'It's all the things'? Exploring teachers' views on the notion of 'community' in early childhood education

Abstract

<p>This thesis explores the multiple meanings of ‘community’ within early childhood education (ECE). Utilising a qualitative, interpretive approach, this exploratory case study has sought to gain an in-depth understanding of how teachers view the meaning of ‘community’ within a typical, non-community-owned ECE centre. Rogoff’s (1984, 1995) three planes of sociocultural activity (personal, interpersonal and institutional) have been utilised as a theoretical framework to more fully understand the rich context of this case study centre. Findings from this study highlight that practices of this centre primarily focus inwards on the education and care of the enrolled children and the support of their families within the ECE ‘centre community’. However, despite this, the teachers both collectively and individually also reflect a diverse range of views on the notion of ‘community’ in terms of people, place and connections, including views that look outwards to consider the child within the context of their wider social and physical world. This study concludes that there needs to be a much larger social and political discussion about the notion of ‘community’ within the wider ECE sector, including the role and provision of ECE, not only in terms of the care and education of children but within society as a whole.</p>