Disciplining Professionals: A Feminist Discourse Analysis of Public Preschool Teachers

Abstract

Educational reforms across the globe have had implications for the work of preschool teachers and thus their professional identities. This article draws on a feminist discourse lens to examine data collected from a recent narrative inquiry focused on understanding the professional identities of five public preschool teachers in the USA. This analysis identifies two discourses (the discourse of professionalism and the discourse of the caregiver), bringing to light the discursive tensions that existed within this context, and examines how dominate discourses construct a double bind that leaves preschool teachers with conflicting identities as they navigate professional expectations.

Contesting early childhood professional identities: A cross-national discussion

“…Our framing of teacher identity within the global context of shifting professional contexts outlined above recognizes that there are no easy answers or solutions to understanding teacher identity. Much has been written about teacher identity related to professionalism, qualifications and expert knowledge (Arndt, 2012; Moss, 2014; Ortlipp et al, 2011; Thorpe et al, 2016), attributes (Jónsdóttir and Coleman, 2014; Moloney, 2010; Sisson and Iverson, 2014), gender and early childhood education as women’s work (Osgood, 2004, 2012). We begin to confront the ‘inertia or self-interest’ to which Braidotti refers above by suggesting that neither is there one singular theory through which to attempt such an understanding.…”

Preschool teachers as undercover agents within the figured world of public school

“…Implicit in dominant discourses is the denial of the existence of alternative discourses. Dominant discourses in any given field are powerful in perpetuating power relationships where particular values and beliefs are privileged over others (Apple, 2006; Clandinin and Connelly, 1996; Parkison, 2008; Sisson and Iverson, 2014). These privileged values and beliefs can become so ingrained in the fabric of institutions through dominant discourses that they limit opportunities to reconceptualize practice.…”

Gender, Markets, and Inequality: A Framework

“…As social welfare fields have privatized, they have adopted underlying gendered assumptions about professional identity and the workforce (Andersson & Kvist, 2015; Healy, 2009; Sisson & Iverson, 2014). In Sweden, for example, the field of eldercare is female-dominated.…”

“…Women, including school leaders, are expected to provide their emotional resources (e.g., displaying a friendly face) and be more caring and supportive (e.g., listening to others’ problems) than men even when they are in equivalent jobs (Bellas, 1999; Hochschild, 1983/2012; Wajcman, 1998). Teachers also provide emotional nurturance to young children (Crawford, 2006; Sisson & Iverson, 2014), and school leaders often manage the emotions of adults. These expectations of women in teaching and leadership not only “feminize” the field, as an extension of women’s role in the family, but also position women in family roles regardless of their work.…”

“…The new economy, as embodied in market-driven reforms in education, creates what scholars have called a “24/7 work culture” (Lynch et al, 2012), which, under managerial policies, valorizes long work hours, competition, organizational dedication, and “carelessness,” or a focus on product not people. Increasingly, reforms focus on “marketplace discourses” (Sisson & Iverson, 2014, p. 224) about the professionalization of teaching and leadership, accountability, and efficiency, which pits the idea of educators as caregivers against educators as experts (Sisson & Iverson, 2014). These reforms, like other neoliberal policies, thus have important implications for gender.…”