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Embracing Complexity and Diversity: A Vision of Early Childhood Curriculum - Weipeng Yang (杨伟鹏), 2023 (sagepub.com)
Article Information
Manuscript received: September 18, 2022
Manuscript accepted: October 25, 2022
Published online: November 26, 2022
Issue published: May 2023
Author
Weipeng Yang (杨伟鹏)
The Education University of Hong Kong
This book, co-authored by Philip Hui Li and Jennifer J. Chen (2023), offers a critical set of theoretical frameworks that can help bridge the policy–practice and belief–practice gaps widely documented in the existing research literature on Early Childhood Curriculum (ECC) reforms in different contexts, especially in the Global South (e.g., Altinyelken, 2010; Bautista et al., 2021; Sikoyo, 2010; Yang & Li, 2022).
Li and Chen (2023) make a strong argument that meanwhile promotes an advanced understanding of ECC. In this book, aligned with a recent line of research (e.g., Bautista et al., 2021; Chen et al., 2017; Yang & Li, 2022), they propose a new hybrid model for curriculum making in early childhood as they present the historical evolution of theoretical perspectives on ECC. Alternative frameworks are presented in this book to provoke Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) stakeholders to reflect on a reliance on the developmental perspective.
Li and Chen (2023) criticize the simplistic, naive, and fragmented traditional discourse, despite its being widely taken for granted, and fully restore the complexity and diversification of ECC by paving a “middle way” via a “fusion” discourse that may be inspired by the Doctrine of the Mean (or “Zhongyong” [中庸]) in Confucianism. Various old and new theories are explained in simple terms, combined with an in-depth analysis of American and Chinese cases. The authors have also introduced new theoretical frameworks such as the dual-centeredness hybrid theory (appreciating both teachers’ and children's central roles in the process of education), the 3CAPs framework (Culturally, Contextually, and Child-Individually Appropriate Practices), and the “Opportune Time, Geographic Advantage, and Unity of the People” framework. Let us take Chapter 3 as an example. Constructivism is first and foremost a product of globalization. Neither Vygotsky nor Piaget used this term to define their own theory of learning and development; instead, it is the result of a high degree of simplification in the process of globalization. Many ECCs claim to be based on constructivism, but in fact, when they are implemented, they all without exception implement a certain degree of teacher-directed instruction. Notably, Vygotsky did not exclude teacher–student interaction as a learning process. The radicalized constructivist curriculum is essentially a denial of the role of adult educators, and of adult experience and a systematic knowledge system. This radical approach to theorizing ECC is indeed worthy of criticism.
Li and Chen's (2023) book takes a position somewhat parallel to that of post-structural theory. This book inspires readers to understand and implement ECC through a pluralistic, open, and continuous approach. Pluralism requires people to examine the complexity of curriculum practices from multiple perspectives. Openness deems ECC as the medium to cope with social change. It argues that the reflection and transformation of curriculum practices can be achieved through micro-level decomposition (Yang, 2021). In other words, pluralism requires a macroscopic understanding of the curriculum, while openness requires the microscopic transformation of curriculum. Furthermore, continuity requires that ECC be viewed as a process rather than an outcome and that the understanding and transformation of curriculum be viewed as a spiraling process with continuing improvement (Yang, 2021).
The hybrid approach to curriculum discussed in this book helps the ECEC sector respond to the global and local cultures and bridge policy–practice gaps. This stance of embracing diversity and complexity is critical to advancing the agenda of ECC research and practice, especially in a rapidly changing and complex society, so that the curriculum (or a collection of curricula) can be future-ready to meet diverse intellectual needs.