The authors have collated a list of free journal articles to deepen your understanding of the key topics outlined in each chapter. Some articles are supported by helpful abstracts and critical thinking questions.

Article 1: Ailwood, J. (2008) ‘Learning or earning in the “smart state”: Changing tactics for governing early childhood’, Childhood, 15(4): 535–51. 

As you read this article exploring documentation from Queensland, Australia, pay particular attention to the way Ailwood interrogates the language used in the text.

Article 2: Miller, K. (2016) ‘Learning about children’s school preparation through photographs: The use of photo elicitation interviews with low-income families’, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 14(3): 261–79. 

This paper looks at a US study examining how families help their children to prepare for school. It goes into some detail as to the importance photographs taken by the families were in providing visual prompts for the research interviews.

Article 3: Woodward, K. (2016) ‘Marketing black babies versus recruiting black families: The racialized strategies private adoption agencies use to find homes for black babies’, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2(4): 482–97.

In this US study, the author investigates adoption agency websites, examining their content as the key focus of her research (as opposed to, e.g., interviewing adoptive families).