THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Professions are selected occupations with a consensual formal knowledge base (Evetts, 2013). This is continually changing, due to the influence of knowledge transformations, cultural change, and State regulations. University programs play a critical role in constructing the professions' knowledge base since their plans of study constitute its crystallization (Freidson, 2001).

The construction of the professions' knowledge base is associated with social, cultural, and historical processes, and different state structures. Thus, the decentralized State structure and the predominance of private or relatively independent universities within the United Kingdom and the United States fostered systems of largely self-regulated professions (i.e. the liberal professions). Meanwhile, the greater State centralization and functional proximity between the State and public universities prevalent in continental Europe favored the development of professions that have been fostered by the State (Svensson and Evetts, 2003). To interpret the latter context, the notion of professionalism “from above” (as opposed to professionalism “from within”; i.e., driven by the occupations themselves) has been proposed (Evetts, 2013).

The enormous heterogeneity of the plans of study of Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs in the United States (Horm et al. 2013) and Europe (Oberhuemer, 2011) is considered a deficit of professionalism in this field, as it accounts for the lack of a shared knowledge base (Ryan and Gibson, 2016). This has raised a debate on the knowledge base that should be part of ECE programs' plans of study (Ryan and Gibson, 2016).

RESEARCH QUESTION

Few research works have addressed the evolution of ECE programs' plans of study from the perspective of professionalism, and how the State has influenced these processes. This research aim was to address this issue and contribute to narrow this knowledge gap.

SOME RELEVANT FACTS ON CHILE

Chile has an intrinsic interest to inquire into this issue, as it was a world pioneer in preparing ECE teachers at the university level for 80 years (Komlósi, 1987). Ever since, ECE in the country has experienced enormous changes, while the State regulations of tertiary education have been transformed drastically.

In a nutshell, the first Chilean university undergraduate ECE program was created in 1944, as part of a higher education system minimally regulated by the State (Lemaitre, 2015). Then, the educational provision for children under 6 years of age was just fledgling in the country mainly upholding welfare purposes, with an enrollment rate below 1% of this population (Rojas Flores, 2010).

Since 1971, ECE progressively consolidated in the country, because of both its importance in favoring female participation in the labor market, and because of public policies that fostered the increase in its enrollment rate (which exceeded 20% of the 0-5-year-old population in 1996) (Rojas Flores, 2010). This occurred within the context of the liberalization of the tertiary education system, expressed in the creation of new undergraduate ECE programs (several of them non-university), the reduction of the requirements for provision, and the establishment of market instruments for their governance and coordination (Lemaitre, 2015).

In the last 25 years, ECE became a high priority for the successive Chilean governments; for instance, the national ECE curriculum was enacted (2001) and the ECE Undersecretariat was established within the Ministry of Education (Correa and Falabella, 2022). In parallel, this Ministry drove several measures to strengthen undergraduate teacher preparation, including, for instance, programs for Strengthening Initial Teacher Preparation (FFID), Improving the Quality of Higher Education (MECE-SUP), and the establishment of compulsory accreditation for undergraduate teaching programs (Lemaitre, 2015).

This research was designed as a qualitative multiple case study at a descriptive level (Stake, 2006). These cases consisted of two groups of Chilean undergraduate ECE programs. The first one is composed of those programs that existed before 1981, when the higher education system was liberalized to the market in the country. These programs are Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad del Norte, Universidad Católica de Chile, and Universidad Austral. Here, these programs are referred to as "historical programs", or by their institutional name, since, as protagonists in the history of ECE in Chile, their paths have been documented in numerous publicly available sources (MINEDUC, 2001). The second group corresponds to 5 programs that are currently among the most consolidated in the country; these are named as "most recent cases", in order to protect their anonymity. The period covered by this research spans from 1944 (when the first undergraduate ECE program in the country was founded) to 2015 (when undergraduate ECE programs obtained by law exclusive university status in Chile). Data were collected through individual interviews with 31 academics who played a relevant role in the formulation of the plans of study of their respective programs (including the historical ones), and through official documents of the ECE programs (e.g. plans of study, accreditation reports). In total, 7 plans of study of the historical programs (the total available) and 26 of the most recent cases were analyzed. The latter were selected because they represent profound restructurings, according to the triangulation among the rationale contained in the official documents, the report of the academics interviewed, and the distribution of the knowledge areas proposed by Cox and Gysling (1990) (i.e. Transmission Theories, Transmission Techniques, Research, Practice, Electives, and Discipline). The data collected were subjected to cross-case analysis, seeking to identify patterns, differences and similarities among the cases' plans of study, by examining their relationships not only individually, but also in how they connect or contrast with each other (Stake, 2006).

Findings suggest three phases of professionalism: Technical preparation: 1944-1967 Universidad de Chile and Universidad de Concepción offered ECE programs, defining them as "technical professional" (BCN, 2015; Universidad de Chile, 1956). Their plans of study included, among others, courses on music, handicrafts, and children's literature (Universidad de Chile, 1945). Pedagogical preparation: 1968-1998 The existing ECE programs introduced a common track with other pedagogies, responding to universities' main authorities (Cox and Gysling, 1990); this included courses theorizing on education; e.g. Curriculum and Educational Philosophy (Universidad Austral, 1974). The plans of study of the now numerous ECE programs were dissimilar (CRUCH, no date), amidst the liberalized tertiary education system (Lemaitre, 1915). ECE programs -following the Education Law- began to grant a bachelor's degree, including courses on scientific methodology and the development of a thesis, as did four of the most recent cases of this research (Lemeatre, 2015). Professional preparation: 1999-2015 Several MINEDUC's initiatives prompted changes in the five most recent cases' plans of study: The introduction of courses related to the national ECE curriculum learning areas (MINEDUC, 2014). The adoption of cutting-edge perspectives on teacher preparation fostered by FFID (Ávalos, 2014) -considered the "second professionalization" of teachers in Chile (Núñez, 2007)- including ECE teachers. The embeddedment of MECE-SUP's competency framework into the plans of study (Avalos, 2014). The alignment of the plans of study to the standards for ECE teachers' preparation (Cox et al., no date). In conclusion, the described evolution suggests the examined Chilean undergraduate ECE programs' plans of study have tended towards a more consensual formal knowledge base (Evetts, 2013), implying a more robust professionalism. This process has been mainly influenced by the State (MINEDUC) and the universities' policies (not ECE programs), and, thus, it can be interpreted as professionalism "from above" (Evetts, 2013), as developed in continental Europe.

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