Homelessness as Difficult Knowledge in Early Childhood Education
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Homelessness as Difficult Knowledge in Early Childhood Education Jinhee Kim1
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Homelessness is an important social issue relevant to all children’s lives in the United States, yet it has been little explored in early childhood education. Navigating a multiple-case study that focuses on teacher candidates’ experiences with homelessness in school, this study illustrates how homelessness is addressed in early childhood education. The data showed that teacher candidates encountered limited discussions of the topic in their own school experiences. Furthermore, the teacher candidates realized that children today are in a similar situation, whereby homelessness is rarely discussed in school, and hold considerably distorted perspectives on it. They also found that teachers in their field placements tended to avoid conversations on homelessness with children in the classroom. Thus, this study opens a space to discuss how homelessness is addressed in early childhood education, as well as how teachers can better understand it and make a difference in children’s lives. Keywords Children · Difficult knowledge · Early childhood · Teacher candidates · Teachers “Don’t ask me questions that I can’t answer. I am sure they go somewhere. Everyone goes somewhere.” The girl asked again, “But where?” The mother said, “I have no idea.” (DiCamillo, 2007, n.d.) This vignette derives from a conversation between a child and a mother shortly before Christmas in Great Joy, written by DiCamillo (2007). When the child asks about a homeless man she sees through the windows of her house, the mother seems to avoid giving an answer or does not have the right answer. As illustrated in the conversation between the mother and the child, homelessness creates hesitation and is a difficult topic to discuss with a child. However, homelessness should not be a taboo topic, as it is one of the most significant social issues to children’s lives in the United States. Indeed, many children in the United States are challenged by homelessness in their lives, as more than one million children under age six are currently experiencing homelessness (School House Connection 2018). Between 2014 and 2015, children in younger grades (K-3) in U.S. public schools were identified as having experienced * Jinhee Kim [email protected] 1
Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Bagwell College of Education, Kennesaw State University, MD 0121, KH 3109, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA
homelessness more than children in older grades (National Center for Education Statistics 2017). For example, it has been reported that 1 in 10 children were homeless in New York City schools between 2016 and 2017 (Stewart 2018). In Georgia, 2.1% of students (around 38,000 students) enrolled in public school systems were suffering from homelessness in 2015 (Ingram et al. 2016). Given that there are unidentified young children who are experiencing homelessness and perhaps not enrolled in school systems, the number of children and their families expe
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