This paper aims to (1) explore how notions about STEM in different contexts, times, scales and places affect STEM-practices in ECE and beyond, and (2) with this as a point of departure, highlight the need and potential of using feminist perspectives and a feminist pedagogy in STEM-related courses within ECTE (Early Childhood Teacher Education). To…

This qualitative study investigated the perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood of male school leaders and their perceptions associated with leadership practice. We used purposive sampling to recruit male Israeli school leaders for participation in the study. We collected the data by semi-structured interviews, which we then subjected to…

In this study, we argue that touch is a way of producing gender in preschool and our aim is to explore different kinds of matters that intersect with gendered touch practices in this context. Our theoretical starting points draw on the performativity of gender and the discursively constructed touch practices of early childhood educators. We…

This article investigates alternative ways doing of mathematics in an Early Childhood Education Teacher Programme using aesthetic forms of expression, the body and reflections on ethics, gender and responsibilities in the transition from student teacher at university to a qualified preschool teacher of children aged 4-5 years. The purpose of the…

In this study, carried out in different provinces of Spain, we assess the impact of a co-educational science program conducted with children aged 3-6, whose objective is to deconstruct gender stereotypes in science by studying the biographies of female scientists. The evaluative methodology we use is based on analysing the opinions the pupils…

This article explores gendered processes in preschool science through Barad's agential realism [2007. "Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics of the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning." London: Duke Universal Press], and as such, the study makes both theoretical and empirical contributions in how it combines perspectives from…

In this paper, I discuss how professional identities in early childhood education in Chile are performatively constituted within the interplay between a religious discourse of vocation and gender. 'Having the vocation' has become a regime of truth that regulates and governs educators' behaviours, motivations and relationships in their workplace.…

Cultural stories provide us with a repertoire of narratives through which we interpret and construct our understandings of the world, including our gendered understandings of the early childhood teacher. Through her notion of "écriture feminine", Cixous [1976. "The Laugh of the Medusa." Trans K. Cohen and P. Cohen. "Signs:…

Play is a gendered activity among young children, especially boys. Boys often tend to be more actively engaged in the (re)production of gendered play. However, most research studies and conceptual papers have misread, ignored, devalued, or scrutinized the gendered ways Black boys engage in play. This idea is particularly true for Black boys who…

This article presents an exploration of a group of Early Years Practitioners' (EYPs) perceptions of gender that may provide some insight into the growing divide between boys' and girls' educational performance [Burusic, J., T. Babarovic, and M. Seric. 2012. "Differences in Elementary School Achievement between Girls and Boys: Does the…

The narrative of one ethnic minority early childhood student teacher tells of her journey as she (re)constructs her identities as a Cook Island woman and as a pre-service teacher, during a teacher education course in New Zealand. This story conveys her experiences of learning across different pedagogical paradigms. Findings show that teacher…

Despite the political and academic debate on the demands for more male workers in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), no European country has reached the benchmark set for 2006 to have 20% male early childhood workers. This has predominantly been countered by challenging the idea that care for the youngest implies an activity "that…

Young boys' "underachievement" and their disaffection with learning continue to dominate education agendas [Francis, B. 2006. "Stop That Sex Drive." "Times Educational Supplement" 30; Peeters, J. 2007. "Including Men in Early Childhood Education: Insights from the European Experience." "NZ Research in…