Interrogating the epistemic dimension for new beginnings in early childhood care and education

Abstract

Background: Currently, the globe is at the crossroads of a polycrisis where multiple shocks and interdependencies play out in an ever-evolving integrated world. Young children and their families bear the brunt of these realities through stresses that have a negative impact on them. In seeking better worlds in early childhood care and education (ECCE), it is imperative that universalised quick-fix solutions that sideline multiple perspectives and multivocality do not become the norm.

Aim: This conceptual article aims to interrogate the epistemic dimension in ECCE by analysing resistance to dominant framings and possibilities for new beginnings.

Methods: Specific concepts from decolonial literature are unpacked and operationalised through a collective case study. Cases were purposively selected for their pushback elements from literature and the author’s experiences. The cases from the United States of America, Africa and South Africa were analysed for patterns of resistance and possibilities.

Results: The findings reveal that the resistance efforts from different geographical regions emanate from intentional actions to contest dominant perspectives in ECCE, and to reorient the epistemological space with affirming alternatives. As a collective, the case studies can be read as relational experiences that resist elimination and assimilation into universalised framings of ECCE.

Conclusion: The focus on the epistemic dimension from different geographical spaces, and more importantly from similar relational experiences, points to the importance of expanding a network of solidarity for a more inclusive ECCE science.

Contribution: This study contributes to filling the gap in knowledge in ECCE through a focus on how the epistemic dimension has the potential to be skewed in the current polycrisis unless concerted action is undertaken to develop polycentres that include multiple ways of knowing, thinking and feeling in ECCE.