Dr Yuwei Xu (University of Nottingham)

Disrupting heteronormative discourses in early childhood education contexts through gender-sensitive and culturally-reflexive approaches

This presentation is based on two ongoing research projects that both relate to gender issues and EDI (equality, diversity, and inclusion) in early childhood education (ECE). The first project interviewed LGBT educators from Australia, England, Mainland China and Hong Kong about their experiences of and perspectives on diversity in ECE; and the second project is a facilitated action research initiative to work with Chinese, English, German and Swedish educators on developing a teacher training module related to gender-sensitive pedagogy and practice in ECE. Both projects take comparative and cross-cultural approaches to investigate how heteronormative discourses manifest in ECE, as shaped by shared and distinct social, political and cultural contexts.
Framed by the intersections of Postcolonialist and Queer theories (Belizario, 2016), findings from the two projects add to current scholarship on promoting gender-related EDI in ECE. The roles of educators, including female educators who currently account for the majority of staff composition in ECE and those who are underrepresented in ECE workforce (male and LGBT educators), are reflected upon. The discursive ways of embedding their gender(ed) subjectivities in pedagogy and practice call for gender-sensitive educators. Adding to it, I argue that gender-sensitivity should integrate with cultural reflexivity. Current advocates for gender-sensitive ECE ignore cultural variations on the conceptualisation and practice of gender-sensitivity, especially in the Global South. Gender-sensitive and culturally-reflexive approaches that understand both how gender works to impede young children’s diverse experiences in ECE and how such impediments connect to wider social norms in different cultural contexts, provide possible empowerment opportunities for educators as agents of change in disrupting heteronormative discourses in global ECE.

 

About the speaker

Dr Yuwei Xu is an Assistant Professor in Education and Teacher Development at the University of Nottingham, UK. Previously, he has held academic positions at the UCL Institute of Education (where he remains an honorary lecturer) and the University of Portsmouth. Yuwei is an editor for Children & Society journal, an associate editor for Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, and an editorial board member for British Educational Research Journal & Journal of Childhood, Education & Society. He is also a British Educational Research Association (BERA) council member and membership lead for Gender and Education Association.

Dr Yuwei Xu is a sociologist of (early) childhood, education, and gender; with a PhD awarded by the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He has researched topics such as gender and men in early childhood education, child agency, child-centred diversity and quality education, parenting, and women in STEM. His research is cross-cultural and comparative, he has conducted projects in contexts such as the UK, China, Europe, Australia, and South Africa in collaboration with international researchers.

First published: 1 November 2021

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