Recognizing Politics in the Nursery: Early Childhood Education Institutions as Sites of Mundane Politics

Recognizing Politics in the Nursery: Early Childhood Education Institutions as Sites of Mundane Politics

Authors

• Zsuzsa Millei, University of Tampere, Finland

• Kirsi Pauliina Kallio, University of Tampere, Finland

Abstract

• Advocacy for early childhood institutions to foster democratic political practice as proposed by Peter Moss.

• Introduction of the concept of mundane political practice in early childhood education institutions, highlighting:

  • Variations in political attitudes and ideologies.

  • Recognition of purposive activities within the nursery context.

• Distinction made between two types of politics:

  1. Official politics that aims to enforce ideals in early childhood education and care (ECEC).

  2. Everyday politics reflecting community interaction and the political agency of individuals.

• Argument against the non-recognition of children's political life, stressing its impact on children's agency and democratization processes.

Keywords

• Democratic political practice

• Mundane political practice

• Political agency

• Political subjectivity

Introduction

• Reference to Peter Moss’s works, emphasizing:

  • The need for a scalar model for ECEC.

  • The vision of ECEC as a public forum within civil society, advocating for participation from all societal members.

• Moss’s agenda as a resistance against neoliberal practices that seek to depoliticize life.

• Assertion that institutional spaces are inherently political rather than apolitical.

• Proposal to reconceptualize notions of democracy in ECEC to appreciate existing political dynamics.

Political Life in Nurseries

• The repoliticization of ECEC by recognizing ongoing political realities:

  • Introduction of a broad understanding of politics, encompassing daily life and acting both individually and collectively.

  • Outlining mundane politics by examining everyday experiences influencing children's political identities.

• Important realities shaping political experiences, including:

  • Contextual importance of issues like sexual orientation and children's rights.

  • Examples illustrating political teaching within families:

  • A case where a child was involved in a politically charged situation regarding refugees.

  • Political advocacy through parenting perspectives reflected in blogs, highlighting shapes political learning through familial values.

• Insistence that children are not apolitical; rather, they are contextually engaged in political realities, affected by prevailing power relations.

Conceptual Framework for Understanding Children’s Political Lives

• Development of an analytical outline to approach children’s political experiences with key components:

  • Attentiveness: Recognizing pressing issues in everyday situations.

  • Awareness: Understanding personal and collective positions related to political matters.

  • Capacities to Act: Engagement in political actions based on situational understanding.

  • Personal Will: Individual variation in responses to political circumstances based on personal engagements.

• Concept of political agency as a process that evolves through interaction, community dynamics, and contextual influences.

Challenges in ECEC Research

• Discussion on the lack of recognition of children’s political identities in existing ECEC literature.

• Divergent research findings pointing toward children’s political agency usually being contextualized under citizenship.

• Table presenting research findings related to the political agency of children in selected journals, indicating areas of political discourse versus neglected political dimensions.

• Acknowledgment of fundamental issues when addressing children’s political stance leading to discrepancies between adult-defined political frameworks and children's subjective experiences.

Political Pedagogy in ECEC

• Examples showcasing how well-meant pedagogies may silence children’s existing political perspectives:

  • Instances where researchers or educators impose political notions without recognizing children's inherent political existence.

  • The dangers of imposing adulthood's political frameworks onto children's lives, potentially overshadowing their capacities to express citizenship in locally contextualized ways.

• Critical reflections on existing literature revealing how children's lived experiences warrant further exploration in the context of political subjectivity and agency in ECEC.

Conclusion

• Emphasis on the political realities of children must be acknowledged in ECEC:

  • Children have active roles within their communities; acknowledging their political presence is pivotal for fostering better educational outcomes.

  • Recommending a pedagogical framework that recognizes the complexity of children's lived political experiences.

• Future research should aim toward understanding mundane politics in ECEC settings, addressing the need to integrate children's realities into professional pedagogical practices.

References

• Collaboration of foundational theorists in political education and childhood, including:

  • Plato, Rousseau, and considerations from the Soviet pedagogy by figures such as Kairov and Krupskaya highlighting political dimensions in schooling.

• Importance of critical pedagogy, promoting children’s capacities to act based on their experiences and community dynamics, fostering democracy rather than simply facilitating political education imposed by adult experiences.