Hilary Monk

Early childhood education has undergone immense change over the years. In Australia, this has included the introduction of curriculum and quality frameworks , and changes to early childhood pre-service and in-service teacher education. This article is based on a broader qualitative study, which was conducted in 2015-2016. It investigated how workplace discourses supported or hindered the ability for early childhood professionals in Victorian long day care settings to engage in education reform. Using a poststructuralist lens and Foucauldian Discourse analysis [FDA] , specific workplace discourses were identified. These discourses framed the available subject positions which were afforded by directors, centre-coordinators and educators relating to reform engagement. Some of these positions were supportive of reform engagement, while others hindered this process. The findings presented throughout this paper offer some insight into how workplace discourses impact reform engagement in early childhood education.

Increasingly early childhood educators are referred to as “professionals,”
but how do they view themselves in terms of professionalism?
What does it mean to be an early childhood professional?
This study explored the views of 78 Asian early childhood educators
who were upgrading their qualifications to degree level. In
groups of five to eight, participants visually created and explained
metaphors of professionalism as a class activity. The visual metaphors
were analysed using Gleeson’s polytextual thematic analysis
with Rogoff’s personal, interpersonal and institutional planes as
the theoretical framework. Findings revealed that the educators’
perspectives of professionalism and professionalisation related to
their work–life roles, their cultural understandings and relationships,
and how they believed they were viewed by others in
relation to the status of early childhood education. This study
provides an insight into perceptions and challenges related to
the developing professionalism and professionalisation of early
childhood educators in Asian contexts.

Growing recognition of the complexity of children's lives has led to strong advocacy in education research literature for greater collaboration between researchers from different paradigms to address the 'wicked' problems that face contemporary children and families. There is little literature, however, exploring how collaboration works in practice. This paper, drawing on researcher reflective narrative, and using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a heuristic framework, describes and critiques the formative stages of an educational research collaborative group of five early and one mid-career early childhood education researchers (the authors), from two universities, and with quite different epistemological and ontological understandings. It outlines, from an insider perspective, some of the outcomes, challenges and tensions associated with participating in the research group, and concludes by providing some implications for policy and considerations for those contemplating forming a collaborative group.

Working women need to juggle work, child care and family to continue to breastfeed. This qualitative study's aim was to explore women's experiences of returning to work following the birth of their baby. Focus groups were held with women within one multi-campus university, who had commenced breastfeeding at birth and had returned to work or study within 12 months. In addition, educators working with babies in childcare centres on two of the campuses were interviewed. Thematic analysis was employed used Rogoff's (2003) three planes of analysis, the individual, the interpersonal and the cultural-institutional. Three themes, proximity, flexibility, and communication, were identified relating to the factors impacting on women and their choices to breastfeed or wean on returning to work. From a socio-cultural perspective these themes can be understood as situated within the interrelated contexts of workplace, child care and family. Limitations of the study include the small n...

Change is constant. In recent years, early childhood education internationally and in Australia has gone through significant changes shifting from traditional to more contemporary approaches to theory and practice.  This chapter explores the introduction of new curriculum frameworks and early childhood reforms within Victoria, Australia. Eleven educators from the Long Day Care sector participated in one hour interviews. Data was analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Findings revealed a range of learning and workplace strategies educators experienced while navigating change. This chapter provides pre-service educators with new learning and understanding about how to engage confidently in curriculum reform as they enter an ever-changing field.