In this article, we contribute to the research on the process of privatisation of Finnish early childhood education (ECE), describe how the privatisation has proceeded within the legal framework and how profit making has become possible in ECE. Furthermore, we analyse how local key policy actors justify the privatisation of ECE and what the…

As a result of globalization, kindergarten curriculum frameworks in Asia have been strongly influenced by Western theories, pedagogies, and values. In this article, we argue that Singapore's "Nurturing Early Learners" and Hong Kong's "Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide" present key notions that are inconsistent with…

This article examines the nature of neoliberal influences upon educational policy making in the Finnish education system in recent times. The article draws upon key policy documents, government reports, journal articles and media articles about reforms in the early childhood, basic/compulsory school and vocational education and training sectors to…

This paper takes as its central concern the concept of wilding education policy and explores implications for systemic change in education. It starts from shared premises with wild pedagogies, namely, that current human operations are unsustainable and require deep transformation, and that education is (or should be) a partner in this…

Merton's law on unintended consequences (1936) warns against the undesirable and unanticipated outcomes of every action and policy. More recent research (Zhao, 2017) in the field of education, in relation to Merton, claims that these consequences are usually treated as inconvenient side effect of a policy, but are, in fact, planned by…

This paper analyses the consequences of what are regarded as neoliberal developments within the Danish ECEC area. More specifically, it looks at how an increasing monitoring and regulation affects the ECEC educator's sense of professionalism. Drawing on a qualitative study of educators' interactionist accounts, a series of unintended consequences…

Recent policy developments in the early childhood (EC) care and education sector in Aotearoa-New Zealand have seen a shift in focus from children and play to learners and learning. While few would argue against learning as priority this article raises pressing questions about the 'intended' and '(un)intended' consequences of this turn. We analyse…

International social unrest in recent years has resulted in many people choosing or being forced to leave their home countries to seek better lives elsewhere, causing drastic demographic shifts. Yet, it has been pointed out that institutional policies and practices in many countries have not caught up with such changing demographics, which have…

Whereas universal public access to early childhood education and care has long occupied a prominent place in feminist demands to end patriarchy, not only has such access gone largely unmet in most countries, save some noteworthy exceptions, but privatized childcare and early education has only gained momentum through neoliberalism, a process that…

This paper analyses the International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study, undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in order to draw attention to the neoliberal, neoconservative, and globalising discourses which underpin the study and generate an image of what is 'best' in early childhood education. The…

In this article, I discuss the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS), which is currently being rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. I summarise the development of IELS and the critique that has been voiced by early childhood scholars, professionals and advocates. I then move to an…

Early childhood education (ECE) is not new in Indonesia. However, in the past decade, it has received more attention, as shown by the growing number of ECE centres in both urban and rural areas. This growth is accompanied by policy development that corresponds to the global agenda of ECE. Policy development is inevitably linked with the support of…

This article unpacks how neoliberal discourse functions as a dominant but problematic system of reasoning that changes and shifts the ways in which we come to think about early childhood education and care. A post-structuralist lens is deployed to understand the production of fears and hopes under the looming shadows of contemporary education…

For the past 20 years, early childhood education has undergone changes that have resulted from an alteration in Indonesian socio-political situations. One of the changes has resulted in the emergence of the internationalisation of early childhood education in Indonesia. This paper unpacks the complexity of the process. Three teachers from three…

This paper will illustrate how philosophical and pedagogical boundaries that are defined by diverse cultures and ideologies might be navigated in the practical implementation of an early childhood curriculum in postcolonial urban India. Findings from a qualitative naturalistic inquiry indicated that a complex, multifaceted curriculum shaped by…