Improving the Quality of Early Childhood Education in Chile: Tensions Between Public Policy and Teacher Discourses Over the Schoolarisation of Early Childhood Education

Pardo, Marcela; Woodrow, Christine

doi:10.1007/s13158-014-0102-0

Cited by 27 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…A robust accountability system is based upon the "standardised test-making industry" [41 p.8] as evidenced through the introduction of the International Early Learning Study (IELS) a cross-national assessment of early learning outcomes involving the testing of children between 4.5 to 5.5 years in 3-6 participating countries initially (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) [42]. Ultimately, testing of young children results in the 'schoolification' of early childhood education [43]. In the United States for example, which pursues a market-oriented approach to quality assurance, State and national governmental agencies define quality and use these definitions as a way to educate parents as consumers with the aim of having the market drive improvements to care settings and ultimately, to children's school readiness [44].…”

Section: Neoliberalism and Children's Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resisting Neoliberalism: Professionalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care

Moloney¹,

Sims

Rothe

et al. 2019

IJEEDU

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Despite the relevance of early childhood services to children, families and nation states, the sector is largely undervalued and under resourced and, is not recognised as an established profession. Using collaborative auto ethnography, researchers from six different countries (Australia, Chile, England, Germany, Ireland and the United States) all members of the EECERA Professionalisation Special Interest Group (P-SIG) share their reflections on the professionalisation of early childhood. While professionalisation is associated with discretionary decision making that is premised upon an accepted body of knowledge, neoliberalism imposes constraints from on top, identifying through various forms of curricula, legislated standards, and policies what is appropriate and desirable practice. As a consequence, early childhood personnel are restricted in their professional agency and, their work is characterised by tension, as they strive to balance external expectations from a neoliberal stance and their own perspectives that prioritise a children's rights perspective. This paper questions how the sector manages the constraints imposed on it in a neoliberal political and social world. It calls upon those in the profession to resist neoliberalism and, to make a stand in terms of what is considered best practice. It further argues that ongoing debate is required as to the boundaries of what would be called the early childhood profession: considerations of ways in which the different sectors (education, health, and welfare) contribute to a holistic approach in working with children balanced against the requirement for a profession to have an identified and discrete body of knowledge. The implications of this for professionalisation of early childhood are widespread and, worthy of debate. While the inclusion of different sectors for example, addresses the holistic nature of early childhood work, it risks creating a broad and diffused knowledge base that might make it difficult to claim professionalisation. We hope that this paper contributes to reenergizing conversations on the professionalisation of the early childhood sector.

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Section: Neoliberalism and Children's Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resisting Neoliberalism: Professionalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care

Moloney¹,

Sims

Rothe

et al. 2019

IJEEDU

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“…Pardo and Woodrow (2014) summarize the key changes which have occurred during the last decade in four parts: (i) the legal designation of early childhood education as the first level of the national education system; (ii) the establishment of a national curriculum framework for early childhood education that defines expected learning outcomes for children; (iii) the definition of quality standards for providers (those that are not mandatory and cover aspects of infrastructure, staff qualifications, the centre's education project and children to staff ratios); (iv) and the substantial expansion of access to education programmes for all children below 6-years old, by increasing the enrolment capacity in existing publicly funded centres serving 0-3 year-olds from low-income families, and the allocation of universal funds to guarantee free access to education for 4-and 5-year-olds attending publicly subsidized education centres (p.104). All of these changes are in line with the visibility and relevance obtained by ECEC in the Chilean context.…”

Section: Case Study: Creation Of Under-secretariat Of Early Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the OECD states, there is a clear consensus over the growing importance of ECEC in Chile. Thus, in the last decade, Chile has focused on ECEC as an ideal stage at which student-learning outcomes can be improved and socio-economic inequalities reduced (Peralta, 2011;Pardo & Woodrow, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Early child care education: Evidence from the new law in Chile

Castillo

Lobos

2017

Journal of Pedagogy

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In the last decade, Chile has focused on early childhood education and care (ECEC) as a key opportunity to increase student-learning outcomes and decrease socio-economic inequalities. The creation of Chile's Under-Secretariat of ECEC in 2015 highlights the relevance of this educational stage. The purpose of this study is to analyse the new law (no. 20.835) on ECEC from the perspective of policy formulation. This study employs a discourse analysis that is based on a conceptual frame analysis of two concepts: relationships and roles. The findings indicate that the creation of the Superintendence of Education is an attempt at introducing accountability processes to ensure the quality of early childhood education. This is sustained by neoliberal policies, standardization and external influences. This study contributes to understandings of the relationship between stakeholders and school organizations and the degree of coherence and impact. Furthermore, the aim is to contribute to the international discussion surrounding educational policies beyond country-specific contexts.

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“…Such concerns are widespread. Van Laere, Peeters, and Vandenbroec (2012) review early childhood education and care in 15 European countries and highlight the 'schoolification' (527) of the early years and the risk that this undermines play-based learning; there are also concerns about 'schoolarisation' of early childhood education in Chile (Pardo and Woodrow 2014).…”

Section: Background: a Froebelian Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to be Froebelian: student teachers’ life histories 1952–1965

Smedley¹,

Hoskins²

2015

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

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Drawing on the life histories of nine women who were trained at Froebel College in the 1950s and 1960s, this paper examines the women's narratives as Froebelian student teachers and explores their remembered constructions of their experiences. Using an analytical framework underpinned by theories of identity and language their stories are shown to shed light on the women's engagement with and commitment to Froebelian ideas and their sense of identifying with what the college stood for. The women's stories illustrate a version of professionalism, located in time, place and culture, which incorporates contradictory elements of self-belief and self-effacement. In reflecting on their identities as Froebelians, their stories enact an understanding of politics and advocacy which demonstrates professional autonomy. Unexpectedly, their stories also show some difficulties with articulating Froebelian principles, and instead express an emotional attachment. That emotional engagement, rather than being seen as an inadequacy, is argued to be a strand in developing a hopeful, motivating and enabling professional workforce, capable of working effectively in the challenging current context of increasing statutory pressures towards performativity, regulation and control in early childhood education and care.Keywords: Froebel; early childhood professionalism; women teachers; life history IntroductionIf three hundred years after my death my method of education shall be completely established according to its idea, I shall rejoice in heaven. (Froebel, quoted in von MarenholtzBuelow 1877, 17) The life histories of the nine Froebel-trained women whose stories form the basis of this research show that Froebel's philosophy and approach had a profound and lasting effect on their professional identities. We can barely speculate about early childhood education in 2152, which would be three hundred years after Froebel's death (1852), but our analysis of these stories demonstrates how the non-prescriptive nature of his theories and the acute sense of belonging and believing that his ideas engendered in these women in the 1950s and 1960s contribute to the enduring qualities of Froebel's philosophy.We are driven by a contemporary commitment to Froebel's educational ideals (1885, 1896) and to protecting and developing them to the benefit of early years pupils and practitioners today. This is in resistance to ongoing statutory pressures to follow a more didactic and assessment-driven pedagogical approach, as highlighted by Osgood (2006Osgood ( , 2010, Taggart (2011) and Rose and Rogers (2012). This article draws on life history interview data, collected as part of a research project funded by the Froebel Trust, and seeks to explore how Froebelian principles were understood and put into practice in the 1950s and 1960s, as narrated by a group of women who were trained at Froebel College during that time. What was their educational experience at Froebel College? How did they engage with Froebelian ideas? What was the impact of that experience ...

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Improving the Quality of Early Childhood Education in Chile: Tensions Between Public Policy and Teacher Discourses Over the Schoolarisation of Early Childhood Education

Cited by 27 publications

References 18 publications

Resisting Neoliberalism: Professionalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care

Resisting Neoliberalism: Professionalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care

Early child care education: Evidence from the new law in Chile

Learning to be Froebelian: student teachers’ life histories 1952–1965

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