Discourses on Quality Care: TheInvestigating ‘Quality’Project and the Canadian Experience

Abstract

This article describes the contexts within which reconceptualist approaches to research and practice in early childhood education are taking place in British Columbia, Canada. The authors situate their work on a project entitled Investigating 'Quality' in Early Childhood Education within national and international early childhood discourses.

Critically engaging discourses on quality improvement: Political and pedagogical futures in early childhood education

“…Using a measurement tool that was originally developed in the United States as an indicator of global quality aids in the creation of hegemony and the belief that there is a universal definition of quality and how it can be applied and cultivated across cultures and contexts. There is some research that raises concern about how the ECERS-R might or might not be culturally relevant (Lee and Walsh, 2005; Pan et al., 2010; Pence, 2008; Riley et al., 2005; Sheridan and Schuster, 2001), but even the research that questions the cultural sensitivity of the ECERS-R does so in a way that still makes use of the tool as a definitive measure.…”

Through the Looking Glass: Interpreting Growing Success, The Kindergarten Addendum, Ontario’s Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting Policy Document

“…It leaves no clear direction toward utilizing any of the theoretical underpinnings. There is a potential tension as educators reconcile their practice in order to adhere to the provincially mandated policies and procedures while acknowledging the coconstructive nature of learning and children's rights as confident, capable, and competent learners (Pence & Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2008. Further, this muddled cojoining of perspectives contributes to a lack of clarity in purpose, and therefore has the potential to negatively affect both child and educator, while leaving parents and community confused and befuddled.…”

“…By acknowledging the coconstructive nature of learning and children's rights as confident, capable, and competent learners, the meaning and purpose of assessment, as in the context of the kindergarten program, changes (Cannella, 2008;Curry & Cannella, 2013;Lenz Taguchi, 2010). Rather than "proof of learning," the focus shifts to the process of learning and the use of documentation, or, more aptly, pedagogical documentation, to reflect on and inform an educator's pedagogical practice (Pence & Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2008;Wien, 2013;Wien, Guyevsky, & Berdoussis, 2011).…”

Full Issue

“…While most commonly used as a methodological tool to strengthen practice, it has also been used as a research method to collect empirical material within childhood studies. For example, McLellan (2010) does so in her study about primary-aged children's mathematical thinking, as does Hultman (2009) in her research about children's mathematical subjectivities, and Pence and Pacini-Ketchabaw (2008) in their investigation of the notion of "quality" in early childhood education.…”