By offering practical steps for adults who work with young children to build inclusive and intentional spaces where all children receive positive messages about their unique gender selves, this book increases awareness about gender diversity in learning environments such as child care centres, family child care homes and preschools. The book is based on some of the most progressive, modern understandings of gender and intersectionality, as well as research on child development, gender health, trauma informed practices and the science of adult learning. By including the voices and lived experiences of gender-expansive children, transgender adults, early childhood educators and parents and family members of trans and gender-expansive children, it contextualizes what it means to rethink early learning programs with a commitment to gender justice and gender equality for all children.

This book is a comprehensive and accessible introduction into the main issues around gender, and what these mean for our children. Students are encouraged to question why it is more relevant than ever to consider gender issues and reflect critically on their practice and on the practice of others.

This book will explore the ways in which young children perceive themselves and are viewed by others in terms of their gendered identities as individuals and as members of society. It considers research from a variety of perspectives in the context of home/family and school. Topics covered include: * the construction of gender from the time the child is conceived * the politics of category membership * analyses of play and art making * young children's experiences with technology * the influence of popular culture on the body image * gender equity policies in early childhood education * understanding sexual orientation. An examination and reflection of the issues will enable educators to improve their practice and have a greater understanding of the families and the children whom they teach. The diverse range and content of the research will make this book a valuable resource for all those interested in the education of young children. This book covers the issue of gender expectations of children with disabilities, and also discusses young childrens' experiences with technology and the ways in which they feel about their bodies. This book will be of great interest to all early childhood educators who are concerned about the ways in which the home and school impact on the lives of young children in terms of how they view themselves and how others view them. Trainee teachers will find this book helpful in developing their own attitudes, understandings and behaviours in relation to gender equity and young children.

Gender and Care in Pedagogical Relations with Young Children is an exploration of how children, educators, and things become implicated in gendered caring practices. Drawing on a collaborative research study with early childhood educators and young children, the author explores what an engagement with human-and non-human relationality does to complicate conversations about gender and care. By employing a material feminist analysis of early childhood education, this book rethinks dominant Western individualist pedagogies in order to politically reposition them within a relationality framework.

A thought-provoking text which will make practitioners examine their children's behaviour and play in a fresh light'- Christine Marsh, Manchester Metropolitan University 'A major contribution to the international literature on gender in Early Childhood .... Glenda MacNaughton has done a terrific job in making difficult theory accessible for teachers and student teachers. Her consistent use of plentiful examples and explorations of how different theories held by teachers might impact on their practice will be tremendously useful to teachers and teacher educators ' - Debbie Epstein, Centre for Research and Education on Gender, Institute of Education, London `Invaluable for early chil

Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains.

In particular, this book uses alternative theoretical perspectives to focus on how young children are 'doing' gender in kindergarten classroom. Rather than relying exclusively on biological and socialization theories of gender construction, Blaise breaks down theoretical barriers with new understandings of how gender is socially and politically constructed by young children.