Gender as an Issue of Curricular (In)Justice: A Review of National Early Childhood Education Curriculum Documents in England from 1996 to 2021
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| Title: | Gender as an Issue of Curricular (In)Justice: A Review of National Early Childhood Education Curriculum Documents in England from 1996 to 2021 |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rachel Lehner-Mear (ORCID |
| Source: | Curriculum Journal. 2026 37(1):88-106. |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 19 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Early Childhood Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Sex, Sex Fairness, Early Childhood Education, National Curriculum, Educational Policy, Disproportionate Representation, Literature Reviews, Power Structure, Social Justice |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom (England) |
| DOI: | 10.1002/curj.326 |
| ISSN: | 0958-5176 1469-3704 |
| Abstract: | Abstract In England, gender is currently a controversial issue, with debates in social and political spheres increasingly impacting educational policy. Simultaneously, scholarship on gender in Early Childhood Education (ECE) advocates more gender-sensitive pedagogies to disrupt restrictive and essentialised views. We use Connell's principles of curricular justice to analyse gender's position in England's birth-to-five policies. Taking as the lynchpin of our analysis Connell's third principle, the historical production of equality, we trace gender's representation in 14 birth-to-five statutory and non-statutory curriculum documents from 1996 to 2021, identifying the extent to which these curricula support practitioners to teach in just and equitable ways. A picture of curricular injustice becomes evident. Our review highlights how changes in the broader political system result in three shifts in gender's curricular positioning (defined as gender foundations; gender awareness; gender decline) that ultimately fail the needs of the least advantaged and inhibit children's preparation for democratic participation in society. The ideological (re)production of gender (in)justice in the curricula occurs, firstly, through limited references to gender, fluctuations in gender's use over time and gender's siloing in non-statutory statements. Secondly, conceptual confusion, the use of binary constructs and a reliance on both legal non-discrimination and an equal opportunity framing restrict gender justice. This review exposes the ways in which the reproduction of social power in the ECE curriculum reinforces gender inequalities, thus raising questions about the curriculum's suitability for supporting socially just, gender-sensitive pedagogy in ECE. We conclude that now is the time for a renewal of curricular justice. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1493864 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Abstract In England, gender is currently a controversial issue, with debates in social and political spheres increasingly impacting educational policy. Simultaneously, scholarship on gender in Early Childhood Education (ECE) advocates more gender-sensitive pedagogies to disrupt restrictive and essentialised views. We use Connell's principles of curricular justice to analyse gender's position in England's birth-to-five policies. Taking as the lynchpin of our analysis Connell's third principle, the historical production of equality, we trace gender's representation in 14 birth-to-five statutory and non-statutory curriculum documents from 1996 to 2021, identifying the extent to which these curricula support practitioners to teach in just and equitable ways. A picture of curricular injustice becomes evident. Our review highlights how changes in the broader political system result in three shifts in gender's curricular positioning (defined as gender foundations; gender awareness; gender decline) that ultimately fail the needs of the least advantaged and inhibit children's preparation for democratic participation in society. The ideological (re)production of gender (in)justice in the curricula occurs, firstly, through limited references to gender, fluctuations in gender's use over time and gender's siloing in non-statutory statements. Secondly, conceptual confusion, the use of binary constructs and a reliance on both legal non-discrimination and an equal opportunity framing restrict gender justice. This review exposes the ways in which the reproduction of social power in the ECE curriculum reinforces gender inequalities, thus raising questions about the curriculum's suitability for supporting socially just, gender-sensitive pedagogy in ECE. We conclude that now is the time for a renewal of curricular justice. |
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| ISSN: | 0958-5176 1469-3704 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/curj.326 |
