By drawing upon the 'Reggio approach', other post-structural theories and new thinking about democratic politics and power, this book sets out to explore the ethical and political dimensions of early childhood services. With governments worldwide looking for 'returns' through their 'investment' in services for children, the authors argue that the importance of these services are reduced to technical and managerial matters, without informed consideration for what is best for the child.

Table of Contents

1. Opening Narrative 2. Technology as First Practice 3. What Ethics? 4. Preschools as a Loci of Ethical Practice 5. Towards a Pedagogy of Listening 6. Major and Minor Politics 7. The Preschool as a Site for Democratic Politics 8. In Search of Utopia

Reviews

'This book is bold and challenging; it deals with complex ideas and the authors are not afraid to engage with difficult, abstract and complex concepts and apply them directly to practice. By challenging many standard features of existing services the book generates a range of useful insights ... It provides for the practitioner, student or academic who is prepared to invest a little time in getting to grips with its central ideas a compelling vision of an unashamedly utopian model of service provision.' - Journal of Early Childhood Research