Re-imagining inclusive education for young children: A kaleidoscope of Bourdieuian theorisation

Abstract

This article discusses critical issues related to the development and practice of inclusive education of young children, from the perspective of Bourdieu's conceptual lenses of habitus, capital and field. The target question is: How can Bourdieu's lenses of critical social theory be applied to the development and implementation of early childhood inclusive education? Under this question, I situate early childhood inclusive education in four components (active learning environment, involvement, relationships and wellbeing), and critically analyse these in terms of Bourdieu's three conceptual lenses. I argue that effective inclusive education of young children must not conform to modernist epistemology, which locates knowledge exclusively in teachers and that, Bourdieuian conceptual tools offer refreshing epistemological and reflective radars for re-imagining and enacting pedagogical practices that contribute to all children's holistic development.