Debates on Early Childhood Policies and Practices Global snapshots of pedagogical thinking and encounters

Globally, Early Years policies and documents have set out aspirational outcomes and benefits for children, their families and the wider society. These policies have emphasised the place of early childhood provision within the wider global agenda, by tackling inequality and disadvantage early on in children?s lives. However, these strategies have also raised further debates regarding the way they have informed and shaped curricula frameworks and pedagogical approaches.

The international team of contributors to this book argue that if these issues are not explicitly acknowledged, understood, critiqued and negotiated, emerging policies and documents may potentially lead to disadvantaging, marginalising and even pathologising certain childhoods.

Divided into two parts, the volume demonstrates the dialectic nature of both policy and practice. The chapters in this wide-ranging text:

• explore and articulate the philosophical premises and values that underpin current early childhood policy, curricula and pedagogies
• explicitly acknowledge and articulate some of potential conflicts and challenges they present
• provide examples of divergent and creative pedagogical thinking
• highlight opportunities for enabling pedagogical cultures and encounters.

Debates on Early Childhood Policies and Practices is aimed at a wide readership including academics and researchers in early years education, policy makers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, practitioners and early childhood professionals.

Abbreviations Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Prologue Introduction: Early childhood policies and practices PART I: Early childhood policies: Implications for provision and practice Chapter 01 Balancing traditions and transitions: Early childhood policy initiatives and issues in Germany Chapter 02 Piracy in Policy: Children influencing early childhood curriculum in Norway Chapter 03 Pre-school education in Bulgaria: Achievements and challenges Chapter 04 Early childhood care and education in Uzbekistan Chapter 05 Emerging models for early childhood development from birth to four in South Africa Chapter 06 Early childhood education in the Philippines: Administration and teaching practices Percyveranda Chapter 07 Early childhood curriculum, policy and pedagogy: The Nigerian Perspective Chapter 08 A pedagogy for educating ‘new professionals’ Chapter 09 Ireland: The early childhood pedagogical dilemma PART II: Early childhood practice: Enabling pedagogical cultures and encounters Chapter 10 The Japanese and Western view of nature: Beyond cultural incommensurability Chapter 11 Integrating dance and visual arts in Taiwanese early childhood education Chapter 12 Working theories and learning dispositions in early childhood education: Perspectives from New Zealand Chapter 13 The integration of young children with special needs in mainstream nursery schools Chapter 14 Promoting emotional well-being or mental health? What’s the difference? Chapter 15 Engaging "hard-to-reach" families: A view from the literature Chapter 16 A relational pedagogy in community-based early childhood development Chapter 17 Architexture: reading the Early Years environment EpilogueAuthor index Subject index

Theodora Papatheodorou, PhD and MBPsS, is an early childhood educator and researcher.