Carmen Dalli

Pedagogy, Knowledge and Collaboration: Towards a Ground-Up Perspective on Professionalism.

ABSTRACT Drawing on a national survey of New Zealand early childhood teachers’ views on ethics and professionalism in their practice, this article discusses three key themes that emerged as core conceptual elements in how teachers in education and care settings defined professionalism. The three themes were: a distinct pedagogical style; specialist knowledge and practices; and collaborative relationships. Elements that were perceived as unprofessional or undesirable in an early childhood professional were also identified. It is argued that as the early childhood field debates the meaning of professionalism, teachers’ views can contribute a ‘ground‐up’ perspective that can enable the concept of professionalism to be reconceptualised in ways that reflect the reality of teachers’ work experiences. †This article is a development and expansion from a presentation at the 2005 EECERA annual conference and has been developed into an article for the Early Childhood Folio (Dalli 2006a). RÉSUMÉ: Cet article s’appuie sur une étude nationale des points de vue des enseignants de la petite enfance, en Nouvelle‐Zélande, sur l’éthique et le professionnalisme dans leur pratique. Il en discute trois thèmes – clés qui ont émergé et apparaissent comme des éléments conceptuels au centre de la façon dont les enseignants du secteur de l’accueil et de l’éducation de la petite enfance définissent le professionnalisme. Les trois thèmes sont les suivants : un style pédagogique différent ; des relations de collaboration ; une connaissance spécifique. Des éléments perçus comme non professionnels ou indésirables pour un professionnel de la petite enfance ont également été identifiés. Nous défendons que, puisque le champ de la petite enfance débat de la signification du professionnalisme, les points de vue des enseignants peuvent contribuer à une mise en perspectives, ancrée sur le terrain, permettant au concept de professionnalisme d’être reconceptualisé en reflêtant l’expérience professionnelle de ces derniers. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: In einer nationalen Studie wurden die Sichtweisen von Neuseeländischen Frühpädagoginnen zu Ethik und Professionalität in ihrer Praxis erhoben. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen der Studie erörtert der Beitrag drei Schlüsselthemen, die als konzeptionelle Kerne sichtbar werden, wenn Praktiker in Bildungs‐ und Betreuungseinrichtungen ihre Professionalität definieren. Die drei Themen sind: ein deutlich erkennbarer pädagogischer Stil, kollaborative Beziehungen, sowie das Verfügen über Expertenwissen und –praxen. Elemente, die als unprofessionelle oder unerwünschte Eigenschaften wahrgenommen werden, wurden ebenfalls identifiziert. Es wird argumentiert, dass die Sichtweisen von Praktikerinnen in der aktuellen Diskussion zur Bedeutung von Professionalität im Feld der Frühpädagogik einen wichtigen Beitrag leisten können: Die grundständige Praxisperspektive ermöglicht es, Professionalität in einer Weise zu re‐konzeptualisieren, die den real erfahrenen Arbeitserfahrungen entspricht. RESUMEN: Basado en una encuesta nacional acerca de las visiones éticas y profesionales de los profesores pre‐escolares de Nueva Zelanda, este articulo discute tres temas claves que surgen como elementos centrales acerca de como los profesores definen profesionalismo. Los tres temas son: un estilo pedagógico distinto; relaciones de colaboración; y posesión de conocimientos y prácticas especialistas. También fueron identificados elementos percibidos como no profesionales o no deseables en la educación pre‐escolar. Se argumenta que en tanto que en el campo de la educación pre‐escolar se debate el significado del profesionalismo, las visiones de los profesores pueden contribuir con una perspectiva de terreno que haga posible que el concepto de profesionalismo sea reconceptualizado en forma que refleje la realidad laboral de los profesores.

Early Childhood Grows Up: Towards a Critical Ecology of the Profession

This book makes two key arguments. The first is that early childhood education has grown up; the second is that we need to contemplate a new future for early childhood education – one in which the profession is marked by a critical ecology.

Towards the Re-Emergence of a Critical Ecology of the Early Childhood Profession in New Zealand

A 10-year strategic plan for early childhood education introduced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education in 2002 included policies to create a teacher-led early childhood profession by 2012. This article reviews the provisions of the strategic plan and argues that it emerged from a critical ecology of the early childhood profession with a history of advocacy and strategy. The article marks out new challenges to the implementation of the strategic plan as it draws close to its end date in a changed political context and a time of economic constraint. It is argued that the challenges call for the re-emergence of a critical ecology of the profession that responds to the current context.

A Profession Speaking and Thinking for Itself

This concluding chapter refers back to the theoretical and methodological discussion of the first chapter and presents the insights gained about professionalism in early childhood practice on the basis of themes and issues identified across the preceding chapters. The insights are presented in an ecological framework and discussed in terms of what they might indicate about early childhood professional epistemologies. This is followed by some cautionary thoughts about the pitfalls of comparative research. In summing up the two key arguments of the book: (i) that early childhood education has grown up; and (ii) that we are in need of a critical ecology of the early childhood sector, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the discussion in the book for future research on early childhood professionalism.

Involving children in educational research: researcher reflections on challenges

Abstract Since the 1990s, childhood researchers have become increasingly creative in their efforts to understand childrens experiences in as authentic a way as possible. This article draws on a review of research methodologies across a range of projects involving 0–13 year-old children and reports on interviews with researchers which revealed real-life responses to issues identified in the literature review: taking children seriously as research participants; the messiness of research with children; investing necessary time and resources; and respectful practices with children and communities including in disseminating research findings. We present researcher reflections on these issues and conclude by arguing for a methodological ‘fitness for purpose’ in research with children.

Early childhood education in New Zealand: Current issues and policy developments

In December 1988, the New Zealand government published its policy document for early childhood education: Before Five. During 1990 all New Zealand early childhood education centres will experience the impact of the new policies for early childhood education. Some of the issues that led up to these policies relate to equity of access and equity of funding, the provision of a quality service, the curriculum of early childhood services, and the status of early childhood as a profession. This paper outlines these issues and some corresponding policy responses.

A curriculum of open possibilities: a New Zealand kindergarten teacher’s view of professional practice

Thematic analysis of a continuous video record of a day in the life of a New Zealand kindergarten teacher, and of a narrative reconstruction of the day during a follow-up interview, yielded a view of early childhood professional practice as focused on a ‘curriculum of open possibilities’. This paper discusses elements of the teacher’s professional practice that contributed to her curriculum: her understanding that curriculum planning required relational involvement and being part of the children’s life within the kindergarten community; that professional practice required teamwork and attunement to one’s colleagues; and that acting professionally was about being fully present and ‘bringing everything together’. It argues that behind the apparent ‘trivia’ of the teacher’s day there were layers of activity that maintained a fabric of connections that sustained the open possibilities. In this way, the teacher’s role as a curriculum planner emerges as a finely balanced role that is creative and agentic rather than prescribed by narrow curriculum goals. The findings of the study are located within the emergent New Zealand literature on what it means to be a professional early childhood teacher in the contemporary early childhood sector, and research on New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki.

A Constant Juggle for Balance: A Day in the Life of a New Zealand Kindergarten Teacher

Thematic analysis of a continuous video record of a day in the life of a kindergarten teacher in New Zealand, and of a follow-up narrative reconstruction of the day during an interview with the teacher, yielded the image of a constant juggle for balance to describe the teacher’s professional practice. The teacher juggled the demands of working with a group of children while responding to individual interests, managing curriculum plans as open possibilities, and seeking ethical responses in complex situations. The chapter argues that the juggle for balance required the bringing together of multiple layers of understanding about relationships, curriculum and ethical practice that belied the appearance of momentary encounters and trivial conversations.

Belonging as a force of agency: An exploration of immigrant children’s everyday life in early childhood settings

The notion of agency is being used with increasing frequency in early childhood policies, replacing traditional assumptions about young children’s immaturity and their role as mere recipients of adults’ arrangements. Agency is thus both an educational aspiration as well as a signifier of a strong rights-based political commitment to countering views of children as immature and incompetent. This article develops the argument that agency is inherently a sociocultural product that is driven by children’s clear attempts to bond with others and to develop a sense of belonging. Using examples of the everyday experiences of two Chinese immigrant children in an early childhood centre, the article considers ways in which agency was exercised by the children in an unfamiliar sociocultural setting because they wanted to belong. Some crucial issues are highlighted for practice and policy development in the area of immigrant children’s education, arguing that the shaping of early childhood education requires an attention to children’s ‘invisible’ capabilities, needs to belong and ‘small’ everyday life realities.

Tensions and Challenges in Professional Practice with Under-Threes: A New Zealand Reflection on Early Childhood Professionalism as a Systemic Phenomenon

Internationally there has been an upsurge in the professionalisation of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce and in debates about the meaning of professionalism when applied to practitioners in early childhood settings. This chapter elaborates on the notion of early childhood professionalism as a systemic and ecological phenomenon rather than as a characteristic that resides in individuals and their actions. In the context of changing policy priorities about the professionalisation of the New Zealand ECEC workforce, the chapter draws on evidence from two recent projects to present the argument that teachers’ professional practice within the immediate environment of their early childhood setting, however creative and resourceful, remains limited in what it can achieve without a supportive policy infrastructure. The chapter presents the argument that structural policy arrangements at a systemic level are essential to ensure professionalism of practice.