Teachers of young children: Moving students from agents of surveillance to agents of change

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how an online early childhood teacher education program using Socratic inquiry methods inspires students to challenge habituated assumptions in the field. Academic pushdown, teacher identity, standardization, and developmentally appropriate practice are central assumptions in ECE that students challenge in their blogs and discussion board postings. The program goal is to empower students to become transformative intellectuals (Giroux, 1988) and ultimately agents of change. Student writing illustrates how students have begun the process of challenging assumptions, identifying multiple perspectives on critical issues, and articulating arguments based on self-reflection..