Young learners often are enchanted with the world, fascinated by the ordinary, and absorbed in the present moment. We explore interconnected ideas about how young children's natural proclivity toward being curious and noticing differences among people should be harnessed toward socially just ends. We consider ways in which joyfulness in learning…

For the past decade, the number of homeless youth in the United States has drastically increased, with public schools now consistently serving over one million homeless students each year. Research spanning three decades has linked youth homelessness and poorer academic achievement. In addition to decreased academic achievement, homeless and…

An exploration of equity and power in infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) consultation and early childhood education (ECE) relationships requires the examination of diversity, anti-racist values, cross-disciplinary perspectives, and parallel process. Attaining the mission of the early childhood field to support the growth,…

Program leaders and supervisors have an ethical obligation to actively endeavor (a) to deepen their capacity to create safe and inclusive spaces for reflection and inquiry and (b) to intentionally acknowledge how topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion arise in themselves, their communities, their staff, their supervisees, and their clients.…

Jacques Rancière's sophisticated critique of critical theory is the first step in his call for a renewal of a theory of emancipation. In the first part of the article, the authors outline this critique. Rancière combines pedagogy, art and policy in his attempt to develop a new understanding of equality and emancipation. The authors try as…

Multiple scholars have argued that early childhood inclusive education research and practice has often retained racialized, ableist notions of normal development, which can undermine efforts to advance justice and contribute to biased educational processes and practices. Racism and ableism intersect through the positioning of young children of…

Research Findings: This study aims to validate the Parent Satisfaction with Education Experiences Scale (PSEE) and to explore parental satisfaction with early childhood education service in urban China. Altogether 27,515 Chinese parents who were randomly sampled from 12 cities of China completed the survey. First, the exploratory and confirmatory…

The mandated learning framework, "Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia" is part of a suite of reforms currently being undertaken in early childhood education in Australia. All educators working in direct contact with young children from birth to the age of five are required to use the…

Early childhood is a time of rapid brain development, physical growth, and learning--a sensitive period that lays the foundation for success well into adulthood. Racism threatens young children's health and well-being by shaping the institutions and public policies that determine children's opportunities now and into the future. The anti-racist…

In this article, we draw on DisCrit to critically analyze how a group of early childhood educators approached assistance with young children of color with disabilities in a Head Start inclusion classroom. Using examples from data collected over one school year, we demonstrate how child-centered assistance advances justice for young children of…

A policy problem is a discursive construction, and the way in which the problem is framed determines both the nature of the policy responses and the possibility of resolving it. In this paper, drawing on critical frame analysis, we examined three major equity policies in the Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. In mapping…

The Salamanca Statement on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994), an international declaration adopted by 92 governments, outlines a commitment to inclusive education as an educational imperative and as the most effective way to combat discrimination and build acceptance in communities. Booth, Ainscow, and Kingston (2004) developed the Index for…

Equity can be described as the elimination of privilege, oppression, disparities, and disadvantage that historically have excluded those belonging to particular groups. This is the first and overarching of several research policy briefs around issues of equity. When taken as a whole, these briefs will create a space and open a dialogue around the…

To address issues of equity with young children, early childhood educators must become interventionists. They must reconsider how they interact with children to identify the subtle ways that power structures classroom life and shapes children's identities. It is important to attend to the materials in the classroom to ensure that they are…

This article shares a story about an "activist" early childhood teacher encountering the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Specifically, it focuses on the overarching concepts of "belonging" and "becoming" through the EYLF's call for early childhood educators to engage with theory in their everyday practice. In…