Abstract
Early childhood education around the world focuses on the first years of life, usually from birth through six years of age. In Mexico official and academic institutions agree with this, but the reality is that in Mexico research is scarce and so are applied programs that focus specifically on all the varied factors involved in education during this period of life. For that reason, this article includes bibliographic material that presents conceptions, reflections, and research on childhood education and development that considers a wider age range, up to twelve years old. This article provides specific ages when the information is available, but some publications refer to childhood in general. In order to provide a clear picture of Mexican childhood, this article follows several criteria for selecting the publications presented. First of all, the literature chosen here is supported with empirical research data, except in few cases in which the publication is the product of institutional debate or reflections that affected social or educational policies. In terms of empirical research, the works chosen here is produced by leading researchers in their field. In order to provide a more complete view of the country, also included is work that encompasses diverse communities and in different regions of the country, even if the research was not so recent or had some other limitation. Also, because the study of childhood education and development has been undertaken by different social science disciplines, these are also represented in the selection presented here. A final interesting note to add is that UNICEF reports that as of the early 21st century half of the children in the world live in urban areas. Mexico is no different than the rest of the world, with an increasing migration from rural areas to the major cities in the country. However, although there is clear preoccupation in some institutions about the effects contemporary urban life has on children’s well-being and development, little research has been conducted in Mexico regarding how urban contexts and the life practices involved in it affect children’s educational, psychological, and sociocultural development. In contrast, after the Zapatista movement that started in 1994, much effort was made to study indigenous children’s education and development, particularly the problems they face with language in schools, which resulted in a solid and consistent work published at a national and international level. Therefore, a selection of this excellent material is also included.