Critical Pedagogy: A Useful Framework for Thinking about Early Childhood Curriculum

Abstract

In this time of rapid curriculum change within early childhood education, critical pedagogy is an ideal framework from which to view early childhood curriculum practice and research. It is the intention of this paper to provide a snapshot of the basic tenets of critical pedagogy and how these can be applied to early childhood curricular decision-making, particularly in relation to preschool education. This paper is conceptual in its make up and maintains that early childhood education benefits from being part of the inter-sectoral curricular discourse. Its aim is to familiarise early childhood educators and researchers with the language of critique offered by critical pedagogy and show how this can be a useful framework for thinking about early childhood curriculum.