The Concept of the Child, Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Accountability in Early Childhood Education for a Post-Covid-19 World

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors suggest that Dewey’s philosophy can provide valuable insight and direction for early childhood education in the new realities generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Uncertainty has become the new certainty as the world has been rapidly catapulted into a changed and often unrecognisable place. The pandemic continues to impact political, social, economic, and education contexts in unimaginable ways that are transforming what was understood as defining these institutions prior to Covid-19. Children have been identified as among a specific and vulnerable section of the population who may have experienced the pandemic differently, in terms of potential exposure to parental unemployment, domestic violence, maltreatment, undernourishment, and disruption to their overall well-being and development. At this time, it remains critical that our pedagogy and curriculum in early childhood education systems support and empower children in their learning and development through focusing on developing the dispositions and meta-skills required to negotiate the emerging realities of an increasingly uncertain world. In this chapter, through exploring Dewey’s philosophy, as it applies to early childhood education, the authors conclude that these insights suggest a foundational vision within which we can legitimately continue to extend and operationalise a research-informed high-quality early childhood education system.