Rory McDowall Clark

Neoliberalism, Global Poverty Policy and Early Childhood Education and Care: A Critique of Local Uptake in England.

The global rise of a neoliberal ‘new politics of parenting’ discursively constructs parents in poverty as the reason for, and remedy to, child poverty. This allows for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) to become a key policy lever by using human technologies to intervene in and regulate the lives of parents and children in poverty. The article explores the uptake of this policy locally through interviews with 30 ECEC practitioners in three locations across England. The interviews suggested that the neoliberal discursive formation of child poverty as a problem of the poor themselves had symbolic power and was a view shared by most of the interviewees. This appeared to restrict their thinking and action, shaping a limited engagement with parents in poverty. Delivering curricular requirements was seen to further delimit practitioners’ practices with children in poverty by reducing their poverty sensitivity. Although this is a small study, its findings may be of value in questioning neoliberal logics, and their implications are considered critically.

‘Wasted down there’: policy and practice with the under-threes

Although frameworks now exist for quality provision for under-threes, discourses underpinning policy remain conflicted. The split between care and education is still firmly entrenched in provision and a gap remains between rhetoric and practice. This paper explores how Early Years Professional Status, which requires practitioners to engage meaningfully with babies and toddlers, can support the development of ‘thoughtful agents’ as shared learning enables new insights and understanding to emerge. In particular it offers a context which transforms practitioners’ sense of themselves as professionals and provides opportunities for child-centred practice to exert an upward influence. The theoretical basis for this paper is the concept of learning communities whereby EYPS becomes a cultural ‘tool’ and the means by which learning is mediated. Conclusions are that experience with infants empowers practitioners to engage in the high-level critical reflection necessary to challenge political prescription and an emphasis on early years as preparation for school.

Reframing leadership as a participative pedagogy: the working theories of early years professionals

Traditional notions of leadership are at odds with the pedagogy and ethos of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), prompting increasing international concern to develop new understandings which are better suited and create greater leadership capacity. The introduction of the Early Years Professional (EYP) in England, as a leader of practice without association with an organisational position, gave impetus to the idea of pedagogic leadership. This paper draws on two qualitative studies to examine the working theories of EYPs in leading practice to discover how they interpret and apply their professional purpose. An interpretive approach was adopted to develop patterns of meaning from practitioner stories which show an emerging notion of leadership founded on ‘passionate care’ to improve the education and well-being of young children. Such leadership can be exercised regardless of positional role as it does not operate through authority but from moral purpose and it seeks to release agency for change with others by building trusting relationships. This provides scope to reconceptualise leadership in ECEC as a participative pedagogy which could generate greater leadership capital if embedded into professional development.

‘I've never thought of myself as a leader but…’: the Early Years Professional and catalytic leadership

This article examines the leadership role of the ‘new professional,’ in particular those who have obtained or are establishing themselves as Early Years Professionals (EYP). Central to this process is the ability to ‘lead practice’; however, this concept is ill-defined and used loosely within the context of day-to-day routine. This article uses cultural-historical activity theory as a framework in which concepts of leadership are interrogated. Informal interviews and collaborative dialogue are used to articulate the voices of those most closely involved. Prevalent models of leadership which rest on ideas of authority are challenged and a concept of catalytic leadership is proposed whereby EYPs ability to bring about and inspire change is not dependent on a position of power.

‘Seen but not heard’. Practitioners work with poverty and the organising out of disadvantaged children’s voices and participation in the early years

ABSTRACT Living in poverty disadvantages young children reducing school readiness. ‘Pedagogy of listening’ can potentially support resilience remediating against poverty’s negative effects. Little, though, is known about how early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners work with children in poverty and the attainment gap between such children and their peers remains significant within England and the US. This article reports research using a mixed methodology which explored these issues in localities across both these countries. We argue a dominant technocratic model of early years provision in these contexts creates normalisation and diversity reduction. This, and austerity measures, stymie pedagogical space and practice organising out listening to children in poverty. We suggest this may help explain why the attainment gap remains so stubbornly resistant to reduction across these countries.

Pre-school practitioners, child poverty and social justice

Purpose – Several ideas exist about social justice and how inequalities can be tackled to help families and children in poverty. The Coalition government released the UK’s first Child Poverty Strategy in 2011. Pervaded by neoliberal ideology, the strategy mentions “empowering” pre-school services and practitioners within the childcare market “to do more for the most disadvantaged” (Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) 2011, p. 35). The purpose of this paper is to bring to light how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners across England have engaged with policy discussions and adopted expectations concerning their place in addressing child poverty. Design/methodology/approach – Using a phenomenological qualitative research design the paper draws upon 30 interviews with pre-school practitioners in three geographic areas of England. All interviewees worked with families and children in poverty and were senior ECEC practitioners within their pre-school sett...

The child in society

In The Child in Society, Hazel Wright takes on the daunting task of considering the place of children within such diverse disciplines as geography, anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, so...contribution to debates in the field of social policy. One of the questions touched on is who is or ought to be responsible for ECEC; is it the family, the state or what is known now as NGOs? Another field of analysis is offered by the shifting boundaries between care and education. A further important angle is the continuing interdependency of women’s and young children’s lives and who ought to benefit in what ways from ECEC. There are further sociological themes, about the education of mothers and the raising of healthy, well-adjusted citizens. Covering approximately 300 years of ECEC on about 400 pages is a tall order and makes one curious for more. For example, in some sections the different experience of Māori children is discussed, but towards the end of the book Māori families disappear from the gaze. Gender issues regarding children, parents and practitioners, is another topic that seems to remain somewhat vague. It would have helped me to have a brief overview of important dates in New Zealand’s history and perhaps a map, as well as a glossary of labels for ECEC institutions. For example, each of the labels ‘kindergarten’ and ‘nursery school’ in New Zealand carries particular meanings and outlooks on children and their families, as in other countries too. However, they may differ considerably. This is a rich book and has something to offer to a broad readership. The abundance of photos and artefacts make it particularly valuable. May succeeds in bringing history alive and making reading about it a pleasure.