Teachers College Press Beyond Compliance in Early Childhood Education: Centering Disability, Freedom, and Belonging

What might it mean for young children with disabilities to experience freedom and belonging from their earliest moments in school? This volume provides an accessible discussion and analysis of how critical perspectives on disability can inform our work with children, families, and teachers in early childhood settings. Over twenty international contributors center disability and prioritize children’s perspectives across a variety of contexts, including Head Start, community-based centers, public school classrooms, and home visiting. This one-of-a-kind book argues that a focus on disability and ableism is necessary for countering traditional developmental perspectives and oppressive notions of “normalcy” to advance justice and belonging for marginalized young children. Chapter topics include: Histories and contexts of ableism in early childhood. Affirming and supporting positive disability identity in early childhood. Creating interdependence and relationships of support with and between children in early care settings. Critical perspectives on social–emotional development that recognize children’s varied expressions as legitimate. Children’s expansive, multilingual, and multimodal meaning-making in the context of standardized academic goals. Integrating Indigenous, Afrocentric, and disability justice perspectives in early childhood and teacher education. Centering the priorities, engagement strategies, and resistance of minoritized families, including disabled parents.