Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
International Journal of Early Years Education
For a Special Issue on
The Early Childhood Workforce in Africa: Re imagining Sustainable Futures for the Under-represented Majority
Abstract deadline
Manuscript deadline
Special Issue Editor(s)
Hasina Banu Ebrahim,
University of South Africa
[email protected]
Sabina Savadova,
University of Edinburgh
[email protected]
Naseema Shaik,
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
[email protected]
Amita Gupta,
City College of New York
[email protected]
The Early Childhood Workforce in Africa: Re imagining Sustainable Futures for the Under-represented Majority
Context and Rationale for the Special Issue
In Africa, the highly feminised workforce in early childhood care and education (ECCE) experiences social, economic and epistemic injustices due to structural inequalities and knowledge transfer predominantly from the Global North. This results in women’s labour being undervalued, under‑recognised and under‑researched. Despite sustaining ECCE across formal, informal, home-based, faith-based, community‑based and private settings, the diverse ECCE workforce remains an under-represented majority. Their local knowledge, indigenous practices and labour realities continue to be marginalised. They often sit outside national education/sectoral systems, workforce policies, research agendas, and professional and regulatory frameworks.
The aim and scope of the Special Issue
This special issue aims to advance scholarship which foregrounds African perspectives on the ECCE workforce. It therefore invites empirical, critical and theoretical contributions which assist in re-imagining sustainable futures for the field. Analyses that are contextually rooted in African epistemologies and which prioritise local knowledge for more equitable and sustainable workforce approaches will be welcomed as contributions to grow Africa as an intellectual site for ECCE work. Specifically, we invite contributions that engage with the following themes in pursuit of transformative change and sustainable futures:
- Early childhood workforce systems, equity and sustainability
- Indigenous, African-centred pedagogies and culturally responsive practices
- Recruitment and retention of the ECCE workforce
- Professional Identity, gendered labour, and wellbeing
- Perceptions of tacit knowledge vs theoretical knowledge
- Working with marginalised children and families
- Training, qualifications and career paths
- Digital technologies including the use of artificial intelligence in ECCE
Submission Instructions
Types of papers that will be considered
We seek empirical, critical and theoretical contributions which assist in re-imagining sustainable futures for the field.
Special instructions for submission of abstracts
|
1 000‑word abstracts must be submitted by the due date 31 July 2026. The abstract must include the following details: Thematic focus Contextual background Aim of the study Conceptual, theoretical, or analytical orientation Research approach and methods Central themes or areas of inquiry Key findings, arguments, insights, or emerging directions Contribution to reimagining sustainable futures for the workforce in Africa (policy, practice, theory, research) Submit all abstracts to Prof HB Ebrahim [email protected] |
Submission Dates
|
Stage |
Date |
|
Call for abstracts |
16 June 2026 |
|
Submission of 1000 word abstract directly to Guest Editors |
31 July 2026 |
|
Abstract decisions – selected authors will be invited to submit full papers |
25 August 2026 |
|
Full manuscripts due |
17 November 2026 |
|
First review decisions |
18 January 2027 |
|
Revised papers due |
15 April 2027 |
|
Second decisions |
25 May 2027 |
|
Final revisions due |
15 July 2027 |
|
Final acceptance |
25 August 2027 |
|
Proof approval |
15 October 2027 |
|
Publication |
30 November 2027 |