Iris Murdoch and Early Childhood Education

What relevance does the philosophy of Iris Murdoch have to offer to our understanding of early childhood education? In Iris Murdoch and Early Childhood Education, Andrea Delaune establishes the importance of attention, moral imagination, and moral vision for early childhood pedagogy. The book challenges limited behaviouristic or technicist views of education to assert teaching as a richly imaginative undertaking built from the slow and incremental practice of attention.

Early childhood teaching can be enriched by Murdoch’s central philosophical question, How can we make ourselves better?, which does not prompt a uniform or hegemonic ideal practice and instead invites us to appreciate the ‘little peering efforts’ of the moral imagination to build a more expansive, comprehensive, and pedagogically impactful approach to educational practice. Drawing extensively on Murdoch’s philosophy, this insightful book provides a hopeful, practical, and accessible vision for change in the everyday pedagogy of early childhood educators and educationalists. Through the lens of love and justice, Delaune shows how teachers and educationalists can extend their moral vision of early childhood education through a broad examination of topics such as intentional teaching, neuroscience, and affection. The text promotes and explains the practicalities of attention as a reflective tool for reappraising both practice and simplistic understandings of early childhood education.

By addressing central tenets of education that have remained topical throughout history, such as ethics in education, teacher-child relationships, and the role of the teacher, this book will resonate with a wide range of individuals. Delaune presents critical examinations of policy, pedagogy, and values for teaching, as well as practical examples of attention in action that will be of interest to teachers and educationalists alike. The text will be particularly relevant to those engaged in the study of early childhood education, including both those pursuing initial teacher education and currently working in the field.