Michel Vandenbroeck

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 1-18, 2018

I will start my keynote with a short historical hindsight. In that hindsight I will particularly look at two historical periods and how science has played a role in what we consider to be true. The first period is the period in which early childhood education has come about: the late 19th and early 20th century. From a scientific perspective it was a glorious period with new developments in statistics, in prophylaxis and in eugenics. The second period is the period after the second world war. It was the period of developmental psychology, attachment theory et cetera. So, my point there is not to tell a history of early childhood education, but to tell a history of how truth has been constructed. And my main point in telling that story is that what we consider as truth is always contingent with the social, cultural, economic and political context. Then I will turn to a second part of my lecture: a comment on today’s rise of the neurosciences, and its contingency with the context of neoliberalism. In a third part, I will attempt to analyse this story from a meta-perspective and comment on the rise of post foundationalism and post humanism and ask the question to what extent that is also contingent with the post truth era and what this may mean for us as an early childhood research community.

post humanism, post truth, post foundationalism

Liselott Mariett Olsson

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 19-31, 2018

I will during this research address the title Early Childhood Education in a More-Than-Human Era through first identifying a current state of “abstract formalism” consisting in abstraction and neglect of 1) the material context of education, 2) the sense in and of education, and 3) the history of education. Thereafter I will propose 3 suggestions possibly capable of counteracting this three-folded abstract formalism: 1) pay attention to the more-than human in education, 2) use a theory of sense capable of counteracting both relativism and convention, and 3) make history speak with our current problems. Finally, I will draw up some conclusions on how we might need to proceed.

more-than-human, theory of sense, post-truth

노지영 Jee Young Noh

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 33-45, 2018

Substantial research in developmental science has shown that children are highly sensitive to considerations of equality and equity when making fair distribution decisions. That is, children show a strong preference for equal treatment (e.g., everyone should receive an equal number of resources) in a context-free situation. At the same time, when children perceive a legitimate reason for inequality stemming from moral concerns, such as when one person is perceived as more deserving than others, they will often choose to deviate from strict equality and make decisions based on equity (allocating resources to rectify the inequality), again suggesting a deeply ingrained sense of fairness (Olson & Spelke, 2008; Schmidt, Svetlova, Johe, & Tomasello, 2016). Thus far, no systematic literature review has yielded an in-depth discussion of this line of research, despite the rich findings in the area of children’s understanding of distributive justice. The current review fills this gap by thoroughly synthesizing previous research work on children’s understanding of fair distributions and suggesting future directions for research on the subject.

fairness, resource allocation, distributive justice

권재희 Jaehee Kwon

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 47-67, 2018

This study explores middle-class Korean immigrant mothers’ purposes and values reflected in their book selections in the U.S. Once a month for seven months, data about their book selections were collected from interviews, observation, and documents. The findings showed that these mothers preferred informational books as a way of overcoming minority status, and their book selections were restrained by their middle-class habitus. This study also revealed that the mothers used Korean or English books depending on their needs to teach Korean or American culture. On the basis of the findings, this paper suggests that it is necessary to understand the diverse educational purposes and values of immigrant parents and use multicultural literature in class to discuss race and social class issues that parents might emphasize less at home.

parents’ book selection, Korean immigrants, multiculutral literature, middle-class, habitus

배숙현 Suk Hyon Bae , 서영숙 Young Sook Suh

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 69-83, 2018

This qualitative study is based on Deleuzian methodology and examines the internal meaning of children's relationships with environments by reviewing conflict styles employed during free choice activities. By reviewing the meaning of “relationship,” “ritornello,” and “becoming,” this study attempts to understand Gilles Deleuze's “rhizomatic relationship” from the perspective of posthumanism. To understand conflict situations and determine the internal meaning of phenomena, participants were selected from a private and a company-run daycare center, using purposeful sampling. Interviews with a director and a teacher were conducted, and children who frequently caused conflicts were observed when they played together. Daily logs from observations and captured video files were also used. Conflicts that occur during free choice activities can be interpreted as “rhizomatic relationships” representative of Deleuze’s “movement variations.” The diversity that is characteristic of post-humanism and transboundary rhizomatic relationships is also needed in daycare centers and can be used to provide emotionally responsive childcare.

Deleuze, post-humanism, rhizomatic relationship, conflict relation, free choice activities

박건령 Keon-ryeong Park

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 85-101, 2018

This study aims to re-imagining young ethnic minority children’s visual storytelling as sociocultural meaning-making practices by identifying their drawings and talk as one of a hundred languages that could be a useful tool for examining children’s emic perspectives on their immigrant status and social interactions within U.S. and global contexts, including early childhood learning. This research introduces a curriculum as well as a research approach called the Critical Ethnic Narrative Through Arts (CENTA), a Reggio-Emilia-inspired approach using an arts-integrated multi-method model to help young ethnic minority children and their teachers explore ethnicity issues related to immigration, sociocultural identity, and language. Along with the portraits of two Korean immigrant children (a fouryear- old boy and a six-year-old girl), the author examines cases of young Korean-American immigrant children’s visual storytelling. Their drawings and talk/narratives are shared to illustrate how Korean- American children’s experiences in two cultural worlds have been captured and revealed through the CENTA approach.

young ethnic minority children, visual storytelling, drawing, talk/narratives, arts-integrated multi-method mode

김현수 Hyunsu Kim , 안효진 Hyo Jin Ahn

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 103-130, 2018

This study explored children’s experiences of the process of solving engineering-based block building problems using blocks. Thirteen children aged four years in Y kindergarten located in I City were chosen as participants. Data was collected through observation, interviews, and video-recording. Firstly, analysis of data showed that children experienced the engineering design process such as engaging in iterative problem solving, brainstorming, and decision making; and it considered constraints, design testing and evaluation, and the incorporation of math science concepts. Secondly, this study also found that children demonstrated several engineering habits of mind such as persistence, collaboration, and communication while solving engineering-based block building problems. The research findings will indicate the scope for engineering education for young children and guide in the attempt to develop an engineering curriculum in the field of early childhood education.

young children, engineering- based block building problems, engineering education

박영미 Young-mi Park

DOI: Vol.24(No.2) 131-152, 2018

This qualitative study set out to investigate the ways pre-service early childhood teachers performed service-learning at a daycare center with multicultural children in the J area and how their perception of young, multicultural children changed, along with their efficacy in multicultural teaching. The research analyzed the service-learning logbooks, service-learning final diaries, and in-depth interviews of 12 pre-service early childhood teachers who undertook service-learning in relation to early childhood multicultural education. The findings were as follows: First, as volunteers, the pre-service early childhood teachers had compassion for multicultural children at the beginning of the service-learning. They focused on their difficulties and provided help to meet their individual needs. As the servicelearning progressed, they abandoned their negative prejudices toward multicultural children and came to understand them positively. Second, as learners, the pre-service teachers initially approached children carefully because they could not define their role toward them and could not interact with the young children appropriately. However, as the service-learning progressed, they learned practical knowledge such as teaching methods and role-model learning that fostered their efficacy in multicultural teaching.

service-learning, early childhood multicultural education, teacher preparation program