It’s About Time! Advancing Justice Through Joyful Inquiry With Young Children

Abstract

Young learners often are enchanted with the world, fascinated by the ordinary, and absorbed in the present moment. We explore interconnected ideas about how young children’s natural proclivity toward being curious, and noticing differences among people should be harnessed toward socially just ends. We consider ways in which joyfulness in learning are preserved, as teachers partner with young learners to cultivate their sense of justice in the classroom and beyond. We use disability studies in education as a theoretical framework for doing anti-bias work within early childhood education. We also describe global and neoliberal trends which directly and negatively impact the lives of young children by escalating injustice through educational practices and policies often disguised as reform. Ultimately, we propose, reimagining equity-based practices, positive disability narratives, freedom and humanity, and the concept of place within pedagogy to transform early childhood education.

Cultivating Young Children’s Positive Emotions: Based on Anji Play

“…Furthermore, when children gain positive emotions in Anji Play, it eventually leads to more active participation and reflection in playing by the children themselves, in which they can improve their ability to acquire knowledge. This has double-win implications [32]. Young children also experience positive emotional consequences when they engage in prosocial behaviors in Anji Play [33].…”

Empowering early learners: an exploration of anti-bias education in early learning environments

“…While we commonly hear phrases like anti-bias education, equity-based practices, anti-racist pedagogy, and equitable learning, data from Cycle 1 of this study showed that several early childhood teachers connected different meanings to many of these terms (Escayg, 2019). If schools are to engage early learners in critical discourse and help build their equity-oriented vocabularies, teachers must first make sure they are in agreement on how they define critical social justice terms in their unique context (Erwin et al, 2021).…”

“…Trust can be built with sessions of critical discourse. A series of critical discourses wherein educators are able to share their own experience and speak their truth promotes equity-oriented learning (Erwin et al, 2021;Singleton et al, 2006). These claims held true in both cycles of research, with participants describing their shared feedback as integral to their learning.…”