Contemporary Issues in
Early Childhood

ISSN 1463-9491

Volume 5 Number 1 2004

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

Editorial, pages 1‑2
CALL FOR PAPERS. Special CIEC Issue: Challenging Heteronormativity in Early Childhood Education, page 3
Rachel Theilheimer & Betsy Cahill. ‘This Is Your Class’: theorizing what syllabi say about relationships between instructors and students in early childhood teacher education classrooms, pages 4‑18
Amy Suzanne Johnson. Recruiting and Recognizing Multiple Socially Situated Identities: consonance and contradiction in the pedagogy of a male pre-service early educator, pages 19‑34
Eric J. Erwin & Heather A. DeLair. Patterns of Resistance and Support among Play-based Teachers in Public Schools, pages 35‑50
Kym Macfarlane & Trish Lewis. Childcare – Human Services or Education: a genealogical approach, pages 51‑67
Rhonda Clements. An Investigation of the Status of Outdoor Play, pages 68‑80
Aslaug Andreassen Becher. Research Reconsiderations Concerning Cultural Differences, pages 81‑94

COLLOQUIA
Kenneth Siu Woo Lee, Anna Yeung On Na & Wong Shuk Yee. Hong Kong Pre-primary Education in Transition: ‘Consultation Document of the Working Party on Harmonisation of Pre-primary Services’, pages 95‑105
Katrina Weier. Empowering Young Children in Art Museums: letting them take the lead, pages 106‑116

BOOK REVIEWS VIEW FULL TEXT
Exploring Twins: towards a social analysis of twinship (Elizabeth A. Stewart) reviewed by Karen Thorpe & Susan Danby, pages 117‑118
Contemporary Issues in the Early Years: working collaboratively for children (Gillian Pugh, Ed.) reviewed by Jillian Rodd, pages 119‑120
Challenging Behavior in Young Children: understanding, preventing, and responding effectively (Barbara Kaiser & Judy Sklar Rasminsky) reviewed by Sue Walker, pages 120‑123
Forthcoming conferences, page 124

Editorial

It is hard to believe that we are entering the fifth year of publication of Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. Life has changed so much during this period and the field is burgeoning with new ideas in response to the challenges of living in a new century. With this comes the realisation that life is more complex and new ways of thinking are needed to deal both with issues that have always been prevalent and others we have long been in denial about or previously placed in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Additionally, during this time there has been a growing realisation by governments and others that the early years are an important investment for the future. Along with this there has fortunately been an increasing amount of quality research in the field. Research continues to raise the profile and status of the discipline as well as highlight further areas to explore, with the goal of ensuring that all young children and their families are afforded the opportunity to realise their full potential for life in the twenty-first century.

In this issue we have an eclectic mix of articles, which discuss a range of topics.

In the first article Rachel Theilheimer & Betsy Cahill provide a feminist perspective on the relationships observed in college classrooms. With a focus on power dynamics, early childhood course syllabi are analysed in terms of their content.

Amy Johnson provides a discussion that adopts a socially situated view of identity to examine how one male pre-service early educator shapes his professional identities during a fieldwork experience in a kindergarten classroom.

The article by Eric Erwin & Heather DeLair presents the results of a qualitative study of play-based teachers in the USA who were frequently under pressure to alter their curricula in order to conform to more traditional educational approaches. The wider context of play-based curricula in the early grades of elementary school is examined, along with the strategies adopted by teachers to prevent changes to the curricula which are contrary to their professional judgment.

Kym Macfarlane & Trish Lewis focus on childcare in Australia and examine some of the challenges encountered to preserve its role within the educational context. The contention is that childcare can maintain its connection with the field of education while developing an identity of its own.

Rhonda Clements provides a discussion of how often children in contemporary USA participate in active, outdoor play in comparison with their mothers’ experiences. Mothers nationwide were surveyed. It is found that children spend much less time playing outdoors than their mothers did. Reasons for this trend include the impact of television and digital media as well as issues of crime and safety. The discussion also suggests ways to improve children’s enjoyment of play outdoors.

The article by Aslaug Becher examines the issues concerned with inclusive education and internationalisation. The needs and experiences of ‘minority children’ are examined in the context of the Norwegian educational system and through consideration of two case studies.

In the two colloquia we range in topics from the provision of pre-primary education in the Hong Kong SAR to a consideration of young children exploring in art museums in Australia.

Woo, Yeung & Wong examine the latest reform proposals for early childhood education framed in the Consultation Document of the Working Party on Harmonisation of Pre-primary Services, published by the Education Department and Social Welfare Department (2002). This document probes the feasibility of combining kindergarten and childcare centres in the Hong Kong SAR and discusses the ramifications of such a move for the provision of early childhood education.

Lastly, Katrina Weier outlines a number of art museum programs that have encouraged children as guides during school and family visits, and discusses the benefits of these programs – for both the children and their adult companions.

Three book reviews complete this issue. Karen Thorpe & Susan Danby reflect on Exploring Twins: towards a social analysis of twinship by Elizabeth A. Stewart (2003). In the second review Jillian Rodd writes about Contemporary Issues in the Early Years: working collaboratively for children (3rd edn), edited by Gillian Pugh (2001). Finally, Sue Walker examines a publication by Barbara Kaiser & Judy Sklar Rasminsky (2003) entitled Challenging Behavior in Young Children: understanding, preventing, and responding effectively.

Nicola J. Yelland & Yasmine J. Fauzee

RMIT University, Australia

CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue of Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

CHALLENGING HETERONORMATIVITY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Research abstracts of 300‑500 words are currently being sought for this special issue. Successful articles will examine issues pertaining to gay and lesbian identities that challenge the limitations imposed by heteronormative knowledges and practices in early childhood education. Submissions need to be based on research that incorporates queer, feminist post-structuralist, postmodern- or post-colonial perspectives.

Areas of interest may include but are not limited to:

• The experiences of lesbian and/or gay families, workers, and their allies;
• Challenges to heteronormative pedagogy, practice, curriculum and policy;
• The intersections between heteronormativity, gender and sexuality, and/or other aspects of identity;
• Issues related to reproductive technologies;
• The harassment and/or marginalisation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and non-heterosexual identities;
• Issues of silences and invisibility;
• Children’s understandings of non-normative families.

SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS
Jen Skattebol, University of Western Sydney
Dr Tania Ferfolja, University of Western Sydney

Prospective contributors are referred to the notes on ‘How to Contribute’ at www.wwwords.co.uk/CIEC/

Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 27 August, 2004. Please forward abstracts to Jen Skattebol (j.skattebol@uws.edu.au).

The editors will select abstracts in order to ensure a balance of topics. Authors will be contacted and successful articles requested. All articles will then be peer-reviewed using the normal CIEC process.

 ‘This Is Your Class’: theorizing what syllabi say about relationships between instructors and students in early childhood teacher education classrooms

RACHEL THEILHEIMER Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, USA
BETSY CAHILL New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA

In this article the authors discuss the relationships in college classrooms from the perspective of feminist teaching. With attention to power dynamics, they analyzed 17 early childhood course syllabi in order to elucidate those relationships. The authors present examples from the syllabi of course content, class experiences, and syllabus language that demonstrate how students presumably will acquire knowledge of early childhood education, of themselves and others, and of the professor. The authors found that the way in which professors write about their teaching in their syllabi serves to build relationships between themselves and their students. Yet tensions remain to be continually negotiated, tensions between the roles of gatekeeper and coach, between challenge and comfort, and between the social expectations that professors and students hold of themselves and each other.

Recruiting and Recognizing Multiple Socially Situated Identities: consonance and contradiction in the pedagogy of a male pre-service early educator

AMY SUZANNE JOHNSON University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

In this article the author uses a socially situated view of identity to take a close look at how one male pre-service early educator shapes his professional identities during a fieldwork experience in a kindergarten classroom. In organizing his pedagogy and relationships this pre-service teacher simultaneously draws from his personal experiences and the discourses of his university teacher education program to perform his teacher identity. The synergy created from this crafting of selves brings a multiplicity to the identities this teacher enacts and recognizes, at times causing dissonance between his plans and his practices. This article suggests that taking a socially situated view of identity is necessary for teacher education, as it provides a theoretical framework for pre-service teachers to consider the multiplicity of identities they draw from when shaping their ‘teacher’ identity.

Patterns of Resistance and Support among Play-based Teachers in Public Schools

ERIC J. ERWIN Orleans-Essex North Supervisory Union, Early Childhood Programs, Newport, USA
HEATHER A. DELAIR University of New Mexico, USA

The authors present the results of a multi-year qualitative study of play-based teachers in the USA. These teachers were often under pressure to alter their curricula in order to conform to more rigid and traditional educational approaches, pressure which has only increased under the present federal administration. The contextual factors surrounding play-based curricula in the early grades of elementary school in the USA are discussed, and the strategies used by these teachers to resist making changes to the curricula against their professional judgment are described in detail. Implications for the field of early childhood education are presented.

Childcare – Human Services or Education: a genealogical approach

KYM MACFARLANE & TRISH LEWIS Griffith University, Meadowbrook, Australia

This article examines the implications of a ‘problem of the present’. It explores the potential conflicts and fragmentation that may arise as a result of divisions in the interpretation of the metanarrative of child development within the two disciplines of education and human services. Childcare in Australia is strongly driven by this metanarrative and already some providers in this country use developmental discourse as a way of de-emphasising the educational aspects of the work. These providers use the focus on child development as an argument to keep qualifications in the field at a minimum level. This has impacted on teachers in childcare, making it difficult for them to obtain recognition and adequate remuneration for their skills. In this article there is a particular focus on how childcare is situated in Australia and an examination of the constant struggle to ensure it remains a part of the educational context. The authors question the practicality of continuing this struggle given the particular historical context, societal position, and industrial situation in this country. It is argued that it is possible for childcare to maintain substantial links with educational discourse while still developing a strong identity of its own.

An Investigation of the Status of Outdoor Play

RHONDA CLEMENTS Hofstra University, Hempstead, USA

This study discusses the extent to which children in the USA today participate in active, outdoor play, compared with the previous generation. Eight hundred and thirty mothers nationwide were surveyed regarding their active, outdoor play experiences as children, as well as their children’s play experiences today. The mother’s play experiences, compared with the child’s, clearly indicate that children today spend considerably less time playing outdoors than their mothers did as children. The study reveals several fundamental reasons for this decline, including dependence on television and digital media, and concerns about crime and safety. The study also conveys findings related to the frequent use of electronic diversions and discusses several suggestions for early childhood professionals, classroom teachers, and parents for fostering the child’s enjoyment for outdoor play.

Research Reconsiderations Concerning Cultural Differences

ASLAUG ANDREASSEN BECHER Oslo University College, Norway

‘Minority children’ experience a lot of shifts in their cultural contexts. The author’s work as a professional teacher in multicultural classes enabled her to focus on the research questions presented in this article. These questions concern the need for some minority children to achieve equal opportunities in the Norwegian educational system. The author uses her teaching practice and ethnographic notes to put forward two particular cases that illustrate the issues of her concern. Informant interviews with teachers in the same school inform the methodology. Positions outlined by Stephen May discussing degrees of essentialism in theory and practical work with children are used when discussing the cultural challenges involved in these cases. Following this, critical multiculturalism raises the question of cultural differences and of how to theorise and do research without creating culturally essentialising categories. This article alerts readers to the plight of children in shifting cultural contexts, to the challenges they are facing, and to the skills and competencies they are developing. It seeks to contribute to two current areas of debate, namely inclusive education and internationalisation.

Hong Kong Pre-primary Education in Transition: ‘Consultation Document of the Working Party on Harmonisation of Pre-primary Services’

KENNETH SIU WOO LEE, ANNA YEUNG ON NA & WONG SHUK YEE Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong SAR

Hong Kong’s most recent education reform proposal is the Consultation Document of the Working Party on Harmonisation of Pre-primary Services (Consultation Document. This examines the feasibility of combining kindergarten and childcare centres and having one single body regulating them. It has stimulated great responses from the early childhood education sector. As one of the major training institutions for kindergarten teachers and childcare workers, the faculty and students of the Hong Kong Baptist University have had extensive discussions on the Consultation Document with experts in the sector. This article reviews the development and rationales of the Consultation Document and examines its recommendations on teacher training, subsidy schemes, and transition arrangements. The authors’ views and counter-proposals are also discussed.

Empowering Young Children in Art Museums: letting them take the lead

KATRINA WEIER Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Australia

Young children bring a wide repertoire of visitor behaviours to traditional art museums, using their minds, senses, and bodies to respond to and interpret artworks. When given opportunities for self-expression, choice, and control during an art museum visit, children are empowered in this environment. Allowing children to take a leading role as tour guides for their peers or adult partners is one way to engender such empowerment. This kind of experience shows them they have a valuable contribution to make and allows them to learn actively from artworks, through self-directed inquiry. This article outlines a number of art museum programs that have encouraged children as guides during school and family visits, and discusses the benefits of these programs – for both the children and their adult companions. The author also notes the importance of a supportive, responsive adult, who can extend children’s conversations to introduce the language and concepts of the visual arts during child-led tours.

Forthcoming conferences

Identities and Innovations: shaping better worlds through early childhood education

Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference
16‑19 July 2004, Melbourne, Australia
For further information on call for papers and registration: www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/LED/CEIEC/

Honoring the Child, Honoring Equity: pushing the boundaries to make a difference
Centre for Equity and Innovation for Early Childhood Conference
11‑14 November 2004, Melbourne, Australia
For further information on call for papers and registration:
www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/LED/CEIEC/

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