More young children than ever before are spending their time in some form of early childhood service. But how do we know what they think about it? While there has been a move to take children's views into account more generally, very little attention has been given to listening to young children below the age of six or seven. This book is the first of its kind to focus on listening to young children, both from an international perspective and through combining theory, practice and reflection. With contributions and examples from researchers and practitioners in six countries it examines critically how listening to young children in early childhood services is understood and practised. Each chapter is rooted in the everyday lives of young children and presents a range of actual experiences for students and practitioners to draw from. Beyond listening goes further to address key questions emerging from early childhood services and research. These are What do we mean by listening? Why listen? How do we listen to young children? What view of the child do different approaches to listening presume? What risks does listening entail for young children? The authors are leading experts in this area of rapidly growing interest and have themselves developed innovative methods such as the Mosaic approach, which is discussed in the book.

This book explores questions related to social and cultural sustainability of coastal communities in transition through the lens of childhood. Contributors explore diverse local and national contexts spanning several countries aiming to shed light on the shifting and dynamic interplay between education, knowledge production, society and working life in coastal environments from an intergenerational perspective. Key points that are disclosed are: the current threat to the social and cultural sustainability of coastal communities in different local and national contexts, and the reason they must be preserved the centrality of processes of inter generational transmission of local knowledge to the preservation and development of sustainable coastal communities the central role of children and young people as actors in creating sustainable livelihoods, economies and knowledge in coastal communities for the future? the practices across different country contexts The book will address the challenges to sustainability experienced by local communities in light of local, national and global social and economic changes. Looking at these challenges cross-nationally and through the lens of childhood, and knowledge production across generations, will provide for a much-needed perspective in ongoing discussion on sustainability in coastal communities.

This edited volume provides a critical account of the theories and policies that have informed work in the field of early childhood and explores how they have operated in practice. Underpinning the theoretical debates are the familiar tensions between global norms and local contexts; increasing inequality alongside economic progress, and the increasing prominence of business and the private sector in delivering aid programs. The authors offer a profound critique on an increasingly important topic and discuss alternative models of policy and practice.

This edited volume provides a critical account of the theories and policies that have informed work in the field of early childhood and explores how they have operated in practice. Underpinning the theoretical debates are the familiar tensions between global norms and local contexts; increasing inequality alongside economic progress, and the increasing prominence of business and the private sector in delivering aid programs. The authors offer a profound critique on an increasingly important topic and discuss alternative models of policy and practice.

Children's spaces are widening culturally and socially. Socially, children s spaces are more often multilocal. Culturally, they are enlarged through mobility in the globalized and virtual spaces in the media-saturated world. Children's times are also less confined by strict borderlines. The more flexible and individualized use of time in the world of work impacts on children's lives in families, day care, and school. The chapters of this volume each present particular temporal and spatial aspects of social change in childhood. The book is directed toward considering the impact of such change on children's welfare. As former boundaries between generations begin to blur and neo-liberal forces enter all realms of people's lives, it can no longer be taken for granted as it was in former periods of modernity that continued efforts to realize the childhood project will automatically guarantee the "best interest of the child." With respect to children's welfare in time and space, Flexible Childhood? discusses tensions between demands from the market economy, dynamics of rationalization and technology, and visions of a "good" childhood. Together with the above companion volume Childhood, Generational Order and the Welfare State, also by the University Press of Southern Denmark this book is the final result of COST Action A19, Children's Welfare, which has been supported by the European COST Framework.