Participatory Learning in the Early Years Research and Pedagogy

The early years are an important period for learning. This book presents theoretical and research perspectives about how ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) contexts promote democracy and citizenship through participatory learning approaches.

The early years are an important period for learning, but the questions surrounding participatory learning amongst toddlers remain under-examined. This book presents the latest theoretical and research perspectives about how ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) contexts promote democracy and citizenship through participatory learning approaches. The contributors provide insight into national policies, provisions, and practices and advance our understandings of theory and research on toddlers’ experiences for democratic participation across a number of countries, including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Norway.

1. Participatory Learning: Issues for Research and Practice Donna Berthelsen 2. International Perspectives on Participatory Learning: Young Children’s Perspectives across Rich and Poor Countries Helen Penn 3. The Guiding Principles of Participation: Infant, Toddler Groups and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Berenice Nyland 4.‘Doing the Right Thing’- A Moral Concern from the Perspectives of Young Preschool Children Eva Johansson 5.The Desirable Toddler in Preschool -Values Communicated in Teacher and Child Interactions Anette Emilson and Eva Johansson 6.Friendships and Participation among Young Children in a Norwegian Kindergarten Anne Greve 7.Beliefs about Toddler’s Learning in Child Care Programs in Australia Jo Brownlee and Donna Berthelsen 8.In Support of a Relationship-Based Approach to Practice with Infants and Toddlers in the United States Mary McMullen and Susan Dixon 9. Looking and Listening For Participatory Practice in an English Day Nursery Paulette Luff 10.Dialogue, Listening and Discernment in Professional Practice with Parents and their Children in an Infant Program: A Canadian Perspective Enid Elliot 11.“If You Think They Can Do It - Then They Can”: Two-year-olds in Aotearoa New Zealand Kindergartens and Changing Professional Perspectives Judith Duncan 12.Fairness in Participation in Preschool Artin Göncü, Catherine Main and Barbara Abel 13.Contexts, Pedagogy, and Participatory Learning: A Way Forward Jo Brownlee

Donna Berthelsen is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Jo Brownlee is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Eva Johansson is Professor of Education, at the Unit of Childhood studies, Department of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is also professor of Child Studies at the University of Stavanger, Norway.