Description:
The articles in this special issue address ECEC through a social work lens in several ways. First, they draw from social work values, such as social justice, equality, and self-determination. Second, they elucidate the value of using a holistic, person-in-environment orientation to analyze and develop the many aspects of early education and care. The person-in-environment perspective is familiar to social workers but often missing from discussions when early education and child care programs and policies are designed and evaluated. Third, the articles explore the ways that, like social work, ECEC work tends to be essentialized, naturalized, and gendered (coded as "women's work"), despite the fact that such work requires skill and has, as its focus, the well-being of future generations. Finally, taken together, these articles demonstrate the need for advocacy from social workers and our allies to find common ground to improve the systems and daily operations of early education and child care. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Other