Week 10 Early childhood teaching as the pursuit of social justice
ECE and social justice in practice - Thinking critically
Consider (MacNaughton, 2003): Whose interests are being served? How might I practice so that equity and fairness is achieved? Who is being "oppressed, silenced or marginalised"? (p. 189) Consider the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009, p. 13) "Who is advantaged when I work in this way? Who is disadvantaged?"
ECE and social justice in practice - Image of the child
Disrupts the image of the "innocent" child - Children are capable not only of noticing difference, but also of learning to be biased (Dau, 2001) Disrupts the image of the embryonic adult - Children can understand and tackle injustice now, not just when they are adults (Cannella, 2002) Implementing a transformative curriculum may require a reconceptualisation of how we think about children and what they are capable of (Cannella, 2002)
Why focus on social justice?
Ethics and professional standards - ECA's (2016) Code of Ethics - Core principles e.g., Children as rights holders; "Democratic, fair and inclusive practices promote equity and a strong sense of belonging"(p. 1). - Commitment to children e.g., non-discrimination; children's perspectives - Commitment to families e.g., respect for diversity 4. Program philosophy - Program or centre philosophy = "beliefs and values that underpin practice" (Arthur et al., 2015, p. 146) - Social justice philosophy in USYD's BEd(EC): http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/undergraduate/bed_early_childhood/index.shtml 5. Young children's understanding of difference and development of bias - Research shows that young children discriminate on the basis of difference (cited in Dau, 2001; Glover, 2016; Hawkins, 2014)
ECE and social justice in practice - Anti-bias curriculum
Goals of an anti-bias curriculum: 1. Build in each child self-awareness, self esteem, pride 2. Enable children to appreciate and feel comfortable with diversity 3. For children to understand what is fair and what is unfair 4. Build children's capacity to contest unfairness (Dau, 2001; Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010 in Glover, 2016) Gender, ability, class, race, religion e.g 1., gender e.g 2: cultural diversity
Why focus on social justice?
History - ECE as a strategy to break the cycle of poverty (Wong, 2013) "The Free Kindergartens save them [the children] from the pollution of the streets, and teach them to love truth and honour ... Justice and forbearance, charity and kindliness are the every-day virtues of the Kindergarten" (Anderson, 1916 in Wong, 2013, p. 316) Government policy and regulation - National Quality Reform Agenda (COAG, 2009, p. 3): "children benefit from better social inclusion and reduced disadvantage, especially Indigenous children" - Principles of the NQF (ACECQA, 2017): rights of the child; equity, inclusion and diversity; valuing of ATSI cultures - EYLF (DEEWR, 2009) - poststructuralist theory ... find new ways of working fairly and justly"" (p. 11) - Critical reflection: "reflective practices that focus on implications for equity and social justice" (p. 45)
What is social justice?
Social justice: - equity & fairness; upholding of human dignity and human rights (Wong, 2013) - "the active struggle for transformation against all forms of discrimination and oppression ... willing the complexity of diversity and difference within and across the social ecology" (Mevawalla, 2013, p. 291) Nancy Fraser's theory of social justice (2009) - Redistribution of resources (economic injustice or maldistribution) - Recognition of diversity (cultural injustice or misrecognition) - Representation of justice claims (political injustice or misrepresentation) Social justice in practice (Wong, 2013): i. Equitably distributing of resources to address ii. Challenging oppressive practices iii. Supporting moral development iv. Upholding children's rights
ECE and social justice: The role of the ECT
Support children's learning and development Cognitive development Socio-emotional development Physical development Moral development ??? Involves challenging how things are, challenging existing power relations, resisting oppressive practices (MacNaughton, 2003) - open up possibilities for children - build children's capacity to know and see what's fair and what's not - build children's capacity for social action
ECE and social justice in practice
Two perspectives: i. education to achieve social transformation (create greater social justice and equity); and ii. education as social transformation in practice (build individual capacity to recognise and address injustice and inequity) => CRITICAL PEDAGOGY: "educators recognise, engage with, interrogate and challenge unjust practices"(Wong, 2013, p. 313) => EDUCATION AS SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION: "equips children with the knowledge they require to recognise and confront injustice and to resist oppressive ways of becoming" (MacNaughton, 2003, p. 183)
