A paradox concerning age exists in early childhood education (ECE) across many countries today, evident in the literature, curriculum, policy, funding, and provision. This paradox comprises two distinct approaches that call for either a specialised developmental approach to discrete age groups or a generic attitude concerning childhoods with no age distinction at all. This article traces the presence and impact of the paradox of age through an Australian study comprising two components: a review of the literature concerning age; and, a survey undertaken in two states where different treatments of age were evident: NSW and Victoria—with a particular interest in what was happening for three-year-olds. 171 responses were received 102 (NSW) and 69 (Victoria). The review of the literature generated four main themes that when considered in relation to the survey responses revealed the tendency of ECE researchers, policymakers, and educators to situate children within a “discourse of becoming” that focusses attention towards children’s maturity and skills, and school readiness. While this discourse has been used productively, its prevalence in this study suggests that many children attending ECE services are likely to experience learning environments that do not always acknowledge the importance of the here and now, or the wealth of experience and knowledge they bring to these environments. This calls attention to the attitudes and assumptions of educators themselves concerning the treatment of younger learners; as well as the constraints and opportunities that policymakers provide for effective provision, and that influence both the nature of and access to ECE.

当今许多国家的幼儿教育 (ECE) 中都存在一个关于年龄的悖论，这在文献、课程、政策、资金和提供方面很明显。这个悖论包括两种不同的方法，它们要么要求对离散年龄组采取专门的发展方法，要么要求对完全没有年龄差异的童年采取一般态度。本文通过一项包括两个部分的澳大利亚研究来追溯年龄悖论的存在和影响：对有关年龄的文献的回顾；并且，在两个明显不同年龄处理的州进行了一项调查：新南威尔士州和维多利亚州——对三岁儿童的情况特别感兴趣。收到了 171 份回复，其中 102 份（新南威尔士州）和 69 份（维多利亚州）。对文献的回顾产生了四个主要主题，当考虑到与调查答复相关时，ECE 研究人员、政策制定者和教育工作者倾向于将儿童置于“成为话语”中，将注意力集中在儿童的成熟度和技能以及学校准备就绪。虽然这种话语已被有效地使用，但它在本研究中的普遍性表明，许多参加 ECE 服务的儿童可能会体验到并不总是承认此时此地的重要性或他们为这些服务带来的丰富经验和知识的学习环境环境。这引起了对教育者自身对待年轻学习者的态度和假设的关注；