Judith Duncan is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

"This book challenges an image of early childhood services that has come to dominate much of the international literature. That challenge is both welcome and necessary." - Alan Pence, UNESCO Chair for Early Childhood Education, Care, and Development; Professor, School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria; Director, Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) "Te One and Duncan's pedigree in kindergarten teaching, political advocacy, community development, research, and early childhood teacher education provides an impeccable background for inspiring a similar group of activist writers to question, challenge, critique, and trouble our beliefs, our policies, and our practices that currently form the pedagogies of early childhood education centres (ECEC) in the early twenty-first century. During the twentieth century early childhood education moved beyond its radical experiments into the mainstream of education provision by the state. But there are some troubling aspects of this shift. Te One and Duncan, editors of this volume, provide a case for a radical re-conceptualizing and rethinking of the place and role of ECEC in our society." - Helen May, professor, College of Education, University of Otago

• Introduction; J.Duncan & S.Te One Building Communities: Begins in the Early Years; J.Duncan Working with Strengths: Building Resilience in Communities and Families; R.Munford Families and Young Children in Arizona: Stories from a Contextualized Statewide Study; B.Blue Swadener , J.Joanou & D.Holiday Beyond Heteronormativity: Hospitality as Curriculum; D.Lee Integrated Services in Australia; J.Sumsion , F.Press & S.Wong Disturbing Cultures of Incarceration: Resilience, the Struggle for Normality and the Imprisoned Family; R.Holmes, L.Jones & M.MacLure Creating Community Through Connections in SPACE (Supporting Parents Alongside Children's Education); S.Te One & V.Podmore Active Adult Participation in Early Childhood Centres: Community Well-being; J.Duncan Collaborative Play as New Methodology: Co-constructing Knowledge of Early Child Development in The CHILD Project; H.Goelman & J.Pivik Conclusion and Final Comments; J.Duncan