Early Childhood and Compulsory Education: Reconceptualising the relationship

241 Pages·2012·2.556 MB·English

by  Peter Moss (editor)

C O N T E S T I N G E A R LY C H I L D H O O D
Early Childhood and
Compulsory Education:
Reconceptualising
the relationship
Edited by Peter Moss
With Lucia Balduzzi, John Bennett, Margaret Carr, Gunilla Dahlberg,
Hildegard Gobeyn, Peder Haug, Sharon Lynn Kagan, Arianna
Lazzari, Nadine De Stercke and Michel Vandenbroeck.
Early Childhood and Compulsory
Education
What should be the relationship between early childhood and compulsory
education? What can they learn from one another and by working together?
The rapid expansion of early childhood services means that most
children in affluent countries now have several years of early childhood
education before compulsory schooling. This raises an important question
about the relationship between the two. Whilst it is widely assumed that the
former should prepare children for the latter, there are alternatives. This
book contests the ‘readying for school’ relationship as neither self-evident
nor unproblematic; and explores some alternative relationships, including
a strong and equal partnership and the vision of a meeting place.
In this ground-breaking book, Professor Peter Moss discusses the issue
with leading early childhood figures – from Belgium, France, Italy, New
Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States – who bring very different
perspectives to this contentious relationship. The book starts with an
extended essay by Peter Moss, to which the other contributors are invited
to respond critically, as well as offering their own thinking about the
relationship between early childhood and compulsory education.
Students, teachers, researchers and other academics in the field of early
childhood education will find this an insightful and timely text. But so too
will their peers in compulsory education, since the book time and again
raises searching questions about pedagogical purpose and practice in this
sector.
Peter Moss is Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Provision at the
Institute of Education, University of London, UK.
Contesting Early Childhood series
Series Editors: Gunilla Dahlberg and Peter Moss
This groundbreaking series questions the current dominant discourses
surrounding early childhood, and offers instead alternative narratives of an
area that is now made up of a multitude of perspectives and debates.
The series examines the possibilities and risks arising from the acceler-
ated development of early childhood services and policies, and illustrates
how it has become increasingly steeped in regulation and control.
Insightfully, this collection of books shows how early childhood services
can in fact contribute to ethical and democratic practices. The authors
explore new ideas taken from alternative working practices in both the
western and developing world, and from other academic disciplines such
as developmental psychology. Current theories and best practice are placed
in relation to the major processes of political, social, economic, cultural and
technological change occurring in the world today.
Titles in the Contesting Early Childhood series include:
Moss (2013) Early Childhood and Compulsory Education
Vecchi (2010) Art and Creativity in Reggio Emilia
Taguchi (2009) Going Beyond the Theory/Practice Divide
Olsson (2009) Movement and Experimentation in Young Children’s Learning
Edmiston (2007) Forming Ethical Identities in Early Childhood Play
Rinaldi (2005) In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia
MacNaughton (2005) Doing Foucault
Penn (2005) Unequal Childhoods
Dahlberg and Moss (2005) Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood
Early Childhood and
Compulsory Education
Reconceptualising the relationship
Edited by Peter Moss
With Lucia Balduzzi, John Bennett, Margaret Carr,
Gunilla Dahlberg, Hildegard Gobeyn, Peder Haug,
Sharon Lynn Kagan,Arianna Lazzari, Nadine De
Stercke and Michel Vandenbroeck
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square,Milton Park,Abingdon,Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue,New York,NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,an informa business
© 2013 Peter Moss
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial
material,and of the authors for their individual chapters,has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,or
other means,now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying
and recording,or in any information storage or retrieval system,without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice:Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks,and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Early childhood and compulsory education :reconceptualising the
relationship / edited by Peter Moss.
p.cm.
ISBN 978-0-415-68773-7 (hardback) – ISBN 978-0-415-68774-4
(paperback) – ISBN 978-0-203-08075-7 (ebook) 1.Early childhood
education.2.Education,Compulsory.I.Moss,Peter,1945–
LB1139.23.E24 2013
372.21–dc23
2012024457
ISBN:978-0-415-68773-7 (hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-68774-4 (pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-08075-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Garamond
by FiSH Books Ltd,Enfield
Contents
Notes on contributors vii
PART I
Introductory essay 1
1 The relationship between early childhood and compulsory
education: A properly political question 2
PETER MOSS
PART II
Authors’ responses 51
2 A response from the co-author of ‘a strong and equal partnership’ 52
JOHN BENNETT
3 A dialogue with the co-author of ‘the vision of a meeting place’ 72
GUNILLA DAHLBERG
PART III
Five other responses 91
4 Making a borderland of contested spaces into a meeting place:
The relationship from a New Zealand perspective 92
MARGARET CARR
5 From indifference to invasion: The relationship from a Norwegian
perspective 112
PEDER HAUG
vi Contents
6 David, Goliath and the ephemeral parachute: The relationship
from a United States perspective 130
SHARON LYNN KAGAN
7 Bruno Ciari and ‘educational continuity’: The relationship from an
Italian perspective 149
ARIANNA LAZZARI AND LUCIA BALDUZZI
8 What if the rich child has poor parents? The relationship from a
Flemish perspective 174
MICHEL VANDENBROECK, NADINE DE STERCKE AND HILDEGARD GOBEYN
PART IV
Concluding reflections 193
9 Citizens should expect more! 194
PETER MOSS
References 206
Index 222
Notes on contributors
Lucia Balduzzi (Italy) is a Senior Researcher at the Department of
Education Science, University of Bologna. Her main area of interest is the
professional profile of practitioners in conventional and experimental
early childhood services. She has recently co-edited, with Milena Manini,
La cura della professionalità di educatrici e insegnanti nei servizi per
l’infanzia, about practitioners’ professionalism in early childhood educa-
tion and care settings.
John Bennett (France) was the co-author of the first two Starting Strong
reports, published by the OECD. Currently, he is a member of the edito-
rial board of the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal.
His latest publication is the Roma Early Childhood Inclusion (RECI)
Overview Report, published conjointly by the Open Society Foundation,
the Roma Education Fund and UNICEF (2012).
Margaret Carr (New Zealand) is Professor of Education at the University
of Waikato. Her main areas of interest are curriculum and pedagogy in
the early years and the ways in which assessment practices shape learner
identities. Her latest book, co-authored with Wendy Lee, is Learning
Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Years Education (2012,
Sage).
Gunilla Dahlberg(Sweden) is Professor of Education with a specific focus
on early childhood education at Stockholm University. Her main areas of
interest are transculturalism, the magic of language and children’s
dialogue with nature from a transformative and immanent perspective.
She co-edits the series Contesting Early Childhood, with Peter Moss.
Hildegard Gobeyn (Belgium) has worked as a social worker. She is
currently a researcher and teacher at the Faculty of Health, Education
and Social Work at University College Ghent. Her main area of research
is the professionalisation of social work.
viii Contributors
Peder Haug (Norway) is Professor of Education at the Faculty of
Humanities and Education, Volda University College. His main area of
interest is educational reforms and classroom activities, and he is also
engaged in research about kindergartens. His latest book is Quality of
Education: Teaching in School Observed and Evaluated (2012).
Sharon Lynn Kagan (United States) is the Virginia and Leonard Marx
Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, and the Co-Director of
the National Centre for Children and Families at Teachers College,
Columbia University and a Professor Adjunct at Yale University. She is a
member of the National Academy of Education, a fellow of the American
Educational Research Association and a former president of NAEYC. Her
areas of interest include building early childhood systems, early learning
standards and assessment, early childhood quality and transitions, and
social equity.
Arianna Lazzari (Italy) is a Research Fellow at the Department of
Education Science, University of Bologna. She has worked as a pre-
school teacher and has recently been part of the research team on the
CORE project, a study of competence requirements for staff in early
childhood education and care. Her main area of interest is professional-
ism and professional development of early childhood practitioners
within a cross-national perspective.
Peter Moss (United Kingdom) is Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood
Provision at the Institute of Education University of London. His areas of
interest include democracy in education and the relationship between
care, gender and employment. He co-edits the series Contesting Early
Childhood, with Gunilla Dahlberg. His latest book is Radical Education
and the Common School: a Democratic Alternative (2011), co-authored
with Michael Fielding.
Nadine De Stercke (Belgium) has worked as a social worker. She is
currently a researcher and teacher at the Faculty of Health, Education
and Social Work at University College Ghent, teaching communication
and systemic therapy to social workers. Her main area of research is the
professionalisation of social work.
Michel Vandenbroeck (Belgium) is Professor at the Department of Social
Welfare Studies, Ghent University. He is also president of the VBJK
Research and Resource Centre on early childhood education and care
and a member of the board of trustees of the European Early Childhood
Education Research Association. His main area of interest is ECEC and
parent support programmes, with a focus on diversity and social
inclusion.
Part I
Introductory essay