Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice

The first book in the series Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three year olds: Cross Disciplinary insights and innovations establishes a path for the much-needed examination of the experiences of infants and toddlers in contemporary educational settings across the globe. Bringing together internationally renowned scholars in the field, it starts a series of discussions about the positioning of under three year-olds in contemporary practice and policy contexts. It takes an in-depth look at what this means for our understanding of under-three year olds and those who share their worlds. Featuring some of the most important contemporary topics in this pedagogical domain, such as care, well-being, belonging, professionalism and status, the contributors offer a kaleidoscope of perspectives for contemplating the new normality of very young children living their lives in group-based early childhood settings, and what gives rise to their current realities. It also explores some important policy directions and trends.

E. Jayne White has a long-standing interest in education, with particular emphasis on early years pedagogy, spanning over thirty years as a teacher and researcher. As Associate Director for the WMIER Visual Lab and Centre for Global Studies at the University of Waikato, NZ, Jayne's work focuses on the complex processes and practices of meaning-making – with an emphasis in the earliest years. ?She has written extensively in the field, including her recent sole-authored book Introducing dialogic pedagogy: Provocations for the early years with Routledge and the Springer publication with Eva Johansson titled Educational research with our youngest: Voices of infants and toddlers (2011) which first proposed an infant research agenda. She is co-editor of Springer's recently launched Video Journal of Education, associate editor of the International Journal of Early Childhood and edits for a number of additional international journals.

Carmen Dalli is Professor of Early Childhood Education, Director of the Institute for Early Childhood Studies, and Associate Dean (Research) at Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Education. ?Her research combines an interest in developmental issues in the early years with a focus on early childhood policy and pedagogy. She has published widely in the field of early childhood teacher professionalism and has a particular interest in group-based early childhood education and care settings for children aged under three years. She regularly publishes commentaries on early childhood education policy in New Zealand.