Introduces Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory in early childhood education, highlighting its importance for understanding marginalized children's experiences.
The current article provides an introduction for researchers and educators in the field of early childhood education to Spencer’s Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems theory (Spencer’s PVEST; Spencer et al., 1997; Spencer, 2006). Spencer has expanded the importance of context with her position that children experience contexts differently, particularly children from marginalized groups (Spencer et al., 1997; Spencer, 2006). Two main goals for this article are: 1) introduce Spencer’s PVEST to the field of early childhood education; and 2) apply components of this theory to young children’s self-awareness. The overarching aim of this paper is to argue that Spencer’s PVEST should be employed in early educational research to understand the unique experiences of children from marginalized groups and how those unique experiences in educational settings may impact children’s self-awareness.
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Fletcher et al. (2026) studied this question.