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.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. *Email: carmen.dalli@vuw.ac.nz †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). Downloaded by [University of Con...
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.
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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.