Conclusion: Reconceptualizing Early Education; Crossing Borders to Build Community

Abstract

This book represents our attempt to challenge existing borders to partnering with families and whānau (extended family) in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. In so doing, we argue for a reconceptualized purpose to these services: one that enhances community wellness through a process of conscientization (Freire, 1993)—a political awareness of how social, cultural, and economic conditions influence perceptions of children, of childhood, of families and of ECEC services—and one that places children and their families at the heart of communities. In this reconceptualization, children, families, whānau, and teachers in ECEC services are active partners together working to improve their quality of life and that of their respective communities. While the rhetoric of partnership with families and community appears in the public sphere via technologies (Duhn, 2006) such as curriculum documents, regulations and policies, research argues that ECEC services, children, and families are often relegated to the private domain (De Visscher & Bouverne-De Bie, 2008) and are therefore rendered invisible and powerless (John, 2003).