English as the hypercentral language in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care and within RECE:Limitations, challenges, and opportunities

This paper presents a number of central Danish ECEC concepts: pædagog (‘pedagogue’), stue (‘classroom’), læreplan (‘curriculum’). It discusses their historical and cultural connotations and the inherent problem of translating them to another language – especially English. It discusses how the introduction of international English concepts in Danish ECEC discourse, e.g. ‘preschool’, can be seen as markers and agents of institutional and pedagogical change in a more school-like direction. It also discusses how the resistance to certain concepts frames everyday practice