Diversity in the early years: Intercultural learning and teaching

By Ann Farrell and Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

New global contexts are presenting new challenges and new possibilities for young children and those around them. Climate change, armed conflict and poverty combine with new frontiers of discovery in science and technology to create a paradoxical picture of both threat and opportunity for our world and our children. On the one hand, children are experiencing unprecedented patterns of disparity and inequity; yet, on the other hand, they have seemingly limitless possibilities to engage with new technologies and social processes. Seismic shifts such as these are inviting new questions about the conditions that young children need to learn and thrive.

Diversity in the Early Years: Intercultural Learning and Teaching explores significant aspects of working with children and adults from diverse backgrounds. It is a valuable resource for teaching early childhood pre-service teachers to raise awareness about issues of diversity – whether diversity of culture, language, education and/or gender – and for helping them to develop their own pedagogical approaches to working with diverse populations.