Erken Çocukluk Eğitiminde Toplumsal Cinsiyet: Çocuk Failliği ve Riskli Öğretmenlik

Abstract

Erken çocukluk eğitim kurumları, toplumsal cinsiyet normlarının üretildiği, yeniden müzakere edildiği ve kimi zaman dönüştürülebildiği önemli toplumsal alanlardır. Feminist postyapısalcı, postyapısalcı ve queer kuramsal yaklaşımlara dayanan bu kuramsal eleştirel derleme, İngilizce literatür çerçevesinde erken çocukluk eğitim ortamlarında toplumsal cinsiyet ilişkilerinin nasıl kurulduğunu analiz etmektedir. Çalışma, çocukları toplumsal cinsiyet normlarının pasif alıcıları olarak değil, oyun, mekân kullanımı, söylem ve akran etkileşimleri yoluyla bu normları aktif biçimde üreten ve dönüştürebilen özneler olarak ele almaktadır. Kadın/erkek ikiliğinin çocuklar tarafından nasıl pekiştirildiği, “cinsiyet rolünü doğru oynama”, “sınır çalışması” ve “kategori sürdürme” kavramları etrafında tartışılmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, çocukların normatif çerçevelerin ötesine geçerek alternatif konumlanmalar geliştirebildikleri de gösterilmektedir. Makale ayrıca öğretmenlerin biyolojik determinizme dayalı söylemlerini eleştirel bir biçimde analiz etmekte ve “riskli öğretmenlik” kavramı aracılığıyla erken çocukluk eğitiminde cinsiyetçi ve heteronormatif normların sorgulanma olanaklarını tartışmaktadır. Çalışma, toplumsal cinsiyetin erken çocukluk eğitiminde sabit değil; söylemsel, ilişkisel ve bağlamsal olarak kurulan dinamik bir süreç olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Bu yönüyle çalışma, Türkiye'de erken çocukluk eğitiminde toplumsal cinsiyeti feminist postyapısalcı ve queer perspektiflerden ele alan mevcut çalışmaları değerlendirerek, bu kavramların Türkiye bağlamında nasıl derinleştirilebileceğine dair bir araştırma gündemi önermektedir.

Keywords

• Çocuk Failliği
• Erken Çocukluk Eğitimi
• Feminist Postyapısalcı Kuram
• Queer Kuram
• Riskli Öğretmenlik

Ethical Statement

Bu makale, insan veya hayvan katılımcılarla yapılan herhangi bir çalışma içermemektedir.

Gender in Early Childhood Education: Children’s Agency and Risky Teaching

Abstract

Early childhood education institutions are important social spaces in which gender norms are produced, renegotiated, and, at times, transformed. Grounded in feminist poststructuralist, poststructuralist, and queer theoretical approaches, this critical theoretical review analyzes how gender relations are constructed in early education settings through the lens of the English-language literature. The study conceptualizes children not as passive recipients of gender norms, but as subjects who actively produce and transform these norms through play, spatial practices, discourse, and peer interactions. How the female/male binary is reinforced by children is discussed through the concepts of “doing gender right,” “borderwork,” and “category maintenance”. At the same time, the article demonstrates that children can move beyond normative frameworks and develop alternative positionings. The article also critically analyzes teachers’ biologically determinist discourses and, through the concept of “risky teaching,” discusses the possibilities for questioning gendered and heteronormative norms in early childhood education settings. The study argues that gender in early childhood education is not a fixed phenomenon, but a dynamic process constructed discursively, relationally, and contextually. In this respect, the study reviews existing studies in early childhood education in Turkey that address gender from a feminist poststructuralist and queer perspective, and proposes a research agenda on how these concepts can be further developed within this context.

Keywords

• Children’s Agency
• Early Childhood Education
• Feminist Poststructuralist Theory
• Queer Theory
• Risky Teaching

Ethical Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal participants.

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