Bodies as Sites of Cultural Reflection in Early Childhood Education (Changing Images of Early Childhood) - Hardcover

"A fascinating read but one that could potentially be a little cognitively challenging in places, if you are more a fan of practical, rather than academic, books. This would be very helpful for students looking to do an interesting dissertation for their early years degree, MA or PHD." – Martine Horvath, EYE Magazine

"Implicit cultural beliefs shape how children’s bodies are read, organized, responded to, and disciplined in early childhood education. This book makes some of these taken-for-granted beliefs and practices visible, thereby allowing for discussion about what it is that we believe about and want for young children in daycare." - Gail Boldt, Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State University, USA

"This book is closely aligned with the changing, theoretically advancing field of early childhood education at large. The work is interesting, critically reflective, effectively engages critical theories, and addresses the changing nature of the fields of study. The authors effectively use popular critical theoretical perspectives to deconstruct popular notions about children and childhood and embed creative research lenses to assist in these focused endeavors." - Richard T. Johnson, Professor, Curriculum Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

Taking the body as a locus for discussion, Rachael S. Burke and Judith Duncan argue not only that implicit cultural practices shape most of the interactions taking place in early childhood curricula and pedagogy but that many of these practices often go unnoticed or unrecognized as being pedagogy. Current scholars, inspired by Foucault, acknowledge that the body is socially and culturally produced and historically situated―it is simultaneously a part of nature and society as well as a representation of the way that nature and society can be conceived. Every natural symbol originating from the body contains and conveys a social meaning, and every culture selects its own meaning from the myriad of potential body symbolisms.

Bodies as Sites of Cultural Reflection in Early Childhood Education uses empirical examples from qualitative fieldwork conducted in New Zealand and Japan to explore these theories and discuss the ways in which children’s bodies represent a central focus in teachers’ pedagogical discussions and create contexts for the embodiment of children’s experiences in the early years.