Being professional in New Zealand early childhood education: A genealogy

Abstract

An academic, Peter Dinniss, discussed the then emerging issue of professionalism in the early childhood education sector in 1974. “There has been much debate over the term ['professional'] together with discussion as to whether teaching is a profession” (1974: 11). On the cusp of the 21st century, the Education Council (now renamed Teaching Council) of New Zealand consulted with teachers on their register about a professional code. This article follows the emergence of the professionalism discourse. I examine traces of the ‘strategies, tactics and procedures’ in a genealogy of the managerial technicist process of education. My interest lies in emergent ‘responsibilization’ of teachers over the period. I examine the power/knowledge of the ‘profession’ in Aotearoa, New Zealand, as teachers invent and govern themselves. I ask if the Council’s discourse of professionalism through registration of individuals can be re-envisioned through the collective and democratic practices evident in parent-led services.

Early childhood education and care in the app generation: Digital documentation, assessment for learning and parent communication

“…What is unclear from the literature is the extent to which educators feel compelled to use apps to essentially market the service in which they are employed. While not referring explicitly to apps, Stuart (2020) observed that with ECEC being a profit-making business, ‘promotional or marketing purposes are confused with “educational” ones’ (p. 600). With this caution in mind, the prevalence of happy children in digital documentation, for example, may be indicative of a pressure, implicit or explicit, for educators to use digital apps to assuage parental guilt or anxiety and to affirm their child care choice; in other words, to maintain parents’ business.…”

“…In Australia, New Zealand and internationally, concerns have been raised over increasing technicist constructions and applications of teacher professionalism in ECEC (Chalke, 2013; Fenech & Lotz, 2018; Osgood, 2006, 2010; Stuart, 2020). Concerns focus specifically on the narrowing of teaching practices to meet regulatory or prescribed curriculum requirements, and the evaluation of educator professionalism through externally determined criteria.…”

Child participation in early childhood education in Spain: When having rights does not mean being able to exercise them

“…Giving children a voice in school improves the democratic and pedagogical life of classrooms and schools (Hart, 2001). Forming critical, participatory citizens is essential in order to strengthen an educational paradigm that considers the child as the protagonist of his or her formative process (Gajardo and Torrego, 2022; Stuart, 2020). Participation implies sharing power (Ulvik, 2015), which is especially important in a context such as a school where the structure, culture, the professional identity of teachers and curricular traditions are clearly adultcentric (Rudduck and Flutter, 2007).…”

Rethinking the educational ecology in the wake of COVID: Intellectual solidarity, teacher prestige, and educational humanization

“…Rather, we argue that at this moment the shifting ecology of education toward more digital and privatized teacher education where program models continue to move away from human interaction and in-person teacher training would be further detrimental to the connection teachers feel to their professional identity, their colleagues, and the communities of students they will serve. As one way to mitigate this shift, educational leaders should provide collaborative teacher-led communities of practice—a researched-based approach to professional development proven to increase professional autonomy and retention (Kemper, 2017; Stuart, 2020). Recent empirical work demonstrates that teachers—especially teachers of color—feel more supported and are more likely to remain in their current position when they have a voice and can contribute to policy decisions at the school level (Bristol and Shirrell, 2019).…”