What is the progressive early childhood education of the 21st century and importantly, what are its effects?
The Straus Center pursues this question with the following stances:
- Science is not neutral: We must critically reflect upon the historical role science has played in constructing race, class, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, age, and associated social inequities.
- Participation matters: Research has traditionally treated children, parents, and teachers as objects of study. In order to rectify the silencing of their perspectives and experiences in the research literature, we will strive for their maximum feasible participation in research projects.
- Research methods are non-binary: Social scientific paradigm wars about what data and methods are a priori more rigorous are anti-scientific; ignore the value of methodological pluralism; and stifle the scientific community’s potential to help address the vexing social problems affecting children, families, and educators.