A Feminist Socio-Ecological Framework for Transforming Early Learning Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

AbstractEarly learning programs (ELPs) are gendered sites that can deepen oppressive beliefs and practices (Davies in Gender, equity and early childhood, 1–42, Schools Commission, Canberra 1988, Davies in Frogs and snails and feminist tales: preschool children and gender, Allen & Unwin, Sydney 1989; Blaise in Early Childhood Research Quarterly 20:85–108, 2005; Blaise in Playing it straight: uncovering gender discourses in the early childhood classroom. Routledge, 2012; Grace and Eng in International Journal of Early Childhood 51:93–107, 2019; McNaughton in Rethinking gender in early childhood education. SAGE, 2000; Walkerdine in Sex, power and pedagogy, Screen Education, 38(Spring):14–24, 1981, Walkerdine in Femininity as performance, Oxford Review of Education 15(3):267–279, 1989, Walkerdine in Schoolgirl fictions, Verso, 1990). Despite increasing recognition of the importance of early childhood spaces in socializing gender norms, few programs systematically incorporate a gender lens, particularly outside of the Global North. Gender issues in early childhood are gaining attention as organizations contribute toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education, which highlights gender equality and early childhood education as critical areas of focus in poverty reduction (Plan International in Gender inequality and early childhood development: a review of the linkages, 2017a; Plan International in Synthesis report: Research into gender equality and early childhood development in eleven countries in Asia, 2017b; Save the Children in UNESCO. Strong foundations for gender equality in early childhood care and education—advocacy brief. Bangkok, Thailand, 2007). Approaches to gender in early learning programming lack a comprehensive theoretical or conceptual framework for developing gender-transformative ELPs that challenge inequitable power dynamics. Therefore, examinations of gender in these programs remain largely bereft of critical and comprehensive theoretical approaches. This creates a space in which to clarify feminist approaches that can address inequitable power dynamics that devalue and marginalize those impacted by ECPs. While largely conceptual, this research uses policy document analysis to understand how international organizations conceptualize gender in ELPs, examine the extent to which post-structural feminist and socio-ecological frameworks are applied in these organizations and what is being produced or constructed as a result of policy that addresses both gender and early childhood programs. It also provides a guiding framework and potential solution for the application of holistic feminist approaches in ELPs.KeywordsEarly childhood educationFeminismEarly learning programsUNESCOGender equality