Putting politics and ethics first

This study is conducted in the context of questioning neoliberal governance calls for putting politics and ethics first in ECE. The overarching aim is to provide evidence on how participatory democracy and ethic of care are understood in Chinese ECE. Framed by theories of radical education and the ethic of care, this research aims to address four research questions: 1. How are collective decisions between EC practitioners and colleagues/children/parents made in the classroom? 2. What commitments to caring do EC practitioners have? What are the factors affecting their commitments to caring? 3. How do EC practitioners align the ethic of care with education? 4. How do children care for their peers, adults, and non-human beings? This qualitative study is conducted within the paradigm of interpretivism. Research methods employed include interviews with EC practitioners, visual methods (imaged-based dialogue and drawing) with children. The research method of examining photographs collected from one EC practitioner makes a complementary job of data collection. 16 EC practitioners and 51 children aged 4-6 years old participated in the research. This study argues that forming a habit of mind of the ethic of care and practicing care ethics are significant to not only comfort the anxiety of the ‘crisis of care’ but also to build a democratic community in early years settings. This study also argues that we should take the role of children aged 4-6 years old as actively social connectors and constructors seriously, and the construction of early childhood pedagogy needs to be adapted by considering learning culture such as participation, listening, dialogue, and reflection.