Early childhood pedagogies: spaces for young children to flourish

This opening presentation is based on my paper in the Early Child Development and Care 'Early Childhood Pedagogy' Special Issue (185, 11-12) and begins by considering the complexities and contested spaces that occupy The Past and Present of Early Childhood Pedagogy. Discussion then turns to a range of some established Early Childhood Pedagogies, before a short section - Transitioning towards New Discourses – paves the way for an introduction to the new contributions in this issue: New Perspectives on Early Childhood Pedagogies. In the presentation I argue that early childhood pedagogy is a contested, complex and diverse space yet these factors are entirely appropriate for supporting young children to flourish as valued individuals in different contexts. Building on this argument, I posit that it may be more appropriate to discuss early childhood pedagogies rather than early childhood pedagogy in the singular.