Theorizing Feminist Ethics of Care in Early Childhood Practice: Possibilities and Dangers (Feminist Thought in Childhood Research)

This open access book responds to a growing academic interest in theorizing care and care work in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The contributors theorize a new feminist ethics of care in everyday early childhood practice, revealing its complexities and importance. Drawing on feminist theories and philosophies, the chapter authors show how the caring practices of early childhood educators involve values, emotions, decision-making, action and work. Using cutting-edge theory, authors address the social locations and the inclusion and exclusion of both care givers and care receivers. With contributions from Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, the volume brings together early childhood studies, sociology, psychology, philosophy and critical disability studies to offer diverse perspectives on feminist ethics of care in early childhood practice and its possibilities and dangers. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Cover Half title Series Title Copyright Contents List of Figures Notes on Contributors Series Editors’ Introduction Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Contesting and Transforming Care: An Introduction to a Critical Ethics of Care 2 An Ethics of Care in Culturally Diverse Early Childhood Settings: Toward an Ethics of Unknowing 3 Conceptualizing Care as Being and Doing in Ethical Interactions and Sustained Care Relationships in the Early Childhood Institution 4 Care as Ethic, Care as Labor 5 Cultivating Ethical Dispositions in Early Childhood Practice for an Ethic of Care: A Contemplative Approach 6 “I Already Know I Care!”: Illuminating the Complexities of Care Practices in Early Childhood and Teacher Education 7 Ripples: The Absence and Presence of Care amid Social Injustice in the Elementary Classroom 8 The Controversy of Ravza’s Pacifier: In Search of Embodied Care in Preschool Education 9 Nurturing Hope to Support Autonomy: The Role of Early Childhood Educators 10 Enacting Twenty-First-Century Early Childhood Education: Curriculum as Caring Index "This book responds to a growing academic interest in theorizing care and care work in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The contributors theorize a new feminist ethics of care in everyday early childhood practice, revealing its complexities and importance. Drawing on feminist theories and philosophies, the chapter authors show how the caring practices of early childhood educators involve values, emotions, decision-making, action and work. Using cutting-edge theory, authors address the social locations and the inclusion and exclusion of both care givers and care receivers. With contributions from Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, the volume brings together early childhood studies, sociology, psychology, philosophy and critical disability studies to offer diverse perspectives on feminist ethics of care in early childhood practice and its possibilities and dangersp--Bloomsbury Publishing.