Global Perspectives on Human Capital in Early Childhood Education : Reconceptualizing Theory, Policy, and Practice

Human capital theory, developing children as future workers, shapes thinking about early childhood education policy around the globe. International contributors problematize this thinking and offer alternatives. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction and Historical Perspective....Pages 3-25 Theorizing Dialogue among Various Voices in Critical Theory....Pages 27-43 Front Matter....Pages 45-45 Governing the Brain: New Narratives of Human Capital in Australian Early Childhood Education....Pages 47-69 The Instrumentality of Spanish in Early Spanish Education: Unraveling the “Linguistic Masquerade” via Storytelling....Pages 71-86 Human Capital Theory and the Promotion of the Entrepreneurial Attitude toward Early Education in Turkey....Pages 87-104 Human Capital Theory and Shifting Perceptions of Teachers in the United States....Pages 105-118 Reforming Early Childhood Education as a Smart Investment for the Future: Stories from East Asia....Pages 119-141 England’s Foundation Stage Child in a Shifting World: Troubling Grids of Reasoning of “Children with Potential,” “Normalization,” and “Value-Added” Curriculum....Pages 143-157 Deconstructing Human Capital Discourse in Early Childhood Education in Indonesia....Pages 159-179 Front Matter....Pages 181-181 And You Gotta Believe Me: When Social and Human Capital Collide....Pages 183-198 Economistic Subjects: Questioning Early Childhood Pedagogies of Learning, Participation, and Voice....Pages 199-213 How Human Capital Theory Sells Early Education Short: Revaluing Early Education through the Capabilities Approach....Pages 215-229 Concluding and Moving Forward....Pages 231-232 Back Matter....Pages 233-240