The Potential of Queer Theorizing in Early Childhood Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Contested Relationships in Early Learning

Abstract

Often the first formal institution outside of the home that parents and children encounter, the early childhood setting has an important role to play in supporting family competence, parental identity and social inclusion. The radical potential of queer theorizing in early childhood education is only really becoming possible as early childhood educators recognise and resist the myriad of ways heteronormative discourses shape and pervade practice. This research shows that teachers and children alike are capable of disrupting heteronormativity and that such action can be used for tackling persistent issues of exclusion and injustice in early childhood education.

Author

• Alexandra Gunn, University of Otago