The implementation in 2009-10 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

spearheaded the efforts of the Australian Commonwealth government to institute a national

curriculum. The theme of the new early childhood framework follows three guiding concepts:

Belonging, Being and Becoming. In this article, we discuss these three concepts in order to

provide a theoretical context to the Early Years Learning Framework and to enrich the

debate surrounding its writing and implementation. In particular, we address the significance

of posing Belonging in contiguity with the concepts of Being and Becoming. The authors

suggest a strategy to cultivate a deeper appreciation of the dialectical relationships between

sameness and difference, belonging and nothingness. Our premise is that ‘belonging’ refers

essentially to different beings, and implicitly to the prospect of a ‘together-ness’ or identity

according to which different beings are located, understood and associated, in order that

Becoming can take effect. We offer these commentaries as a means of deepening conversation

about the importance of scholarly approaches to philosophy for early childhood research, and

especially with respect to curriculum and pedagogy.