Incommensurable tensions facing early childhood education transitions
A collective writing project
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21728191 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Natália Meireles Santos Da Costa (0000-0001-8362-4035, Metropolitan University, corresponding author), E Jayne White (0000-0002-1467-8125, University of Canterbury), Niina Rutanen (0000-0002-9713-3680, University of Jyväskylä), Mari Vuorisalo (0000-0002-6690-7663, University of Jyväskylä), Sara M Ólafsdóttir (0000-0001-9473-0423, University of Iceland), J Çan (0000-0002-7533-0923, University of Jyväskylä), Yaiza Lucas Revilla (0000-0002-1773-4188, University of Jyväskylä), Tina Binfield-Skøie (0000-0002-4329-9642, University of Agder), Kaisa Harju (0000-0002-1374-0185, University of Jyväskylä), Katia De Souza Amorim (0000-0003-0544-6370, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 208-223 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Policy Futures in Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1478-2103 • E-ISSN: 1478-2103 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14782103251368944 |
| OpenAlex | W4413893390 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
This collective writing article addresses transitions into, between and out of early childhood education and care (ECEC) from the standpoint of incommensurability, which entails a lack of a common measure between diverging standards, values and priorities between competing instances involved into a shared matter ( Bird, 2000 ; Chang, 2013 ). We explore incommensurable tensions as non-reconcilable issues that arise between stakeholders, educational systems, socio-political landscapes and participating communities involved in transitions. The paper underscores four incommensurable tensions: First, policy into practice, discussing agenda conflicts between policy, funding and pedagogical orientations against the private life of under-three children transitioning into ECEC and the burdens of families and educators; second, equality versus equity in transitions, applying the tensional relation between these concepts to children’s sense of belonging and resources in transition; third, in whose best interest, contesting the ‘best interests of the child’ discourse over economic needs of families, educational institutions, and societies; and fourth, orienting age, exploring age as an orienting factor of institutional transition trajectories which produce age progression (de)valuation. Finally, the subsection Infant’s transition to ECEC: Incommensurable tensions in need to be overcome, written as a commentary to the main text by an invited collaborator, concludes the text
Early childhood education · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Social science · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
The Dialogic Imagination
Bloomsbury Handbook of Early Childhood Transitions Research
The Palgrave Handbook of Childhood Studies
Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics
Solving the equity–equality conceptual dilemma
A paradox of age in early childhood education
Communities of care
Equity, inclusion and belonging for teachers in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand
The organisation for economic co-operation and development's international early learning and child well-being study
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study
Expectations and emotions concerning infant transitions to Ecec
Incommensurability and consistency
Infants’ emotional and social experiences during and after the transition to early childhood education and care
Retention and turnover of teaching staff in a high-quality early childhood network
Educação infantil e relações raciais
The standard school-ready child
Exploring the philosophy and practice of collective writing
Para onde foram os bebês? Em busca de uma Antropologia de bebês (e de seus cuidadores)
Dialogismo e a investigação de processos desenvolvimentais humanos
Olhando a criança e seus outros
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |