Preschool for All? Examining the Current Policy Context in Light of Genishi's Research

Spencer, Tamara

doi:10.2304/ciec.2014.15.2.176

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 13 publications

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“…Within the wider context of education reform in the USA, UPK initiatives are viewed as expanding opportunities and “choices” for families (Fuller, 2007). UPK initiatives align with contemporary US education reforms that are based on standards, accountability, and the acquisition of skills that promise to increase a child’s ability to compete in the educational marketplace and, later, in the global workforce (Au and Ferrare, 2015; Spencer, 2014).…”

Section: Upk and Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating the policy directive of child autonomy in universal pre-kindergarten practice

Luna

Grey

2018

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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Drawing on case-study data, this inquiry explores the lived experiences of four universal pre-kindergarten teachers to address the question: How do practitioners narratively interpret a local school district policy directive of child autonomy, use their professional capacities to reconstruct the directive to address diverse students’ needs, and then implement or instruct their reconfigurations of autonomy in context-specific ways? By examining the tensions between policy and locally embodied practice, teachers’ voices shed light on professional struggles within large universal pre-kindergarten programs, and offer possibilities for reconceptualizing and enacting policy directives at the community level.

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Section: Upk and Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating the policy directive of child autonomy in universal pre-kindergarten practice

Luna

Grey

2018

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

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The joy of being: making way for young children's natural mindfulness

Erwin

Robinson

2015

Early Child Development and Care

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Inquiring into Notions of Educational Improvement by Teaching Where We Think: Philosophical Meditations as a Practice of Teacher Education

Ghiso

Burdick-Shepherd

2020

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background This paper is part of the special issue “Reimagining Research and Practice at the Crossroads of Philosophy, Teaching, and Teacher Education.” Early childhood initiatives have joined a nexus of educational reforms characterized by increased accountability and a focus on measurement as a marker of student and teacher learning, with early education being framed as an economic good necessary for competing in the global marketplace. Underlying the recent push for early childhood education is what we see as a “discourse of improvement”—depictions of school change that prioritize achievement as reflected in assessment scores, data collection on teacher effectiveness, and high-stakes evaluation. These characteristics, we argue, foster increasingly inequitable educational contexts and obscure the particularities of what it means to be a child in the world. Purpose We use the practice of philosophical meditation, as articulated in Pierre Hadot's examination of philosophy as a way of life, to inquire into the logics of educational improvement as instantiated in particular contexts, and for cultivating cross-disciplinary partnerships committed to fostering children's flourishing. We link this meditational focus with feminist and de-colonial theoretical perspectives to make visible the role of power in the characterization of children's learning as related to norms of development, minoritized identities, and hierarchies of knowledge. Research Design: In this collaborative inquiry, we compose a series of meditations on our experiences with the logics of improvement inspired by 12 months of systematic conversation. Our data sources include correspondence between the two authors, written reflections on specific practices in teacher education each author engages with, and a set of literary, philosophical, and teacher education texts. Conclusions/Recommendations Our meditations illuminate the value of collective inquiry about what constitutes improvement in schools. We raise questions about how the measurement of learning is entwined in historical and present-day relations of power and idealized formulations of the universal “child” or “teacher” and argue that we must work together to reimagine the framings that inform our work. Ultimately and most directly, these meditations can support dynamic attempts to cultivate meaningful and more equitable educational experiences for teachers and students. Philosophical meditations at the crossroads of philosophy, teaching, and teacher education thus extend beyond critique toward imagining and enacting a better world in our classrooms, even though (and especially when) this path is not clear.

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Preschool for All? Examining the Current Policy Context in Light of Genishi's Research

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Navigating the policy directive of child autonomy in universal pre-kindergarten practice

Navigating the policy directive of child autonomy in universal pre-kindergarten practice

The joy of being: making way for young children's natural mindfulness

Inquiring into Notions of Educational Improvement by Teaching Where We Think: Philosophical Meditations as a Practice of Teacher Education

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