Contemporary Psychoanalytic Approaches to Early Childhood Education

This book offers portraits of psychoanalysis applied to contemporary theory and practice in the education of young children (ages 0-8) as well as in the training of educators and mental health professionals who work with young children. It provides a deeper understanding of children’s emotional needs and how to meet these needs.

Contemporary Psychoanalytic Approaches to Early Childhood Education edited by Alex Collopy offers critical analyses of psychoanalytic theory to provide a deeper understanding of the construction and education of young children from infancy to age eight, focusing on the experiences of children with identified disabilities, social, emotional, gender, linguistic, racial, and socioeconomic differences. It also provides portraits of early childhood practice and early childhood teacher trainings to demonstrate the potential of psychoanalysis as both a lens for understanding the dynamic nature of being, development and learning, and as a creative, multimodal method for facilitating new relationships between the inner and relational worlds of children and adults. Written by and for scholars and professional educators in curriculum and instruction, school psychology, infant mental health, social work, and allied professions, this book provides insight into the histories, present, and potential futures of psychoanalysis within and across education spaces as an act of advocacy for young children.