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Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education: a Child-Appropriate Practice

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Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education: a Child-Appropriate Practice Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education: A Child-Appropriate Practice Marika Gatt Sacco A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education (Early Childhood Education) School of Education University of Sheffield Septembe'r 2011 Abstract The Early Childhood Education and Care policy (ECEC) document published in Malta in 2006 regulates national early childhood education. Concerns have been raised as to whether this policy adequately represents major stakeholders in the field. The aim of this thesis was to ascertain the relationship between the ECEC document and the voices of children, parents and early years practitioners (EYP), if any. Subject to a disparity being found, a secondary aim was to use reconceptualist principles to make recommendations towards modifying aspects of this policy. Data pertaining to the views of stakeholders in Maltese early childhood education were collected from children, parents and EYP. The setting was three local primary schools and the subject was the participants' views of early childhood education in Malta. Circle time methodology was used for data collection with children. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used to collect data from parents and EYP respectively. The participants' voices were elicited from the data using grounded theory approach. The ECEC document was analyzed using principles from Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings from child participants were then juxtaposed against aspects of the ECEC document. The main findings of this work included children's concerns about their experience of early years education, the failure of grown-ups to listen, issues of frien4ship and camaraderie at school and play. Parents expressed concerns about most things digital, the disneyfication of childhood and a perceived deterioration of traditional values. EYP stressed their exclusion from participation and educational gazing. Juxtaposition of the ECEC with the concerns of children demonstrated a considerable mismatch between the concerns of children and the text ofthe policy. A framework of recommendations, termed child-appropriate practice, was formulated in an attempt to readdress this. In conclusion, this work demonstrated a tenuous relationship between participants and the ECEC with poor representation oft!.te voices and agency of primary stakeholders. Child-Appropriate Practice may ameliorate aspects of early chHdhood education in Malta, but additional research in the field is necessary. 1 Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend , they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think They have learned anything about him. Antoine de Saint Exupery, The Little Ptince 2 Acknowledgements I wish to thank the participants who have contributed to this study. Thank you for being so generous with your time and thoughts. I would like to thank the Heads of School who kindly allowed me into their schools and assisted me in my research. I wish to thank my supervisor Professor Jackie Marsh for her continued and constructive advice. Her comments and nudges in the right direction are truly appreciated. To friends, colleagues, staff and lecturers on the EdD course - your friendship is truly cherished. I wish to thapk my family at home in Malta, especially my parents Charles and Susan, for their encouragement and support. Thank you for believing in me. You have given me the right tools and made sure that I used them. To Marcel- my husband and critical friend. Thank you for your continued love, support and patience. The critical discussions we had about this work, although quite heated at times, have improved this work and enriched me. To Klara - my daughter and inspiration. Thank you for your love and for being so patient with me when you wanted to play and I had to do 'work for mummy's school'. Thank you for showing me that the 'little way' is a very important way. 3 To my dear husband, Marcel and to my beloved daughter, Klara 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 10 1.1 Introduction and focus of the research 11 1.2 Cultural diversity 14 1.3 Voice and silence 15 1.4 Critical reflexive practice 17 1.5 Research questions 18 1.6 General overview of policy context 18 1.7 Outline of thesis 20 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 22 2.1 Postmodernism 22 ,. 2.2 Foucault, discipline and power 26 2.3 Disciplinary technologies in society 27 2.4 Disciplinary technologies of education 28 2.5 Foucault and discourse 30 2.6 The influence of developme~tal psychology on early childhood policies 35 " 2.7 Reconceptualisation . 39 2.8 Why child-appropriate practice? 46 2.9 Conclusion 48 6 CHAPTER 3: COMING TO TERMS WITH POLICY AND POLICY CONSTRUCTION 49 3.1 Defining educational policy 50 3.2 Educational policies: a historical perspective 54 3.3 Policy and citizenship in the early years 58 3.4 Pedagogues and early childhood policy 71 3.5 Parents and early childhood policy 73 3.6 A Foucauldian perspective to critical discourse analysis of policy . 75 3.7 From Foucault to Deleuze 79 3.8 Conclusion 82 CHAPTER 4: METHODS AND METHODOLOGY 83 4.1 Introduction to Methods 83 4.2 Theoretical com pass 84 4.3 My role as a researcher within the schools 89 ,. 4.4 The general aim and purposes of the research 90 4.5 Research questions 91 4.6 Focusing the research 92 4.7 Justification of methods 94 4.8 Ethics in educational resear£h 103 " 4.9 Ethics in research with child participants 113 4.10 Approaches to data analysis 123 4.11 Conclusion 127 7 CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF DATA 129 5.1 The emergence of themes 129 5.2 The children's circle-time sessions 129 5.3 The parents' focus group interviews 146 5.4 The pedagogues in-depth interviews 162 5.5 Conclusion 169 CHAPTER 6: CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ASPECTS OF THE MALTESE NATIONAL POLICY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE 170 6.1 Introduction 170 6.2 Outline of the national policy - Early Childhood Education and Care 174 6.3 Justification for critical discourse analysis as a method of ana~s~ 175 6.4 Method - 'A Little Tool Box for CDA' 177 6.5 Framing 177 6.6 Analysis ,. 182 6.7 Conclusion 190 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 191 7.1 Reflections on the research questions 191 7.2 Strengths and limitations of the study 193 7.3 Recommendations for future research 195 7.4 Child-appropriate practice 197 7.5 Policy recommendations 199 7.6 Epilogue 203 8 REFERENCES 205 APPENDICES 236 Appendix 1: Children's consent form 237 Appendix 2: Adult participants' consent form 238 Appendix 3: Circle-time session 239 Appendix 4: Guide Questions - Parents 240 Appendix 5: Guide Questions - Pedagogues 241 Appendix 6: Adults' Information Sheet 242 Appendix 7: Ethics Approval 247 Appendix 8: Early Childhood and Care Policy Document 248 Appendix 9: Press Handout Ministry of Education 250 9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION "There is. nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to II conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." Niccolo Macchlavelli Italian dramatist, historian, & philosopher (1469-1527) Chapter 1 Introduction Prologue I was with my four year daughter in a washroom in a popular shopping centre. My daughter was patiently queuing by the lower level wash basin to dry her hands, when she was muscled out of the queue by a woman. At that moment, my daughter's eyes said it all. She looked in disbelief first at the woman, then at me and said, ''Ma, am I invisible?" (Source: 'Field notes, 2009) I have been preoccupied with the lack of visibility of children in our society for a number of years. I had thought about the participation of children in matters that concern their daily lives. However, the look in my daughter's eyes that day and the direct question that she asked me made me crave for an appropriate answer. I felt that as a minimum lowed my daughter an informed answer to her query. Each child is a unique being, endowed with herlhis own personal ideas, needs and desires. In my daughter's case, she clearly felt that this basic premise had been disregarded. I have always wondered whether this disregard reflected a more widespread attitude towards children, and whether this was also reflected in policies aimed at children and their welfare. Policies are generaIly designed to take into consideration the 10 collective, by referring to group benefits and the interests of society at large. My work will endeavour to explore aspects of this paradoxical disparity between the needs of the child as an individual within society and existing early childhood educational policies (and resulting curricula) which cater for the collective. In particular, I wish to investigate the issue of predeterminism, and attempt to reconceptualise early childhood education, so as to encourage the development of a truly 'child-appropriate' practice. 1.1 Introduction and focus of the research Globalisation has blurred the boundaries that segregate the existence of individuals into well-defined borders. With the advent of this new order, issues are emerging that challenge daily existence. Education, and more specifically early childhood education, is no exception.
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