“Confronted by what we argue is a highly instrumental and impoverished discourse about preschools, which privileges technical practice in the interest of achieving predetermined outcomes, we have tried to imagine a different possibility: the preschool first and foremost as a public space for ethical and democratic political practice, where education takes the form of of a pedagogy of listening related to the ethics of an encounter , and a lively minor politics dominant discourses and injustice.” (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005, p. 179)
In the quote above Dahlberg and Moss (2005) are engaging in Utopian thinking. In Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education they have continuously challenged me to imagine new alternatives. This helps us resist conforming to the prescribed norms, but I believe that it is not sufficient. Dahlberg and Moss (2005) state that “Utopian thinking is not enough by itself to bring about radical change. That needs also a willingness to act” (p. 179). They describe “spaces where there is an openness to experimentation, research, and continuous reflection, critique and argumentation” (p. 179). Utopia is a very big dream. We might feel paralyzed by the impossibility of ever reaching it. (And as I am writing this, I believe Utopia, like Democracy, is something always in the making and always just our of reach. I wrote about this in a previous blog entry.)That’s why I believe it is a good idea to start small, to act locally where you are right now. Having a structure in place that supports Utopian thinking at my work has become more and more important to me. The previously mentioned Book Club offers us the space to dream big. A space to listen to each other, have conversations and and engage in Utopian thinking. We don’t have to change the world, but we are open to reflecting about our own practices.
A classmate has introduced me to the following video Learning from Europe with Gunilla Dahlberg. After reading Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education, it is very interesting to listen to Gunilla Dahlberg herself. In this video she speaks about listening to children to understand more about their learning process. Often our guidelines and goals distract us from the process of learning. By insuring that we are following quality guidelines, we might miss the learning that is already happening.
In the video Dahlberg also talks about the 100 languages of children (t. 2:00). This connects to the Book Club where we talked about Greene’s (1995) reminder that we “have a number of languages to hand and not verbal or mathematical languages alone. Some children may find articulation though imagery; others, through body movement; still others, through musical sound.” (p. 57) I question how the 100 languages of children will help me to further think about reaching beyond quality. Once we start tapping into them, we will find ourselves on new territory. We will have to listen to each other, trying to grasp the intangible. And maybe there will be no tests designed to help us measure learning outcomes. That is my Utopia.
References
Dahlberg, G., & Moss, P. (2005). Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education. New York: RoutledgeFalmer
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the Imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Antje,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Gunilla Dahlberg’s clip, not only is it interesting to put face to name of those whose work we study, but I was also impacted by the simplicity of her statement that in education when we focus on targets, standards and results, we lose track of the process of learning. I wonder how many very bright children are silenced or unseen because they don’t “hit the target” of the learning goals that have been set for them? How many young learners give up on “school” because no one has taken the time to understand the language they speak? In thinking about the “100 Languages of Children” could we also consider a possible disconnect between how children hear educators and whether they understand the language in which they are being taught? For example, can school curriculum be presented in more visual or manipulative ways so more children might understand the teacher? I am not sure where I first saw Sir Ken Robinson speak on creativity being killed by our schools but it follows Dahlberg’s suggestion that children already have many answers, if we would only listen to them.
To view Sir Ken Robinson Video:
http://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY
Perhaps Utopia could include a place where children are genuinely listened to in which ever language they best “speak”.
I hope you continue with your blog as your new studies move you down different paths of considering quality in ECE. Lori Roberts