Beth Blue Swadener – författare

Written to commemorate 30 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Rights reflects upon the status of children aged 0–8 years around the world, whether they are respected or neglected, and how we may move forward. With contributions from international experts and emerging authorities on children’s rights, Murray, Blue Swadener and Smith have produced this highly significant textbook on young children’s rights globally.Containing sections on policy, along with rights to protection, provision and participation for young children, this book combines discussions of children’s rights and early childhood development, and investigates the crucial yet frequently overlooked link between the two. The authors examine how policy, practice and research could be utilised to address the barriers to universal respect for children, to create a safer and more enriching world for them to live and flourish in. The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Rights is an essential resource for students and academics in early childhood education, social work and paediatrics, as well as for researchers, policymakers, leaders and practitioners involved in the provision of children’s services and paedeatric healthcare, and international organisations with an interest in or ability to influence national or global policies on children’s rights.

Bringing together scholarship and examples from practice, this book explores ways in which early childhood curriculum – including classroom practices and community contexts – can more actively engage with a range of social justice issues, democratic principles and anti-oppressive practices. Featuring a stellar list of expert contributors, the chapters in this volume present a cross-section of contemporary issues in childhood education. The text highlights the voices of children, teachers and families as they reflect on everyday experiences related to issues of social justice, inclusion and oppression, as well as ways young children and their teachers engage in activism. Chapters explore curriculum and programs that address justice issues, particularly educating for democracy, and culminate in a focus on the future, offering examples of resistance and visions of hope and possibility. Designed for practitioners, graduate students and researchers in early childhood, this book challenges readers to explore the ways in which early childhood education is – and can be – engaging with social justice and democratic practices.

Bringing together scholarship and examples from practice, this book explores ways in which early childhood curriculum – including classroom practices and community contexts – can more actively engage with a range of social justice issues, democratic principles and anti-oppressive practices. Featuring a stellar list of expert contributors, the chapters in this volume present a cross-section of contemporary issues in childhood education. The text highlights the voices of children, teachers and families as they reflect on everyday experiences related to issues of social justice, inclusion and oppression, as well as ways young children and their teachers engage in activism. Chapters explore curriculum and programs that address justice issues, particularly educating for democracy, and culminate in a focus on the future, offering examples of resistance and visions of hope and possibility. Designed for practitioners, graduate students and researchers in early childhood, this book challenges readers to explore the ways in which early childhood education is – and can be – engaging with social justice and democratic practices.

In this co-edited volume, women educators figuratively gather in "the red tent" (Diamant, 1997) to share stories of the inseparability of what they do as mothers of daughters (and grandmothers of granddaughters) from their work as educators and social activists. By acting and speaking jointly and publicly about their varying "projects" of mothering and educating, this work celebrates mothers' and daughters' strengths and the bonds between them.This work considers the mother-daughter bond through maternal storytelling or narrative and the Motherline. The narratives foreground the theory that a strong mother-daughter connection leads to empowerment, and attempt to link that connection with education as grand/mother-educators and their grand/daughters weave their personal and professional lives into an ever-evolving tapestry.Drawing from a range of feminist theories in action, contributors to this volume offer stories of the Motherlines that illuminate the complexities of these powerful relationships. Using counter-narratives to patriarchal framings of family, this collection affirms the power of women educators telling and reading their stories as a means of self-discovery, empowerment, and, ultimately, cultural transformation.

Shows how the labeling of children as "at-risk" actually perpetuates the inequities, racism, and discrimination facing many families in America.This book critiques the currently popular "at-risk" construct, drawing from historical, contextual, critical, and personal perspectives. It provides an alternative context for viewing children and their families as "at-promise." A basic premise of the book is that the generalized use of the "at-risk" label is highly problematic and often implicitly racist and classist-a 1990s version of the cultural deficit model that locates problems in individuals, families, and communities, rather than in institutional structures that create and maintain inequality. This book provides a needed interrogation and alternative context for viewing children and families caught in the extreme conditions facing many families in the United States.

Considers the impacts of rapid social, economic, and cultural change on child-rearing and early education in Kenya.Examining the degree to which Kenyan children are still communally raised, this book presents findings from a national collaborative study considering the impacts of rapid social, economic, and cultural change on child-rearing and early education in Kenya. The narratives of over 460 parents, grandparents, preschool teachers, children, and community leaders provide unique insights on the impacts of neo-colonial policies, "development" practices, and national austerity measures on everyday lives of families.A unique aspect of this book is that it "decolonizes" research through sustained collaboration on all aspects of the study, from design and interview protocol development, to data collection and analysis, through dissemination. This book becomes, then, an invaluable model, for how to do thoughtful, collaborative, comparative research.

Examines the ways that the labels "disability" and "difference" are socially and culturally constructed.This book brings together a unique collection of personal narratives and summaries of studies that problematize existing meanings of "disability" and "difference." Using applied semiotics as an analytical lens, the contributors examine the ways that these labels are socially and culturally constructed. Contributors include anthropologists, teacher educators, special educators, disability studies scholars, educational psychologists, American Sign Language instructors, semioticians, school psychologists, linguists, and parents. Each author was asked to examine his or her experience(s) and consider the "markers" of lives that are considered different.

Examines the ways that the labels "disability" and "difference" are socially and culturally constructed.This book brings together a unique collection of personal narratives and summaries of studies that problematize existing meanings of "disability" and "difference." Using applied semiotics as an analytical lens, the contributors examine the ways that these labels are socially and culturally constructed. Contributors include anthropologists, teacher educators, special educators, disability studies scholars, educational psychologists, American Sign Language instructors, semioticians, school psychologists, linguists, and parents. Each author was asked to examine his or her experience(s) and consider the "markers" of lives that are considered different.

International scholars share their experiences with the challenges inherent in representing indigenous cultures and decolonizing cross-cultural research.Winner of the 2005 Outstanding Narrative Research Book presented by the Narrative Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association Drawing from their experiences in cross-cultural research, scholars from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America discuss their attempts to reclaim and reposition the representation of indigenous cultures in their work. They raise critical questions that resist the centrality of the English language as a medium of research and of the Western academy as the locus for knowledge production, reframe cross-cultural research agendas to include ways of knowing that have been excluded all too often, and offer creative ways of using cross-cultural collaboration.

International scholars share their experiences with the challenges inherent in representing indigenous cultures and decolonizing cross-cultural research.Winner of the 2005 Outstanding Narrative Research Book presented by the Narrative Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association Drawing from their experiences in cross-cultural research, scholars from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America discuss their attempts to reclaim and reposition the representation of indigenous cultures in their work. They raise critical questions that resist the centrality of the English language as a medium of research and of the Western academy as the locus for knowledge production, reframe cross-cultural research agendas to include ways of knowing that have been excluded all too often, and offer creative ways of using cross-cultural collaboration.

This timely collection provides an accessible discussion and analysis of some of the most urgent policy issues facing early childhood care and education in the United States: fragmented policy systems; broad disregard for early years professionals exemplified by low pay; standards that fail to increase equity; and overlooking the role community contexts plays in producing or ameliorating social inequalities among children. Contributors draw upon their deep personal experiences with these issues as educators, scholars, and advocates to advance practice-based recommendations for how the nation's inequitable systems can be transformed. Their call to collective action is supported by an accessible and powerful advocacy toolkit that will grow with readers over time and with practice. The text centers the perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, with a clear focus on the effects of systemic racism, ageism, sexism, classism, and associated oppressions on early years policies and programs in the U.S.Book Features:Concise essays that acknowledge the demands on contemporary readers' time.Authors that represent a cross section of educators, advocates, researchers, and leaders who are in dialogue with each other. Personal stories that illustrate how policies and systems affect people, making an urgent case for transforming early care and education policies.A call for action that includes tools for linking personal reflection to collective action.

This timely collection provides an accessible discussion and analysis of some of the most urgent policy issues facing early childhood care and education in the United States: fragmented policy systems; broad disregard for early years professionals exemplified by low pay; standards that fail to increase equity; and overlooking the role community contexts plays in producing or ameliorating social inequalities among children. Contributors draw upon their deep personal experiences with these issues as educators, scholars, and advocates to advance practice-based recommendations for how the nation's inequitable systems can be transformed. Their call to collective action is supported by an accessible and powerful advocacy toolkit that will grow with readers over time and with practice. The text centers the perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, with a clear focus on the effects of systemic racism, ageism, sexism, classism, and associated oppressions on early years policies and programs in the U.S.Book Features:Concise essays that acknowledge the demands on contemporary readers' time.Authors that represent a cross section of educators, advocates, researchers, and leaders who are in dialogue with each other. Personal stories that illustrate how policies and systems affect people, making an urgent case for transforming early care and education policies.A call for action that includes tools for linking personal reflection to collective action.

Written to commemorate 30 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Rights reflects upon the status of children aged 0–8 years around the world, whether they are respected or neglected, and how we may move forward. With contributions from international experts and emerging authorities on children’s rights, Murray, Blue Swadener and Smith have produced this highly significant textbook on young children’s rights globally.Containing sections on policy, along with rights to protection, provision and participation for young children, this book combines discussions of children’s rights and early childhood development, and investigates the crucial yet frequently overlooked link between the two. The authors examine how policy, practice and research could be utilised to address the barriers to universal respect for children, to create a safer and more enriching world for them to live and flourish in. The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Rights is an essential resource for students and academics in early childhood education, social work and paediatrics, as well as for researchers, policymakers, leaders and practitioners involved in the provision of children’s services and paedeatric healthcare, and international organisations with an interest in or ability to influence national or global policies on children’s rights.

This book compares ways in which children’s rights in, to, and through education, formal and informal, are viewed and implemented in a variety of social and political contexts, aiming to shed light on how policies and practices can improve equal access to high quality education in an environment which is respectful of children’s rights. Chapters focus on understanding the opportunities for and challenges of addressing children’s rights to participation and to inclusion. Authors draw from a variety of disciplines, including critical and cultural studies of childhood, and bring internationally comparative policy perspectives to share nuanced and contrasting examples of ways in which a rights-based approach to education might empower children and youth. The book deepens and complicates research on children’s education rights, and will contribute to courses in comparative education, childhood studies, education policy, and children’s rights.

Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Care and Education is a foundational text, which presents contemporary theories and debates about early education and child care in many nations. The authors selected are leading contributors in discussions about critical early childhood studies over the past twenty years; the editors are long-time scholars in the reconceptualizing early childhood movement. Audiences include students in graduate courses focused on early childhood and primary education, critical cultural studies of childhood, critical curriculum studies and critical theories that have been contested and debated and drawn from over the course of two decades.The book is filled with recent scholarship by leading authors in the reconceptualization and rethinking of childhood studies and early childhood fields, who discuss foundational debates, new imaginaries in theory and practice and activist scholarship. A must-read for graduate students and professionals interested in beginning or continuing critical interrogations of current early childhood policy and reforms globally.

Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Care and Education is a foundational text, which presents contemporary theories and debates about early education and child care in many nations. The authors selected are leading contributors in discussions about critical early childhood studies over the past twenty years; the editors are long-time scholars in the reconceptualizing early childhood movement. Audiences include students in graduate courses focused on early childhood and primary education, critical cultural studies of childhood, critical curriculum studies and critical theories that have been contested and debated and drawn from over the course of two decades.The book is filled with recent scholarship by leading authors in the reconceptualization and rethinking of childhood studies and early childhood fields, who discuss foundational debates, new imaginaries in theory and practice and activist scholarship. A must-read for graduate students and professionals interested in beginning or continuing critical interrogations of current early childhood policy and reforms globally.