Who cares? Infant educators’ responses to professional discourses of care

Abstract

This paper explores the construction of ‘care’ in early childhood curriculum and practice. An increasing number of infants are attending formal early childhood settings in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011. Childhood education and care, Australia, June 2011. (4402.0). Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/4402.0); yet, relatively little research has considered how early childhood educators working with very young children are able to interpret and enact a new curriculum framework that does not explicitly make care practices visible. Findings are based on interviews with six university-qualified infant educators who work as team leaders in early childhood centres using a multiple case-study approach. Fisher and Tronto's theory of care [(1990). Toward a feminist theory of caring. In E. K. Abel & M. K. Nelson (Eds.), Circles of care: Work and identity in women's lives (pp. 35–62). New York, NY: State University of New York] is used to frame the analysis. These findings will be discussed in relation to the complexities involved in interpreting curriculum discourse, as well as the implications of such discourse for the professional identity and practice of infant educators.

Keywords:

• care
• educator
• infant
• curriculum
• discourse
• professionalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Belinda Davis is a lecturer at the Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University. She has taught across a range of units in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the past nine years. Prior to arriving at Macquarie University, Belinda worked in a variety of early childhood centres where she taught children from birth to five. Belinda is particularly interested in children from birth to two years who attend early childhood settings and has research in the areas of curriculum, pedagogy, infant play, routines, peers and relationships.

Sheila Degotardi is senior lecturer and early childhood teacher with over 20 years experience teaching and researching in the early childhood education sector. After completing her initial teacher education degree, she taught in a range of early childhood settings before commencing her PhD at Macquarie University in 1999. Sheila joined the Institute of Early Childhood academic staff in 2005 and, since that time, has taught across a range of early childhood units and has developed an international research profile in the area of infant-toddler curriculum and pedagogy. Her work reflects a strong commitment to the significance of children's first years of life and her teaching and research work aims to enhance current understandings of the richness and potential of children's earliest experiences.