Taking a broad approach, Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care relates issues of early childhood to the sociology of childhood, philosophy, ethics, political science and other fields and to an analysis of the world we live in today. It places these issues in a global context and draws on work from Canada, Sweden and Italy, including the world famous nurseries in Reggio Emilia. Working with postmodern ideas, this book questions the search to define and measure quality in the early childhood field and its tendency to reduce philosophical issues of value to purely technical and managerial issues of expert knowledge and measurement. With a brand new Preface to this classic text, the authors argue that there are other ways than the 'discourse of quality' for understanding and evaluating early childhood pedagogical work and relate these to alternative ways of understanding early childhood itself and the purposes of early childhood institutions.

What should be the relationship between early childhood and compulsory education? What can they learn from one another and by working together?

The rapid expansion of early childhood education and care means that most children in affluent countries now have several years at pre-school before compulsory education. This raises an important question about the relationship between the two. Whilst it's widely assumed that the former should prepare children for the latter, there are alternatives. This book contests the 'readying for school' relationship as neither self-evident nor unproblematic; and explores some alternative relationships, including a strong and equal partnership and the vision of a meeting place.

In this ground-breaking book, Professor Peter Moss discusses the issue with leading early childhood figures - from Belgium, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States -who bring very different perspectives to this contentious relationship. The book starts with an extended essay by Peter Moss, to which the other contributors are invited to respond critically, as well as offering their own thinking about the relationship between early childhood and compulsory education, both their current understandings and suggestions on future directions.

Students, researchers and academics in the field of early childhood education will find this an insightful and timely text. But so too will their peers in compulsory education, since the book time and again raises searching questions about pedagogical purpose and practice in this sector.

What should be the relationship between early childhood and compulsory education? What can they learn from one another and by working together? The rapid expansion of early childhood education and care means that most children in affluent countries now have several years at pre-school before compulsory education. This raises an important question about the relationship between the two. Whilst it's widely assumed that the former should prepare children for the latter, there are alternatives. This book contests the 'readying for school' relationship as neither self-evident nor unproblematic; and explores some alternative relationships, including a strong and equal partnership and the vision of a meeting place. In this ground-breaking book, Professor Peter Moss discusses the issue with leading early childhood figures - from Belgium, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States -who bring very different perspectives to this contentious relationship. The book starts with an extended essay by Peter Moss, to which the other contributors are invited to respond critically, as well as offering their own thinking about the relationship between early childhood and compulsory education, both their current understandings and suggestions on future directions. Students, researchers and academics in the field of early childhood education will find this an insightful and timely text. But so too will their peers in compulsory education, since the book time and again raises searching questions about pedagogical purpose and practice in this sector.

The early childhood services of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy has gained worldwide interest and admiration. Drawing on the OCyReggio approachOCO, and others, this book explores the ethical and political dimensions of early childhood services and argues the importance of these dimensions at a time when they are often reduced to technical and managerial projects, without informed consideration for what is best for the child.

Extending and developing the ideas raised in Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education the successful team of authors make a wide range of complex material accessible to readers who may have little knowledge of the various important and relevant areas within philosophy, ethics, or politics, covering subjects such as:

• post-structural thinkers and their perspectives
• the history and practice of early childhood work in Reggio Emilia
• globalization, technological change, poverty, and environmental degradation
• ethical and political perspectives relevant to early childhood services from Foucault and Deleuze, to Beck, Bauman and Rose.

This book presents essential ideas, theories and debates to an international audience. Those who would find this particularly useful are practitioners, trainers, students, researchers, policymakers and anyone with an interest in early childhood education."

Contents:
1. Governing the child in the new millenium: Kenneth Hultqvist and Gunilla Dahlberg; 2. Safety and danger: Childhood, Sexuality and Space at the end of the millennium; 3. Time Matters in Adolescence: Nancy Lesko; 4. The Pacing and Timing of Children's Bodies: Chris Jenks; 5. Administering Freedom. A History of the Present-Rescuing Parents to Rescue the Child for Society: Tom S. Popkewitz and Marianne Bloch; 6. Educating Flexible Souls: The construction of Subjectivity through Developmentality and Interactionism: Lynn Fendler; 7. Bringing the Angels Back? A modern pedagogical saga about excess in moderation: Kenneth Hultqvist; 8. Childhood, School and Family. Continuity and displacement in recent researchers: Marian Warde; 9. Childhood and the Politics of Memory in Argentina: Ines Dussell; 10. Construction of the Child in Mexican Legislative Discourse: Rosa Nidia Buenfil; 11. When post-structuralism meets Gender: Julie McLeod

The contributors and editors of this volume begin from the assumption that the changes wrought by globalization compel us to reflect upon the status of the child and childhood at the end of the twentieth century. Their essays consider what techniques are used to govern the child, what role the family plays, what is global and what is currently specific in the changes, and how the subject is constructed and construed.

Taking a broad approach, Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care relates issues of early childhood to the sociology of childhood, philosophy, ethics, political science and other fields and to an analysis of the world we live in today. It places these issues in a global context and draws on work from Canada, Sweden and Italy, including the world famous nurseries in Reggio Emilia. Working with postmodern ideas, this book questions the search to define and measure quality in the early childhood field and its tendency to reduce philosophical issues of value to purely technical and managerial issues of expert knowledge and measurement. With a brand new Preface to this classic text, the authors argue that there are other ways than the 'discourse of quality' for understanding and evaluating early childhood pedagogical work and relate these to alternative ways of understanding early childhood itself and the purposes of early childhood institutions.

The early childhood services of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy has gained worldwide interest and admiration. Drawing on the Reggio approach, and others, this book explores the ethical and political dimensions of early childhood services and argues the importance of these dimensions at a time when they are often reduced to technical and managerial projects, without informed consideration for what is best for the child.

Extending and developing the ideas raised in Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education the successful team of authors make a wide range of complex material accessible to readers who may have little knowledge of the various important and relevant areas within philosophy, ethics, or politics, covering subjects such as:

• post-structural thinkers and their perspectives
• the history and practice of early childhood work in Reggio Emilia
• globalization, technological change, poverty, and environmental degradation
• ethical and political perspectives relevant to early childhood services from Foucault and Deleuze, to Beck, Bauman and Rose.

This book presents essential ideas, theories and debates to an international audience. Those who would find this particularly useful are practitioners, trainers, students, researchers, policymakers and anyone with an interest in early childhood education.