Feminism(s) in Early Childhood

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Kylie Smith, Kate Alexander, Sheralyn Campbell

   Pages 1-7

3. Feminism(s) Reconceptualising Histories

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

      PDF

   2. Feminism and the Development of Early Childhood Education in Australia

      • Margaret M. Coady

      Pages 11-24

   3. The Didgeridoo, an Instrument of Oppression or Decolonisation?

      • Sue Lopez-Atkinson

      Pages 25-33

   4. Celebrating Pioneering and Contemporary Feminist Approaches to Studying Gender in Early Childhood

      • Jayne Osgood, Kerry H. Robinson

      Pages 35-47

   5. Black Feminist Thought in Early Childhood Studies: (Re)Centering Marginalized Feminist Perspectives

      • Michelle Salazar Pérez

      Pages 49-62

4. Feminism(s) Reconceptualising Institutions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 63-63

      PDF

   2. The Entangled Enlivening of Being: Feminist Research Strategies in the Early Years

      • Bronwyn Davies

      Pages 65-74

   3. Enhancing Feminism and Childhoods in Kenya Through Stronger Education Policy, Access, and Action

      • Mercy Musomi, Beth Blue Swadener

      Pages 75-87

   4. What’s Wrong with Equality? Developing a Critical Conceptual Understanding of Equality of Condition in Early Childhood Care and Education

      • Colette Murray

      Pages 89-104

   5. Love and the Nuclear Family in the Kindergarten: Critical Analyses of HeteronormativitieS

      • Marcela Montserrat Fonseca Bustos

      Pages 105-117

5. Feminism(s) Reconceptualising Practice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 119-119

      PDF

   2. Time and Relationship: Paternal and Maternal Tensions in Teacher Narratives

      • Sonya L. Gaches

      Pages 121-133

   3. Engaging with Feminist Poststructuralism to Inform Gender Equity Practice in Early Childhood Classrooms in Pakistan

      • Audrey D’Souza Juma

      Pages 135-147

   4. Feminism and Early Childhood Education in Indonesia: Teachers’ Reflections

      • Sri Marpinjun, Patricia G. Ramsey

      Pages 149-163

   5. Gender Identities in the Australian Early Years Learning Framework

      • Rebecca Simpson-Dal Santo

      Pages 165-177

   6. Are We There Yet? Gender Equity Journeys in Early Childhood Practice

      • Sheralyn Campbell, Kate Alexander, Kylie Smith

      Pages 179-192

This unique book brings together international scholars from around the globe to examine how different feminist theories are being used in early childhood research, policy and pedagogy. The array of feminist discourses captured by the authors offer contextualised possibilities for disrupting dominant patriarchal beliefs and producing change. The authors address and challenge how early childhood experiences, institutions and practices produce gendered effects across and within diverse contexts and demonstrate how feminism(s) in action can be used to reconceptualise research methods, government policy, children’s learning, teaching practice and educational resources. In this way, the book contributes to creating new knowledge connections and community alliances in the global effort to end gender-based inequalities across local and global communities. 

• Early Childhood Practice
• Early childhood education
• Early childhood pedagogy
• Early childhood policy
• Early childhood studies
• Equity in education
• Feminism in early childhood
• Feminist theories
• Gender and children
• International Early Childhood
• Leadership in Early Childhood
• Social justice in education

• Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

  Kylie Smith, Kate Alexander, Sheralyn Campbell

Kylie Smith is a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Youth Research Centre and Associate Dean Research Training at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education. Her research examines how theory and practice can challenge the implementation of equity in the early childhood classroom. She has worked with children, parents and teachers to build safe and respectful communities.


Kate Alexander is a Senior Administrator at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education, where she provides support to staff located in the Youth Research Centre. Previously, she worked as a Research Fellow on a variety of research projects, grants and publications development exploring equity issues in early childhood. She has completed a Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies (Hons), a Master of Education (Research) that focused on gender and early childhood and is currently undertaking a PhD on the life histories of researchers that explore gender inearly childhood.


Sheralyn Campbell is an educator and fellow at the University of Melbourne. Most recently she has worked as manager of children’s services for a small rural Australian local government organisation. She has worked for 40 years in a range of Australian children’s services and completed her doctoral studies with the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood. Her research and practice have focused on creating changes to how equity and diversity are experienced in early childhood education and care settings.

Policies and ethics