Bildung as Promise to Preschool Institutions

Author(s):

Julia Seyss-Inquart(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 03 C, Policymaking and Reforms in Education (2)

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-10

17:15-18:45

Room:

G-103

Chair:

Sharon Josie Gewirtz

Contribution

The preschool sector is one of the most discussed fields of education in German-speaking countries’ politics because it is said to enhance equity and to foster skills as creativity, originality and reading as well as language competences. Consequently studies proving how well the existing system works are urgently needed whereas educational science is just starting to discover preschool education as a field of research (Reyer / Franke-Meyer 2010; Thole / Fölling-Albers / Roßbach 2008). In Germany and Austria (as well as in some other European countries) the preschool sector was historically part of social policy (Wustmann 2011) and as a result care and education were the central topoi in the discussions. In the last years a shift towards education policy (or to be precise policy of Bildung) can be observed – in the presentation this shift is examined looking at the discourses on preschool education in Vienna in the period between 1960 and 2010. The following questions are explored: Which patterns characterise the discourses and the shift from care and education towards Bildung? How is the concept of Bildung structured? What image of children and pedagogues does the concept imply? The material used in the discourse analysis are official minutes of debates and laws at federal, provincial and municipal level as well as brochures and other promotion material from the city government of Vienna. This allows gaining insight in negotiation processes of meaning and to elaborate on the promising effects of concepts in policy making. In a broader European context the Austrian case is worth exploring because of the changes it went through in the last 50 years – the debates on educational reforms offer insight in a highly fragile and contested field.

Method

Michel Foucault’s L'Archéologie du savoir (1969/1981) and L’ordre du discours (1972/2010), on which the research project is based, provide a viable methodological framework for the analysis. It allows shifting the focus away from the subject (which is emphasized in most established educational research) towards the discursive practices and structures of discourses on care, education and Bildung. With this special view on policy papers and processes, patterns in educational reforms become visible.

Expected Outcomes

New terms and patterns enter the discussion on preschool institutions from the late 1990s on and simultaneously the policies change noticeable. The shift from care and education towards Bildung can also be interpreted as a shift towards the school system. Furthermore the concept Bildung promises an upgrading of the institutions and the pedagogues who are now referred to as “Bildungspartner” (educational partners) in the policy papers. In this role they have to provide learning opportunities for the children to foster creativity and originality. However this new role also produces new mechanisms of control.

References

Foucault, Michel (1969/1981): Archäologie des Wissens. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Foucault, Michel (1972/2010): Die Ordnung des Diskurses. Frankfurt/M.: Fischer. Reyer, Jürgen / Franke-Meyer, Diana (2010): Vorschulreform und der wissenschaftliche Status der “Pädagogik der frühen Kindheit” als Teildisziplin der Erziehungswissenschaft. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 56 (5), S. 725-743. Thole, Werner / Fölling-Albers, Maria / Roßbach, Hans Günther (2008): Die “Pädagogik der Kindheit” im Fokus der Wissenschaften. In: Thole, Werner / Fölling-Albers, Maria / Roßbach, Hans Günther, Tippelt, Rudolf (Hrsg.): Bildung und Kindheit. Pädagogik der frühen Kindheit in Wissenschaft und Lehre. Opladen: Budrich, S. 17-30. Wustmann, Cornelia (2011): Kindheit und Kindheitsforschung. In: Anastasiadis, Maria / Heimgartner, Arno / Kittl-Satran, Helga / Wrentschur, Michael (Hrsg.): Sozialpädagogisches Wirken. Wien, Berlin: LIT, S. 59-70.

Author Information

Julia Seyss-Inquart (presenting / submitting)

University of Graz, Austria

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