Recent years have seen international and national policy intensification in early childhood education (ECE). This has manifested in multiple ways, including the design and implementation of increasingly prescriptive curricular policies. Against this backdrop some early educators are pushing back. Drawing on work from their recent enquiries and doctoral studies, the authors surface less visible pockets of resistance, highlighting actions taken 'under the radar' to respond to such policy demands. Taking the form of a dialogue between two ECE researchers, this paper explores the actions of a number of educators who found subversive ways which circumvent, mediate and disrupt demands upon them. These multiple, 'below the surface' subversions and resistances illustrate ethical pedagogical decision-making in action.