ERIC Number: EJ1087815
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1857
EISSN: N/A
Out of Place: Economic Imperialisms in Early Childhood Education
Stuart, Margaret
Educational Philosophy and Theory, v48 n2 p138-149 2016
New Zealand has received world-wide accolades for its Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum, Te Whariki. This paper explores the tension between economic imperialism, and a curriculum acknowledged as visionary. The foundational ideas of Te Whariki emanate from sociocultural and anti-racist pedagogies. However, its implementation is hampered by the overarching policy discourse of Human Capital Theory (HCT), with its instrumental emphasis on economic outcomes. While Te Whariki offers local cultural and educational possibilities, HCT is presented by those espousing economic disciplines, as having universal application. These tensions, largely unacknowledged and unexplored, place ECE teachers in positions of difficulty. While trying to meet aspirational curriculum goals in their daily practices, teachers' attempts are constrained by supranational economic discourses. I ask how Edward Said's (1999, "Out of place: A memoir," New York, Knopf) concept of contrapuntal readings can offer spaces for resistance to the dominance of economics.
Descriptors: Educational Philosophy, Early Childhood Education, Preschool Curriculum, Foreign Countries, Curriculum Implementation, Educational Policy, Human Capital, Economic Factors, Preschool Teachers, Educational Practices, Educational Objectives, Indigenous Knowledge, Sociocultural Patterns, Ethnic Groups, Pacific Islanders
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Zealand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A