Textbook time travel: Narratives of progress and omission in early childhood education histories

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 11:45 am
  In Poster Session: Constructing Early Childhood Education: Ideologies, Influences, and Discourses

Abstract

Introductory textbooks play a significant role in shaping the field of ECE, providing future teachers with modes of thinking and learning that can advance equity and justice. We apply a critical lens to analyze how popular textbooks for ECE teacher candidates frame the history of the field. Our analysis indicates that many texts fall short of equipping teachers with knowledge and skills to critically examine the settled moment and the historical choices and contexts that created and continue to impact present realities. Further, texts often failed to provide opportunities for individuals to locate their own intersectional identities, beliefs, and norms within historical and contemporary contexts in order to consider their own ethical future responsibilities to dismantle unjust educational systems.

Authors

• Carolyn Brennan, Western Washington University

• Charlene Montano Nolan, Western Washington University