Seven Crucial Conversations in Early Childhood Education

Designed to spark an interchange of ideas, this book presents early childhood education as a nuanced, shifting, and complex field. Readers will bear witness to several decades of the lived experiences of influential leaders engaged in conversation about seven major topics: systems of early care and education, diversity and children’s rights, developmentally appropriate practice, perspectives on play, curriculum and pedagogy, the care of infants and toddlers, and families and family engagement. Each chapter is accompanied by a “Reflections” essay from one of the volume editors that includes important source material and theoretical and research perspectives. Readers are invited to reflect thoughtfully on each topic to construct their own understanding of where the field has been and why it matters. Contributors reveal how they have been shaped by societal values and events, as well as how they have helped to shape the field as we know it. These reflective dialogues help readers develop greater understanding of the past and its influence on the present, while preparing readers to make decisions throughout their careers about what matters and why it is important to young children and their families.

Book Features:

• Examines recent history in early childhood education via conversations that are forward-thinking and backward-reflecting.
• Illustrates how time and place have impacted ideology and practice in early childhood education in the United States.
• Offers new perspectives and creates new understandings through the experiences of well-known leaders in the field.
• Encourages readers to reflect on the past, present, and future of the field and reclaim its practice in an era that threatens standardization and technocracy.

Nancy File is a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Nancy E. Barbour is a professor emeritus at Kent State University. Andrew J. Stremmel is a professor emeritus at South Dakota State University.

“A perfect textbook for both undergraduate- and graduate-level ECE courses focused on the history of our field…. I found the book leaving me celebrating our successes with a renewed dedication to addressing our challenges in the years ahead.”
—From the Foreword by Diane M. Horm, director, Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI), GKFF Endowed Chair and professor of early childhood education, David L. Boren Professor, The University of Oklahoma–Tulsa

"I admire this collection and its vivid portrayal of collective experience. It has the potential to inform a better future. Thanks to all the contributors for creating an opening for dialogue."
—M. Elizabeth Graue, Sorenson Professor of Curriculum & Instruction and director of the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (CRECE), University of Wisconsin–Madison

Contents

Foreword Diane M. Horm  vii

Introduction  1
Nancy File, Nancy E. Barbour, and Andrew J. Stremmel

1.  Systems of Early Care and Education  5
W. Steven Barnett and Jacqueline Jones

Reflections on the Systems of Early Care and Education Conversation  25
Nancy E. Barbour

2.  Diversity, Equity, and Children’s Rights in Early Childhood Education  31
Gloria Swindler Boutte and Dina C. Castro

Reflections on the Diversity, Equity, and Children’s Rights in Early Childhood Education Conversation  43
Nancy File

3.  Developmentally Appropriate Practice: The Position Statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children  49
Sue Bredekamp and Marilou Hyson

Reflections on the Developmentally Appropriate Practice Position Statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conversation  69
Nancy E. Barbour

4.  The Place of Play in Early Childhood Education  75
Jaipaul L. Roopnarine and Jeffrey Trawick-Smith

Reflections on the Place of Play in Early Childhood Education Conversation  95
Nancy File

5.  Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education  101
J. Amos Hatch and Marjorie Kostelnik

Reflections on the Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education Conversation  121
Andrew J. Stremmel

6.  The Place of Infants and Toddlers in Early Childhood Education  127
Mary Benson McMullen and Susan L. Recchia

Reflections on the Place of Infants and Toddlers Conversation  145
Nancy File

7.  Families and Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education  151
Douglas R. Powell and Mari Riojas-Cortez

Reflections on the Families and Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education Conversation  169
Andrew J. Stremmel

8.  Closing Thoughts: Reflections and (Re)Claiming  173
Katherine K. Delaney

Afterword: A Final Word on Conversations  183
Andrew J. Stremmel

Index  185

About the Editors  193