Paulette Luff

Democratic and participatory approaches: Exemplars from early childhood education

The argument presented in this paper is that understanding and appreciating participatory approaches in early childhood education may serve as a basis for further development of such practices within the early years sector, and also provide examples and challenges for the leadership and management of schools and other educational institutions. Drawing upon John Dewey’s ideal of education for democracy through communication and cooperation, we focus in turn on different stakeholders. Ideas and exemplars, from the literature and from research into practice, are selected to illustrate: respect for children’s viewpoints; inclusion of student practitioners as legitimate participants; and possibilities for egalitarian approaches to decision making with staff through collegial, distributed leadership and management.

Early childhood education for sustainability: origins and inspirations in the work of John Dewey

ABSTRACT In this article, the work of John Dewey is recontextualised and proposed as a basis for contemporary early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). Five key themes are explored: experiential learning; curiosity and critical thinking; children’s experiences in nature; democracy and participation and classroom as community. In each case, claims are made through aligning the work of Dewey with exemplars from current early childhood practice. The focus is reflection upon the educator as facilitator of dynamic interactions between the learner and her/his experiences, fostering individual growth, influencing social change and, thus, creating possibilities for implementation of ECEfS within early years classrooms.