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Back to the future? Children living in poverty, early childhood centres and mathematics education

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Abstract

The present call for structured mathematics programmes in preschools continues a trend from the nineteenth century, in which young children’s lack of mathematical knowledge was considered to have a detrimental effect on their individual futures and those of the wider society. In this paper, an investigation of the philosophies behind several early childhood programmes shows that there is a long-standing acceptance that those not living in poverty should make decisions about the education, including the mathematics education, that children who are living in poverty should engage in. Consequently, the philosophies behind these programmes, and with them the advocated mathematics education, contribute to a homogenised view of the child. This fails to recognise the attributes that children and their communities have and situates those living in poverty as being deviant. The strong promotion in this century of structured mathematics education programmes is solidifying this homogenising process in a manner not seen in previous early childhood programmes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Tamsin Meaney

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  1. Tamsin Meaney
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Correspondence to Tamsin Meaney.

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Throughout history and across the world, different names have been given to institutions set up outside of homes for the care and education of young children (Haddad 2002). To overcome this confusion, the term early childhood centres has been adopted.

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Meaney, T. Back to the future? Children living in poverty, early childhood centres and mathematics education. ZDM Mathematics Education 46, 999–1011 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-014-0578-y

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