perspectives in the early childhood literature, the author uses a critical feminist lens to examine…

Caring occupies a contested space in early childhood teaching. Caring is valued as crucial to children's physical and emotional wellbeing but, at the same time, it is undervalued as separate from education and more difficult to measure. This article argues for reconceptualising care as complex, dynamic, problematic, political, and assembled in…

The relevance of men in the lives of children is nowadays widely accepted. This overview paper discusses the links between debates on father involvement in the family and strategies for more male professionals in ECEC by focusing on what role male EC workers can have for the involvement of fathers in the work of ECEC centres and pre-schools. Based…