Early Childhood Voices: Who is Really Talking?

Abstract

The early childhood classroom is a space filled with contradictions. While a primary classroom is full of possibility, there exists a quiet narrative that we take for granted which serves to silence the voices of both children and teachers. This narrative is powerful in the space it occupies and within these contexts it manifests itself in a variety of ways. The goal of this article is to highlight some of the ways in which we are silenced and perhaps offer the courage to reframe our daily lives in the early childhood context. The article is inspired from a critical theory perspective, taking into consideration the issues related to power and oppression. The author believes these themes are real and very alive in our classrooms and it serves us as teachers to look critically at our circumstances so that we may begin to reclaim our voices. To deny that themes of oppression exist in our spaces is to further deny our voices, as teachers, and of those of our youngest learners. This article examines the following themes of classroom spaces and curriculum. The author observes that these themes play themselves out in her own classroom and other early childhood settings, which she believes serve to silence the voices of those who live in these spaces.