Histories, Hopes, Myths, and Monsters: Critical Humanities in Early Childhood

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Four qualitative researchers detail the precarities and possibilities of young children and teachers mobilizing the humanities to engage difficult (hi)stories. Drawing from projects from across the United States-- a Northeastern first-grade, early elementary classrooms in the Midwest and South, and a California teacher education classroom--the authors resituate the conversation on critical social issues. Instead of questioning where critical topics fit into the curriculum, the authors detail how young children and teachers agentically make space for critical (hi)stories. Together, presenters highlight young children as capable of (and interested in) engaging the humanities as an intellectual space for sociopolitical participation and action. They close by arguing that equitable access to critical (hi)stories is a social justice issue.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Perspectives on Early Childhood Education

Chair

• Kristen White, Northern Michigan University

Papers

• Sonic Civics, Heard Histories: Examining Walking as a "Sound" Method in Early Childhood Geography - Jon Michael Wargo, Boston College

• Toward Critical Hope: The Difficult History of Japanese American Incarceration in Early Childhood Classrooms - Noreen Naseem Rodriguez, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Troubling State (of) Affairs: A Critical Analysis of a State-Approved Field Trip for Young Learners - Cassie J. Brownell, University of Toronto

• Confronting Myths and Monsters: Early Childhood History Education and the Challenge of Intellectual Honesty - Harper Benjamin Keenan, University of British Columbia

Discussant

• Anne-Lise F. Halvorsen, Michigan State University