The Socialist Politics of Early Childhood Education: Highlander Nursery School and Reggio Emilia Preschools, 1938-1970

• In Event: Histories of International Education: Social Justice, Identity, and Decolonization

Abstract

This paper brings two cases of early- to mid-20th century early childhood education experiments into conversation with one another to illuminate the political - namely socialist and communalist - inspiration and objectives that shaped both initiatives. One case represents origins of the still well-known and celebrated Reggio Emilia preschools in Italy, and the other represents the lesser known and short-lived but historically significant Highlander Nursery School in Tennessee run by the Highlander Folk School, which continues to be a powerful hub for political organizing and education. Using archival and secondary sources, we argue that these nursery school experiments were part of a socialist political organizing tradition, gesturing toward a richer, multi-sited image of Left-aligned social change in the 20th century.

Authors

• Briana Bivens, University of Florida

• Stephanie R. Jones, University of Georgia