Concluding reflections: current issues and future directions for comparative studies in early childhood education

ABSTRACT

In this article, we consider the current state of comparative studies in Early Childhood Education (ECE) and set out proposals for future directions, in particular contesting the increasing dominance of a ‘science of solutions’ and proposing the benefits and implications of pursuing a ‘science of difference’ (Nóvoa [2018]. “Comparing Southern Europe: The Difference, the Public, and the Common.” Comparative Education 54 (4): 548–561). By adopting a ‘critical’ perspective and working with Nóvoa’s concepts, we draw on the papers included in this special issue, to debate issues of purpose, paradigm, position, and power, alongside their significance for the comparative study of ECE. We argue that respecting and valuing diversity discourages solutionist technocratic comparative education approaches. The article maps directions from the past to the present and connects them with the future of comparative education in ECE as a diversity engaged, ethical and democratic ‘science’.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education
• comparative education
• purpose
• paradigm
• positionality
• power
• science of difference
• science of solution
• complexity and diversity

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diana Sousa

Diana Sousa is a Lecturer (Teaching) at the Institute of Education, University College London, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is a former early childhood educator, working in diverse ECE settings in Portugal and England. She holds an MA in Comparative Education, and a PhD in Education, which combined analysis of the historical and political dimensions of democracy in ECE with their manifestations in pedagogy.

Peter Moss

Peter Moss is an Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. As well as academic comparative research, he has undertaken work for the European Commission, OECD and UNESCO; he is currently writing a book about early childhood education in the Anglosphere.