Call for articles for a volume : Early childhood education between differences and convergences since the mid-20th century : towards a European model?
Please send your proposal (around 700 words) by 15th January 2026 to michel.christian@unige.ch and joelle.droux@unige.ch.
A feedback on the proposals will be given by 1st March 2026.
Papers are expected for 15th September 2026 for a first review by the editors.
Early childhood education between differences and convergences since the mid-20th century : towards a European model?
Drawing on the already existing literature on comparative history of the European early childhood education systems, the envisioned volume will have two main objectives.
First, it will focus on the more recent period from the mid-twentieth century onward, which has until now received less attention among historians. Yet, it was a period of significant expansion and institutionalization of early childhood education, which had previously been a marginal phenomenon in the majority of the European societies. During this time boundaries of early childhood education were redefined to include new age groups, institutions and knowledge.
Second, this volume aims to address the question of a European model of early childhood education by describing both the differences, which have been often well studied, and the convergences, which have often been neglected. This requires the tools of both comparative and transnational history to be mobilized. The very notion of a “European model” of early childhood education also raises the question of which relationship it had with other regions, especially North America, and whether Europe has truly served as a “model” for other countries in the world especially in the “developing” countries.
The contributions proposed for this volume could be related to one of these three themes:
1.Opening the black box “nation” and reassessing infra-national diversity in the history of early childhood education in Europe since the mid-20th
2.European convergences in early childhood education since the mid 20th century and the role of the transnational circulations and spaces
3.Discussing the notion of a European model of early childhood education