Journal Description

Journal of Global South Early Childhood is a high-quality, ISSN Online: xxxx-xxxx open-access, peer-reviewed research journal published by PPJ PAUD Indonesia. The journal was first published in 2026 and is published online twice a year, in January and July. The journal publishes original scholarly works that contribute to the understanding of early childhood development and education, particularly within the social, cultural, economic, educational, and policy contexts of the Global South.

The journal focuses on children from birth to eight years of age (0–8 years) and provides an academic platform for researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, and scholars to disseminate evidence-based knowledge concerning early childhood in countries and communities across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

The term “Global South” in the journal's identity does not refer solely to geographical location or to a simple division between developed and developing countries. Rather, it represents a critical analytical perspective that recognizes the historical, social, cultural, economic, and political conditions that shape knowledge production and early childhood experiences in countries and communities that have often been underrepresented in global academic discourse. The Global South perspective emphasizes the importance of local knowledge, indigenous practices, community-based approaches, contextualized policies, and locally generated evidence in understanding and improving early childhood development and education.

Accordingly, Journal of Global South Early Childhood positions the Global South both as an identity and as a scholarly focus. As an identity, it provides space for researchers and communities whose knowledge and experiences have historically received limited representation in international early childhood scholarship. As a scholarly focus, it encourages critical examination of how early childhood policies, practices, theories, and interventions operate within diverse Global South contexts, including issues of inequality, colonial legacies, resource constraints, cultural diversity, sustainability, and the adaptation or development of locally relevant educational models.

Focus

The journal aims to become a leading academic platform for disseminating high-quality research on early childhood development and education for children aged 0–8 years, with particular attention to the diverse realities of the Global South.

The journal is committed to:

  1. Amplifying Local Voices – Providing space for local perspectives, community knowledge, indigenous knowledge systems, culturally responsive practices, and locally generated evidence from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
  2. Bridging the Research Gap – Addressing the underrepresentation of research from the Global South in international early childhood development and education literature and encouraging greater visibility of scholarship produced by researchers and institutions in these contexts.
  3. Promoting Contextually Relevant Evidence – Encouraging research that develops, evaluates, or critically examines approaches to early childhood development and education that are responsive to local cultures, languages, communities, resources, and social conditions.
  4. Informing Evidence-Based Policy and Practice – Connecting research findings with early childhood governance, policy development, professional practice, community partnerships, and sustainable development, including the achievement of relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  5. Advancing Critical and Decolonial Scholarship – Encouraging critical examination of dominant theories, policies, and educational models and promoting more equitable knowledge production between the Global North and Global South.

Scope

Journal of Global South Early Childhood welcomes scholarly manuscripts that address early childhood development and education for children aged 0–8 years using quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, systematic review, scoping review, conceptual, theoretical, policy, and other rigorous scholarly approaches.

The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:

  1. Policy and Governance
    Decentralization of early childhood education, governance and accountability, government–private–community partnerships, policy implementation, financing and sustainable funding, and early childhood policy in low-resource and developing contexts.
  2. Equity, Access, and Inclusion
    Access to early childhood education in remote, underdeveloped, rural, and disadvantaged areas, including 3T regions; gender equity; disability and inclusive education; socioeconomic inequality; migration; and early childhood education for children affected by conflict, crisis, and post-disaster situations.
  3. Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Learning
    Curriculum contextualization, play-based learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, indigenous and local knowledge in early childhood education, mother-tongue and multilingual education, STEAM, digital learning, nature-based learning, and other innovative pedagogical approaches relevant to Global South contexts.
  4. Workforce and Teacher Development
    Early childhood teacher education and training, professionalization, teacher competencies, teacher well-being, working conditions, leadership, and professional development, particularly in low-resource and geographically disadvantaged settings.
  5. Family, Parenting, and Community Engagement
    Parental involvement, family engagement, indigenous child-rearing practices, ethnoparenting, community-based early childhood programs, intergenerational knowledge, and partnerships among families, communities, educational institutions, and other stakeholders.
  6. Child Development and Well-Being
    Cognitive, language, physical, social-emotional, moral, spiritual, and cultural development; child health and nutrition; mental well-being; resilience; protection; and holistic approaches to child development.
  7. Digitalization, Technology, and Innovation
    Digital literacy, educational technology, artificial intelligence, digital parenting, technology-supported learning, and innovations designed to respond to the educational and developmental needs of young children in Global South contexts.
  8. Culture, Language, and Indigenous Knowledge
    Local cultures, indigenous knowledge systems, traditional games, storytelling, local languages, cultural identity, indigenous pedagogy, and the integration of culturally grounded knowledge into early childhood development and education.
  9. Critical, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Perspectives
    Decolonizing early childhood education, postcolonial childhoods, epistemic justice, critiques of imported educational models from the Global North, power relations in knowledge production, and the development of locally grounded theoretical and methodological perspectives.
  10. Sustainability, Resilience, and Global Challenges
    Early childhood education in relation to climate change, disasters, environmental sustainability, poverty, inequality, conflict, migration, public health emergencies, and other challenges affecting young children and their communities.

Types of Articles

The journal publishes several types of scholarly contributions, including:

  1. Original Research Articles – Empirical studies using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approaches.
  2. Systematic and Scoping Reviews – Rigorous evidence syntheses addressing significant issues in early childhood development and education.
  3. Conceptual and Theoretical Articles – Scholarly contributions that develop, critique, or extend theories, concepts, and frameworks relevant to early childhood in Global South contexts.
  4. Policy and Practice Articles – Evidence-informed analyses of policies, programs, governance, and professional practices in early childhood development and education.
  5. Methodological Articles – Contributions presenting innovative or contextually appropriate research methods, assessment approaches, or methodological frameworks.
  6. Critical and Perspective Articles – Scholarly perspectives addressing emerging issues, decolonial approaches, indigenous knowledge, and critical debates in Global South early childhood scholarship.

Through this scope and publication policy, Journal of Global South Early Childhood seeks to strengthen the visibility, credibility, and international recognition of scholarship on early childhood development and education originating from the Global South while promoting meaningful dialogue between Global South and Global North scholarship.