Toward liberatory early childhood theory, research and praxis : decolonizing a field

This article presents an overview of current theoretical, ideological and methodological approaches to early childhood development. The focus is on the landscape and discourse emerging from USA and Western literature, which have seen an expansion of the field in several and intersecting directions, including scientific orientations; qualitative/interpretive research; early multicultural and bilingual education; advocacy and social justice; critical reconceptualist, feminist, and post-colonial theory; liberatory praxis. The paper supports a post-colonial hybridity, entailing the development of a liberating critical discourse space in early childhood theory, research and praxis