Introduction: A Vision for Transforming Early Childhood Research and Practice for Young Children of Immigrants and Their Families

Authors

Fabienne Doucet, New York UniversityFollow
Jennifer AdairFollow

Abstract

This special issue of the Occasional Paper Series describes practices and policies that can positively impact the early schooling of children of immigrants in the United States. We consider the intersectionality of young children’s lives and what needs to change in order to ensure that race, class, immigration status, gender, and dis/ability can effectively contribute to children’s experiences at school and in other instructional contexts, rather than prevent them from getting the learning experiences they need and deserve.

Author Biography

Jennifer Keys Adair



Jennifer Keys Adair is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at The University of Texas at Austin. As a young scholar fellow with the Foundation of Child Development and a major grant recipient of the Spencer Foundation, she focuses on the connection between agency and discrimination in the early learning experiences of children and immigrants, particularly how systemic deficit views of families often translates into a denial of practice and experience in children's schooling. Dr. Adair has published in a wide range of journals and news outlets. She has conducted multi-sited, video-cued ethnographic research projects in the United States, India, New Zealand, and Australia as well as throughout Europe.

Fabienne Doucet



Fabienne Doucet is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education and Urban Education in the department of Teaching and Learning at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Born in Spain, raised in Haiti, and migrating to the U.S. at the age of ten, Doucet embodies a hybrid identity that is mirrored in her interdisciplinary approach to examining how immigrant and U.S.-born children of color and their families navigate education in the United States. A critical ethnographer, Doucet specifically studies how taken-for-granted beliefs, practices, and values in the U.S. educational system position linguistically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse children and families at a disadvantage, and seeks active solutions for meeting their educational needs.

Recommended Citation

Doucet, F., & Adair, J. (2018). Introduction: A Vision for Transforming Early Childhood Research and Practice for Young Children of Immigrants and Their Families. Occasional Paper Series, (39). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1268