Constructing positions of support: acknowledging workplace discourses in the midst of early childhood reform

ABSTRACT

Early childhood education has undergone immense change over the years. In Australia, this has included the introduction of curriculum and quality frameworks [ACECQA. 2012. National Quality Framework. http://acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/the-national-quality-standard; DEEWR. 2009. Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Barton: ACT: Commonwealth of Australia. ISBN:9780642778727; DET. 2016. Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework: For All Children From Birth to Eight Years. East Melbourne, VIC: Department of Education and Training. ISBN:978-0-7594-0800-5], and changes to early childhood pre-service and in-service teacher education [ASQA. 2015. Training for early childhood education and care: Report. https://www.asqa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net3521/f/Strategic_Review_2015_Early_Childhood_Education_Report.pdf?v=1508135481]. This article is based on a broader qualitative study, which was conducted in 2015-2016. It investigated how workplace discourses supported or hindered the ability for early childhood professionals in Victorian long day care settings to engage in education reform. Using a poststructuralist lens and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA] [Arribas-Ayllon, M., and V. Walkerdine. 2017. “Foucauldian Discourse Analysis.” In The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2nd ed., edited by C. Willig, and W. Stainton-Rogers, 110–123. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. ISBN:9781526405555; Willig, C. 2008. “Discourse Analysis.” In Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods, 2nd ed., edited by J. A. Smith, 160–185. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. ISBN:9781412930833], specific workplace discourses were identified. These discourses framed the available subject positions which were afforded by directors, centre-coordinators and educators relating to reform engagement. Some of these positions were supportive of reform engagement, while others hindered this process. The findings presented throughout this paper offer some insight into how workplace discourses impact reform engagement in early childhood education.

KEYWORDS:

• Foucauldian discourse analysis
• early childhood
• long day care
• policy reform
• positions and practices
• workplace discourses

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisors and co-authors of this paper for their ongoing support, guidance and expertise. We wish to thank the early childhood professionals from Victorian long day care who participated in this study and shared their experiences of the 2009 reforms. Your time and effort has provided valuable insight into how available workplace discourses can influence reform engagement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Corine Rivalland http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0704-3962

Lauren C. Armstrong http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-3681

Hilary Monk http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5675-1784