Shades of Globalization casts an ethnographic eye on the interplay between local and global influences on the organization and activities within three early childhood settings, each of which is located in a context of rapid social change. Stemming from a four-year study of early childhood thought and practice, each of the eight chapters touches on a different aspect of the three case study preschools, one each in India, South Africa, and an aboriginal community in Canada. The authors take a critical perspective on taken-for-granted assumptions about what constitutes the most appropriate preschool experience for children, querying for example, the meaning of school readiness within local communities.
This book will appeal to those who have an interest in the diversity of children's lives and preschool experiences throughout the world - education and social policy makers, teacher educators, teachers, pre-service student teachers, day-care workers, parents, community leaders, governmental and non-governmental organizations and consultants, early childhood program planners and evaluators, community development workers, university lecturers, and developmental psychologists.
Ailie Cleghorn is Professor of Education at Concordia University in Montreal. She teaches in the Educational Studies Masters Program and conducts research that is grounded in her field of comparative sociology of education. Earlier publications include Issues in African Education: Sociological Perspectives, with Ali A. Abdi (Palgrave-MacMillan) and Missing the Meaning: The Development and Use of Print and Non-Print Text Materials in Diverse School Settings, with Alan Peacock (Palgrave-MacMillan).
Larry Prochner is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Alberta. His research centres on the historical and comparative study of education. Recent publications include The History of Early Childhood Education in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (University of British Columbia Press), and Early Childhood Care and Education: Theory and Practice, with Prerana Mohite (Concept Publishers).
The Afterword is written by Professor Jessica Ball, School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, British Columbia. Professor Ball is the Principal Investigator on projects in the Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships program at the University of Victoria. She is also Coordinator of First Nations Partnership Programs - a two-year diploma program in early childhood education and youth care, delivered through partnerships with Indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions in western Canada. She has worked extensively to protect cultural diversity and support development of community-based services to promote optimal child health and development.