This chapter is concerned with addressing the missing focus of gender and sexuality in early childhood. In the Global South, relatively little research has sought to examine how ‘little’ boys and girls give meaning to sexualities in ways that are both pleasurable and harmful. Instead, childhood sexualities and gender remain stubbornly aligned to conservative agendas that support sexual innocence and are in conflict with feminist goals. Underlying this scholarship is the paradox of adult anxieties around childhood sexualities and boys’ and girls’ own conceptualisations that speak back to and challenge sexual innocence. Reckoning with the reality that today the global educational response to issues around gender, sexualities and inequalities has failed to provide a space for the voices of younger children especially in Global South contexts, the chapter turns attention to the African context and the entanglement of children and childhood with calamity and crisis which the author argues has prevented a more adequate understanding of gender and childhood sexuality.
This chapter connects the chapters to global research and pedagogical practice. Namely, we suggest ways that chapters and their corresponding Global Education Colloquium links can be integrated into courses preparing the next generation of teachers and scholar-practitioners. The Global Education Colloquium has been used to develop effective undergraduate and graduate learning activities for years. This chapter highlights themes from the chapters and suggests ways to group the research for courses. We highlight how chapters are situated within type of education (formal, informal, and nonformal), regions of the world (Asia, Africa, Middle East, global connections), and themes (gender and sexuality, neoliberalism and globalization, early childhood education, peace education, and inclusive education). We conclude by providing suggestions for incorporating chapters into teacher education courses as part of classroom discussion, via learning by teaching pedagogy, and policy analysis.
Within Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations is seeking to ensure that local government and governance is representative and equitable. While multiple gender development measures have faced scrutiny over the past few decades and have often come up lacking, being elected to national office is often perceived as evidence of women’s agency and empowerment. However, women’s experiences running for office remain understudied. This chapter seeks to describe how women elected to local office in one community in India exercise agency in their professional roles. Through an exploration of literature on gender, politics, and elections; policies that support parity and representation in Indian elections; and analysis of women’s storied experiences as elected leaders, this chapter contributes new insights on gender equity, local governance, and how they relate to agency in the context of girls’ and women’s education.
Analyzing the translation and implementation of education decentralization policies enacted in Japan and Indonesia, this chapter examines the economic, political, and cultural conditions that shape the behavior of classroom teachers. Drawing from more than 20 years conducting research in these two locations, the author documents the behavior of Japanese and Indonesian educators and connects their actions to the personal and professional contexts in which they operate. By identifying the factors that support or create challenges for teachers as they respond to reform directives, the author seeks to draw some broader conclusions about the ways that teachers in these settings approach their work, develop professional priorities, and make decisions about how they can best serve their students.
This chapter draws on case studies of two Israeli encounter organizations, Sadaka Reut and Peace Child Israel, to explore the link between participation in the organization’s activities and the way former participants understand their long-term impact on their lives. I note three areas where encounter participation has significantly influenced participants: in their views about social change in Israel, their continued participation in social change activities, and their ethno-national narratives. I then address the way that divergent structures and programmatic emphases in the two organizations lead to differences in these areas of impact among participants, as well as how change is shaped by external factors such as ethno-national identity, before discussing the implications of this research for education policy and practice.
