Session Information
25 SES 01, School Stages and Transitions
Paper Session
Contribution
This study explores the tensions between the philosophical underpinnings, policy context and implementation of a new approach to early childhood education and care across Australia. The approach draws on a range of theoretical and philosophical perspectives whose implications for practice we set out to unravel.
We ask: What are the implications of Australia’s newly developed Early Learning Years Framework (EYLF) for the environment provided and the relationships developed by educators and for the experiences of the young children in their care?
International attention has ocused on improving the quality of education and care for young children (UNICEF, 2008). Australia’s Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians positions education as pivotal to building a democratic, equitable and just society in the 21st century (Ministerial Council for Education Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2008). Poststructuralist and reconceptualist philosophies were used to develop a new approach that moved beyond labels and stereotypes about children to focus on rich learning experiences to all children (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2008). A framework (EYLF) was envisaged in terms of Belonging Being and Becoming, a conceptualisation, according to Peers and Fleer (2013) originating in the tradition of dialectical logic in Western philosophical practice, around the existential and ontological discourse.
Belonging The concept of belonging includes ‘a sense of belonging, and the politics of belonging’ (Stratigos, Bradley & Sumsion, 2014, p. 183). Therefore, both power relations and social justice dimensions are inherent in the concept. Sumison and Wong identified dimensions of belonging: “emotional, social, cultural, spatial, temporal, physical, spiritual, moral/ethical, political and legal” (2011, p. 33).
Being The concept of being relates to the field of ontology concerned with the existence of entities. The manner in which such entities are grouped stems from metaphysics. From the UK, Douzinas (2007) suggests that learning about the world is a series of events involving relationships and encounters. European researchers Dahlberg and Moss (2007) draw on the theorising of North American Levinas (1987) about the ‘ethics of an encounter’ to explore how ‘alterity” (the state of being Other) obligates us to treat the Other without expectation of a profitable return.
Becoming The concept of becoming isinterwoven with belonging and being. To become is a recurrent theme in phenomenology, focusing on ‘the specific conditions of human embedded-ness in an environment’, according to Irish philosophers Moran and Mooney (2007, p. 5).
During 2008 -2009 a working party comprising representatives from Australian Federal, States and Territory was established to develop an Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) within a National Quality Standard (NQS). For the first time this NQS provides a policy umbrella for both the early years care as well as school-aged education. Similarly, the EYLF approval process was multi-tiered and multi-jurisdictional. The policy development and approval took place under the influence of the recently signed United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child which reconceptualised the child as an agent in his/her own learning. All staff working in education and care settings are mandated to implement the policy. The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) was tasked with ensuring the reforms are enacted.
Critiques of the EYLF emerged. For example, Stratigos, Bradley and Sumsion (2014) argue that the definition of belonging loses the political, moral and ethical dimensions. The EYLF emphasis is on relational pedagogy at the expense of the social justice dimension. Furthermore, Being is cast in terms of ‘time’, emphasising the ‘right here and right now’ for children. In similar vein, becoming is narrowly interpreted to focus on children’s learning (Millei & Sumsion, 2011), rather than on individuality in a socio-cultural context.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Australian Government Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming: the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Council of Australian Governments. (2009). National quality standard for early childhood education and care and school age care. Canberra. Dahlberg, G., & Moss, P. (2007). Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education. Oxfordshire. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2008). A Research Paper to inform the development of An Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Victoria: State Government. Douzinas, C. (2007). Human rights and empire: The political philosophy of cosmopolitanism. London: Routledge-Cavendish. Elwick, S., Bradley, B., & Sumsion, J. (2014). Infants as others: Uncertainties, difficulties, and (im)possibilities in researching infants’ lives. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 27(2), 196-213. Giugni, M. (2011 ). ‘Becoming worldly with’: an encounter with the Early Years Learning Framework. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), 11-27. Goodfellow. J. (2009). The Early Years Learning Framework: Getting started. Research in Practice Series. Canberra: Early Childhood Australia Inc. Levinas, E. (1987). Time and the Other. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press. Millei, Z., & Sumsion, J. (2011). The ‘work’ of community in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), 71-85. Ministerial Council for Education Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Melbourne. Moran, D., & Mooney, T. (2007). The Phenomenology Reader. New York: Routledge . Mowbray, B., Sims, M., McPhan, G., & Pegg, J. (2012). Application of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to teachers working in early childhood education and care services. from Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership http://www.aitsl.edu.au/research-and-evaluation/aitsl-research-repository/detail/?id=application-of-the-australian-professional-standards-for-teachers-to-teachers-working-in-early-childhood-education-and-care-services Peers, C., & Fleer, M. (2013). The Theory of ‘Belonging’: Defining concepts used within Belonging, Being and Becoming—The Australian Early Years Learning Framework. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 46(8), 914-928. Productivity Commission. (2015). Childcare and Early Childhood Learning Inquiry report. Canberra: Government Australia. Sumison, J., & Wong, S. (2011). Interrogating ‘Belonging’ in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), 28-45. Sumsion, J., Stratigos, T., & Bradley, B. (2014). Babies in space. In L. Harrison & J. Sumsion (Eds.), Lived spaces of infant-toddler education and care (pp. 43-58). Dordrecht: Springer. UNICEF (2008). The child care transition, Innocenti Report Card 8. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence
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