Abstract

Contemporary mainstream and popular construction of a ‘normal’ or ‘desirable’ child in the 21st century at both global and local levels often promotes a singular image of the child that reflects selected characteristics of the white middle-upper class from the Western sphere of the world. Such a hegemonic construction of what an ‘ideal’ child should look like has worked effectively to shape the formations of some ‘best’ and ‘developmentally appropriate’ practices as mainstream pedagogical discourse in schools for all children universally, regardless of cultural, historical, and class differences. Therefore, in order not to over simplify the multiplicities of global childhoods to a singular globalized childhood, this paper highlights the examples of children’s early literacy learning experiences inside and outside of schools from their homes, communities and sociocultural networks to illustrate the complexities of global childhoods in the 21st century.