Critical Science and the History of Child Development's Influence on Early Education Research

Often early childhood educators who fail to frame their research or research methods in positivist traditions or theories of developmental psychology find themselves marginalized in their own field. A reason for the lack of recognition or acceptance of critical theoretical perspectives in early childhood education is the century-long domination of psychological and child development perspectives in the field of early childhood. A second reason relates to the important separate institutional histories of early and elementary education in the United States within academia. This paper explores both the disciplinary and institutional history of early childhood education in an effort to explain the continuing lack of acceptance of critical science perspectives in the field. The costs of this reliance in the past and for the future are discussed.