Gender flexible pedagogy in early childhood education

Early childhood education (ECE) has long been recognized as one of the most gendered professions. This paper aims to examine how far ECE can become a space to deliver ‘gender flexible pedagogy’, a concept that incorporates ideas about staff modelling of alternative forms of masculinities and femininities, the value of a mixed gender workforce, and explicit gender teaching within curricula. The theoretical underpinnings of this concept are discussed drawing on data collected in discussions with pre-school teachers in order to understand the potential of this principle and identify how it can be practiced. The paper is based on two different interview based studies, one conducted in an Indonesian kindergarten and the other with Swedish preschool pedagogues. The findings suggest that gendered practices in ECE are rooted in teachers’ implicit gender beliefs influenced by larger socio-political discourses. Early childhood educators must develop an explicit gender consciousness before they can deliver a gender conscious pedagogy

A study of nurture groups as a window into school relationships

This narrative account describes approaches to sanctions in primary school settings that also provide Nurture Groups, and the ways in which different approaches may be viewed as helpful or harmful to children’s behaviour and to Nurture Group provision. It draws from research conducted as part of a larger comparative Nurture Group study examining whole school aspects of NG provision in seven case study schools. The three most successful settings within the study had relationships at their core, and a de-emphasis on sanction systems. They had an ideological leaning away from any kind of ‘will to punish’, and a leaning towards social relationships and Restorative Justice. In contrast the least successful settings tended towards social control and sanction systems that provided a sharp contrast between the contexts of nurture and mainstream. Overall it is concluded that in order to avoid harmful and counter-productive effects, sanctions in schools need to be individualised and they need to make sense. In addition, they need to be proportional, non-confrontational and educational. Under these conditions sanctions do not preclude social engagement or represent a punitive and reactionary response. However, it is the relational ecology of the school that dictates whether a punitive strategy of control, or a nurturing strategy of ongoing social engagement is sought overall. Nurture Groups can provide us with a useful way to model complementary aspects of Restorative Justice, as both NG and RJ philosophies are based on a will to develop, maintain, repair and sustain attachments

Creating a whole school ethos of care

This paper raises questions about schools as positive models of caring societies. Against a background of growing concern for the mental health of children it addresses the centrality of ‘nurture’ and its close cousin ‘care’ as a whole school value, theorised as both a means and an end of schooling. How might school leaders communicate a principle of mutual care and inspire whole school commitment from staff, pupils and parents? Discussion is informed by qualitative data (interviews, focus groups and observations) from a comparative study of seven schools in the NW of England which use the principles and practices of nurture groups. Three demonstrated strong leadership based on ‘deep care’ and an emphasis on ongoing relationships with children. The paper concludes that leadership, as evidenced in the good practice reported here, can go some way towards bringing about the ideal of a whole school ethos of care

Conceptualising the value of male practitioners in early childhood education and care (ECEC):Gender balance or gender flexibility

This paper aims to open up the rationales that are used to argue for an increase in male participation in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce. Two theoretical concepts are highlighted and compared: gender balance and gender flexibility. An ethnographic study was conducted in one unusual nursery that has five male workers, using focus groups, one-to-one interviews and observations with male and female practitioners, managers and parents. Some practitioners used a discourse of gender balance to justify the value of the male contribution to the workforce, based on heteronormative ideas about the division of gendered labour within the traditional family. Others emphasised the importance of the highly versatile ECEC practitioner and linked a value for identity versatility with gender flexibility. Our findings lead to recommendations about the need to recruit, train and retain practitioners who are gender conscious and can respond to young children in gender-flexible ways

Gendered aspects of Leisure-time teachers' care - social and physical dimensions

This article aims to gain knowledge on how gender and profession are accounted for and expressed in leisure-time teachers’ (LtTs) work in Sweden, with a specific focus on the caring aspects of the profession. Our results show that LtTs take up various positions in navigating between aspects connected to managerialism and external auditing as well as trust and internal valuation. We argue that the need exists for an expanded understanding of care in order to recognise and reward various gendered actions and activities in teachers’ caring orientation. The article provides knowledge to both researchers and practitioners on gendered nuances of care that by tradition have been connected to women