Policy and Governmentality of Early Childhood Education and Care in England

This paper provides an overview and investigates the English Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) policy landscape. It introduces the political and ECEC policy history, and the development of the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DfE, 2021) framework, whose publication in 2008 was a significant milestone in ECEC in England. Twenty-two nursery workers from a variety of nursery settings were interviewed to learn what they think, know, and how this policy influences their professional practices. Foucault’s (1988) and Dean’s (1999) idea of ‘governmentality’ was used to analyze the data, as governmentality offers a way to create critical analyses of the ECEC policy that affects young children. The analysis recognizes the nursery worker's strong and often stressful relationship with government policy and highlights how policy documents mandated their work.The study also reveals that despite government regulations and guidance, most of the participants decide to continue with their professional development and enrol to study for a higher education degree

Emotional labour and the democratic ECEC

The aim of this presentation is to highlight that in England, technocratic accountability is impacting the ECEC practices. This is because the government favours ‘evidence-based knowledge’ to work with children. Building on the work of emotional labour and on professionalism of the ECEC workforce it was argued that there are other ways to conceptualise the interplay between professionalism, emotional labour and emotions when working with children

Deconstructing the ‘voice’ of students studying early childhood education and care (ECEC) that informs the teaching and learning strategies in higher education in the uk context (Hangdekonstrukció az óvónőképzésben: óvodapedagógiai módszertan az egyesült királyságban) Book of selected papers

This paper is focusing on the concept of students ‘voice’ that informs the teaching and learning (T&L) strategies in higher education (HE) within the UK context. The analysis draws on feedback received from students experiencing Problem Based Learning (PBL) which was implemented in one of the modules of the department of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). My aim is to provide different perceptions of exploring, thinking and conceptualising ‘voice’ (feedback) and the ways in which the findings are linked to, or inform, the emerging research fields in which I and my students are participating. I will consider how to explore ‘voice’ from a range of sources and theoretical perspectives such as feminist practice and poststructuralist theory in order to enhance T&L and to improve the experience of the PBL. Due to policy change in higher education in recent years, the ‘voice’ of the learner in ECEC became more dominant in HE environments, therefore exploring their thoughts, emotions and experiences are vital in understanding the concept of PLB that informs the T&L strategies in HE in the UK context

Paradigm Shift in Qualitative Inquiry: Impact of Higher Education on students studying Early Childhood Studies (ECS) Degree in SE England and Isle of Wight

Early Childhood Education and Care in England is provided for young children between the ages of birth to five years. Over the past fifteen years successive government policy has focussed on professional qualifications for those who care for young children, and the impact these have on children’s development and learning. This presentation focuses on the findings of two research projects. One was funded by the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network and one was funded by the University of Chichester. Both projects explored perspectives of: a new undergraduate degree pathway which included the study of the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies (ECGPCs); and, the impact of Higher Education on students studying the Early Childhood Studies (ECS) degree programmes. Previous research has already highlighted the benefits of a graduate workforce and its impact on the provision of high-quality education and care which achieves the best outcomes for young children. However, there has been limited appetite for policy makers to reflect the wider need for graduates in non-compulsory provision. Policy mandates that a level 3 vocational accreditation (equivalent to high- school leaving certificates/qualifications) is sufficient to work with young children (DfE, 2021), which contrasts with other age phases of education where a graduate level qualification is required (Mikuska, 2021)

Secondary analysis of qualitative data: Hungarian minority kindergarten pedagogues’ perspectives of the new curriculum framework in Serbia

Secondary analysis is employed to address new research questions by analysing previously collected data. This paper reports on the secondary analysis of qualitative data where the original research investigated the preschool education reform in Serbia from the perspective of Hungarian ethnic minority kindergarten pedagogues. The choice to apply a secondary analysis fulfilled the aims of (i) investigating traces of socialism in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provision in Vojvodina, a northern region of Serbia; and (ii) exploring the complexity of Christmas celebrations in nurseries. In order to address the aims, a secondary analysis of 12 semi-structured transcripts was carried out. This analysis revealed important additional findings for the original study. In light of the education reforms in Serbia we found that, first, there are strong connections between the ‘socialist past’ ECEC practices and what these practices may look like in the future; and, second, the traditional celebration of religious holidays outside of church organizations, such as Christmas, may change in the nurseries. This paper also offers insight regarding the importance of secondary analysis which provides an opportunity to making use of existing resources

"Knowledge production in academic spaces. Disturbing conferences and composing events"

In this unique book the authors debate the many aspects of (post)human / more-than-human / materialist / feminist materialist aspects of the AcademicConferenceMachine. In their ‘co-argument’ the authors address how the traditional can be resisted. The specificities of conference performances introduced in this book illuminates new, creative forms of knowledge production and its presentation. The events in the book provide provocations of what audiences are not normally accustomed to be engaged with, to hear or to see in conference panels

Book Review: Social leadership in early childhood education and care: An introduction by J O’Sullivan and M Sakr

The mission to develop models of leadership that suit early childhood education and care (ECEC) and engage greater practitioner participation is a concern in England and beyond (Palaiologou and Male, 2019). Government policies and reports are trying to include the importance of leadership in workforce development and quality standards (Nicholson et al., 2020) but they tend to lack clarity about forms of leadership or the relationship between pedagogic and organisational leadership. Since traditional notions of leadership are at odds with the pedagogy and ECEC ethos, Social Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care is a response to the increasing international concern to develop a new appreciation of leadership that is better suited to developing a greater understanding of the contemporary role of ECEC leaders. O’Sullivan and Sakr’s book offers a new model of leadership that centres social purpose and addresses how to create a culture of collaborative innovation and sustainability. They start their book with introducing and defining social leadership, social leaders and the social purpose within the ECEC context. They offer a social leadership model that is made up of six elements: how to implement a social pedagogy; how to create a culture of collaborative innovation; how to invest in others’ leadership; how to facilitate powerful conversation; how to sew seeds of sustainability; and how to lead with a social purpose. Most of the literature does not include explicit discussion of social justice in theorising leadership, or the express purposes of leadership. This suggests the importance of critically examining the epistemological assumptions represented in leadership discourse, and of more intentional links between leadership and goals that address social injustices for children, families and the ECEC workforce. In this book, O’Sullivan and Sakr argue that with the increasing issues around child poverty, which can alter the trajectory of a child’s life, and the powerful acknowledgement of the benefits of ECEC, there is an increasing need to adopt a social purpose in leadership. The authors suggest that by adopting this model, the constraints that poverty places on people can be reduced. They note that the role of the social leader is to create a culture of continuous improvement with a focus on refining and improving pedagogy. So, what is the difference between a social leader and other leadership styles Nicholson et al. (2020) discussed in their review? Undoubtedly, O’Sullivan and Sakr offer a new idea of the social leader as co-creating meaning with children, families and other professionals, and by being co-creative, new ways of understanding and co-constructing localised knowledge will help to co-shape cultural organisation. The development of ‘collaborativeness’ (Fairchild et al., 2022) as an approach not only in research but also in leadership can be seen as a way forward, disrupting the norms and giving space to cultural attitudes and traditions, including attitudes to modern childhood, children’s upbringing, and the relationship between the individual and society. The strength of collaborativeness allows social leaders to promote innovative processes, where they are inspired through external relationships cutting across traditional boundaries. The authors put forward the argument that social leadership can also show how society supports its disadvantaged or marginalised members

The hidden impact of policy requirements on nursery workers in England

There has been much international debate as to who can work with children. In England discussion have focussed on what kind of skills and qualifications nursery workers need. This is based largely on the nature of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) policies that seek to ‘improve the quality of early years training’ (DfE, 2017a: 2) and which ‘set the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe’ (DfE, 2017a: 5). In England a worrying current trend, however, is that the levels of qualifications within the ECEC workforce are dropping (Bonetti, 2018). This paper investigates the ways in which government objectives of improving workforce quality can be achieved, and gives a critical perspective on data from twenty-six narrative interviews with ECEC workers. To explore how nursery workers interpret government policies, this paper focuses on two main government documents; The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DfE, 2017a) which became the statutory curricular framework in England from 2008; and The Early Years Workforce Strategy (EYWS) (DfE, 2017b) which details government visions of how to support the development of a well-qualified workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to deliver high quality early education and childcare for young children. I argue that the ongoing and continuous amendments imposed by government present possible benefits for enhancing the professional recognition of the nursery worker. However, the fluid policy environment also gives rise to tensions and confusion in expectations of nursery workers’ professional practice. The concern is how national central government policies set out to influence outcomes for children at local level which in turn is related to the (un)intended ways in which nursery workers’ practice is shaped

Narrative approach to investigate experiences of kindergarten pedagogues in Serbia

In 2018 a new, more inclusive, concept of preschool education was adopted in Serbia with plans to implement the change from September 2019 to 2022. Three researchers (from different disciplines) examined how the national reform in Early Childhood Education (ECE) was perceived by Hungarian kindergarten pedagogues. To understand the impact this change has on both kindergarten pedagogues and children, we investigated two focus points i) how the participants understood the new Curriculum Framework, and ii) how the intersection of culture, language, and ethnicity are mobilised to construct the future practice. Our findings show uncertainty, resistance and sentient ways educators interpret the new programme. Findings also demonstrated many kindergarten pedagogues applied a reflexive method of professional practice that remained unchanged for decades. Our recommendation is that such a significant transition should be a slower process with greater opportunities to access professional training

The relationship between the supervisors and the supervisee: Experiences of PhD completers

There is a growing pool of literature addressing doctoral students’ experiences, especially how the supervisory relationship prompted their poor wellbeing during their study. The purpose of this article is to offer additional critical discussion on PhD completers’ experiences, and to examine the influence that their supervisors had on completing their thesis. A qualitative approach to research is applied to capture the experiences of eight PhD students, who were also senior lecturers in various higher education institutions, and who recently completed their studies in the United Kingdom. Data collected from semi-structured interview were analysed using a constructionist narrative approach, where stories were co-constructed between the participants and the researchers. Our research findings show that for some of these completers, success was not merely based on their individual determination, nor was the role of supervisors, but support from their family and friends. This research offers an insight into the positive and negative experiences of PhD completers which may help supervisors and other academic colleagues in universities in England and globally, on how to support students and how to be part of a successful PhD completion team