Datafied at four: the role of data in the ‘schoolification’ of early childhood education in England

ABSTRACT

This paper examines processes of datafication in early childhood education (ECE) settings for children from birth-five years in England and how this relates to increased formalisation. Unusually, ECE in England includes a standardised curriculum and formative and statutory assessments; thus it has been described as subject to both datafication and ‘schoolification’, a term used to describe the adoption of school-like practices and values in ECE. Using interview data from ECE settings over the last decade and a theoretical framework drawing on Foucault and Deleuze, the paper sets out the ways in which settings in schools and nurseries are subject to the demands of data, and how this produces data-driven subjectivities for both teacher and child. These developments are then linked to aspects of ‘schoolification’ including more formal teaching, a focus on literacy and mathematics, and use of ‘ability’ grouping.

KEYWORDS:

• Datafication
• assessment
• early childhood education
• schoolification

Acknowledgements

The EYFS Project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant number ES/G018987/1). The Baseline and Grouping projects were funded by the National Education Union. I am grateful to Guy Roberts-Holmes for his contributions to the early years policy, Baseline and Grouping projects.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Alice Bradbury is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity at the UCL Institute of Education, London. Her current work focuses on education policy and the impact of datafication on classroom practices in primary and early childhood education.

Notes

1. Confusingly, the term ‘nursery’ is used for private pre-school settings attended by children from birth-four, and also for the group of children attending primary schools before it is compulsory (aged 3–4). Some but not all schools have Nursery classes as well as Reception (age 4–5), and these form the ‘early years’ part of primary schools.

2. The subject of English, encompassing reading, writing and speaking and listening skills, is known as Literacy in primary schools in England.

3. Additional Pupil Premium funding is allocated to schools for each child who has been in receipt of free school meals (due to their family receiving certain state benefits) at any point in the last six years (£1320 per child in 2017–18), or who is or has been in local authority care (£1900 per child).

4. Personal, social and health education, which is a subject taught in primary schools.

Additional information

Funding

The EYFS Project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/G018987/1]. The Baseline and Grouping projects were funded by the National Education Union.