Negotiating Colonial Legacies and Neo-Liberal Ideologies in Post-Colonial Bangladesh's Early Childhood Education Policy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: International Perspectives of Education (Table 6)

Abstract

This research examines the negotiation of colonial, neo-colonial, and neo-liberal ideologies in Bangladesh's Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy through a post-colonial theoretical lens. It uses Foucauldian discourse analysis to investigate the Operational Framework for Pre-Primary Education in Bangladesh. The study's findings demonstrate that the policy document and its view on childhood development rely on Eurocentric developmental and neoliberal ideologies, perpetuating hierarchical structures and universal competencies reminiscent of colonial legacies. These elements reinforce power dynamics prioritizing institutional goals over children's cultural identities, selfhood, and agency. The study suggests that while colonial influences continue to shape ECE policies, there is an ongoing negotiation process to contextualize and potentially hybridize such policies within Bangladesh's socio-economic context.

Author

• Md Rifat Hassan Liju, Pennsylvania State University