- ISBN13: 9780804761024
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
A array of childcare and preschool options blossomed in the 1970s as the feminist movement spurred mothers into careers and community organizations nurtured new programs. Now a small circle of activists aims to bring more order to childhood, seeking to create a more standard, state-run preschool system. For young children already facing the rigors of play dates and harried parents juggling the strains of work and family, government is moving in to standardize childh… More >>
Standardized Childhood: The Political and Cultural Struggle over Early Education
#1 by Jennifer Thames on February 5, 2010 - 1:41 pm
Though the summary makes it sound like a reactionary screed, “Standardized Childhood” is actually a thoughtful, well-researched, and provocative book. It examines the UPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten) or “preschool for all” movement, a proposal which sounds excellent in theory but which seems to be warping into a push to extend “No Child Left Behind” to four year-olds. Issues of economics, race, and class are in the spotlight. Who decides how young children will be taught? Shall it be “child-led learning” a la Piaget as often favored by middle-class whites, or “skill and drill” to prepare for “real school” as preferred by some recent immigrant families? In examining the politics and on-the-ground reality of early education, Fuller posits a divide between “institutional liberals” such as the UPK backers and “progessive” community-based organizations such as the co-op preschools founded by feminist thinkers in the early 70s. Fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history and current politics of American early education, and its legal and personal implications for children and families.
Rating: 4 / 5