Strategies, systems and services: a Northern Ireland early years policy perspective

McMillan, Dorothy J.; McConnell, Barbara

doi:10.1080/09669760.2015.1074555

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Contextual Discourse/Policy Analysis (CDA) was adopted to analyse the policy document data for this project. McMillan and McConnell (2015) drew on the work of Ozga (1987), Taylor (1997) and Fairclough (2000) to adapt this method for critically analysing policy documents. For the purpose of this paper, the analysis of policy documents underwent a multi-layered approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contextual Discourse/Policy Analysis (CDA) was adopted to analyse the policy document data for this project. McMillan and McConnell (2015) drew on the work of Ozga (1987), Taylor (1997) and Fairclough (2000) to Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: List Paragraph, Space Before: Auto, After: Auto, Line spacing: 1.5 lines, Bulleted + Level: 1 + Aligned at: 0.63 cm + Indent at: 1.27 cm Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Normal, Space Before: Auto, After: Auto, Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Normal (Web), Space Before: 0 pt, After: 0 pt, Line spacing: 1.5 lines adapt this method for critically analysing policy documents. For the purpose of this paper, the analysis of policy documents underwent a multi-layered approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trainee teachers’ perceptions about parent partnerships: are parents partners?

Meehan

2017

Early Child Development and Care

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Children's life chances when their learning at home is supported collaboratively with early years' and other educational settings. This original piece of research involved second year trainee teachers who were surveyed about their perceptions about parents and the nature of the partnership relationship. X ( 2007) previously explored early childhood teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning. Teachers act in accordance with their beliefs when their knowledge, understanding and confidence of that area is high. Using this assumption, this small scale study explores the student teachers perceptions about parents. To ensure rigour, the study was contextualised in the literature drawing on qualitative research methods including use of open-ended questions. The study considered the participants own experiences of families and parenting and were debriefed following their participation. Contextual Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to analyse the policy based data for this project. The initial findings suggest that the challenge for new teachers is their own confidence in their potential relationships with parents in relation to their feelings of being qualified but a novice. The four themes that emerged from the data provide a useful framework for the development of a questionnaire for the purpose of investigating this topic further. This is a timely paper, given the proposed changes in the White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere (2016), which will impact on the future training of teachers in England.Children's life chances when their learning at home is supported collaboratively with early years' and other educational settings. This original piece of research involved second year trainee teachers who were surveyed about their perceptions about parents and the nature of the partnership relationship.Meehan (2007) previously explored early childhood teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning.Teachers act in accordance with their beliefs when their knowledge, understanding and confidence of that area is high. Using this assumption, this pilot study explores the student teacher perceptions of what a "good" and "bad" parent looks like. In order to ensure rigour, the study was contextualised in the literature drawing on qualitative research methods including use of open-ended questions. The study considered the participants own experiences of families and parenting and were debriefed following their participation. Contextual Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to analyse the policy based data for this project. The initial findings suggest that the challenge for new teachers is their own confidence in their potential relationships with parents in relation to their feelings of being qualified but a novice. The four themes that emerged from the data provide a useful framework for the development of a questionnaire for the purpose of investigating this topic further. The main study (in development) will pursue the relationship that trainee teachers' beliefs and perceptions about "good" parents and their expectations for ...

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“…Contextual Discourse/Policy Analysis (CDA) was adopted to analyse the policy document data for this project. McMillan and McConnell (2015) drew on the work of Ozga (1987), Taylor (1997) and Fairclough (2000) to adapt this method for critically analysing policy documents. For the purpose of this paper, the analysis of policy documents underwent a multi-layered approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contextual Discourse/Policy Analysis (CDA) was adopted to analyse the policy document data for this project. McMillan and McConnell (2015) drew on the work of Ozga (1987), Taylor (1997) and Fairclough (2000) to Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: List Paragraph, Space Before: Auto, After: Auto, Line spacing: 1.5 lines, Bulleted + Level: 1 + Aligned at: 0.63 cm + Indent at: 1.27 cm Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 11 pt, Font color: Auto, Formatted: Normal, Space Before: Auto, After: Auto, Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Line spacing: 1.5 lines Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, Formatted: Normal (Web), Space Before: 0 pt, After: 0 pt, Line spacing: 1.5 lines adapt this method for critically analysing policy documents. For the purpose of this paper, the analysis of policy documents underwent a multi-layered approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trainee teachers’ perceptions about parent partnerships: are parents partners?

Meehan

2017

Early Child Development and Care

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“…McMillan and McConnell (2015:8) who undertook a critique of the Learning to Learn framework, argue that such a reference conveys the framework's tacit acknowledgement for a graduate-led workforce but with an unfortunate "deafening silence" around the issue of raising workforce qualifications to graduate status. The framework does articulate its intention to liaise with DHSS&PS around current qualifications with specific reference to literacy and numeracy and indicates the need to raise the number of professional development days for the voluntary sector, however the specifics about how a graduate-led workforce might be achieved in practice goes unmentioned, once again contradicting the findings embedded within local and international research (McMillan and McConnell, 2015).…”

Section: Policy Resolutionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It would seem therefore that the above challenges are all pointing towards the need for a graduate-led workforce in pre-school practice, the necessity of which has clearly been articulated within local and international research (see McMillan and McConnell, 2015). The burning question that remains is whether the Government in Northern Ireland would be willing to invest in such a development?…”

Section: Significant Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The view from Wales

Jones¹

2013

Child Care

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“…For example, in the USA, Brown et al (2015) discuss the 'strange coupling of power' that exists between ECE and contemporary neoliberal policy-making, and problematize the 'subtle coercion of these neoliberal reforms and how they can limit and/or redefine the space in which teachers prepare children for kindergarten ' (2015: p.148). Similarly, McMillan and McConnell (2015) use Critical Policy Analysis to examine ECE policies in Northern Ireland, and their alignment with core objectives of raising standards and reducing educational underachievement. Their analysis reveals tensions between the core values of the ECE practitioner community, and the potential for slippage between the core aims of the policies and their implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unbalanced and unbalancing acts in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a critical discourse analysis of policy-led evidence on teaching and play from the office for standards in education in England (Ofsted)

Wood

2019

Education 3-13

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This paper presents a critical analysis of a report by the Office for Standards in Education in England (Ofsted, 2015), based on a survey of practitioners' perspectives of play, focusing on children age 2-5 years in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England. The report, 'Teaching and play in the early years-a balancing act? A good practice survey to explore perceptions of teaching and play in the early years' www.gov.uk/government/organisations/Ofsted, gathered evidence to address the 'recurring myth' that teaching and play are disconnected endeavours in the early years. Critical discourse and critical policy analysis are used to interrogate this report alongside interrelated texts, the socio-political context of production, the methods used to define policy versions of 'good practice' in play, and the resulting power effects within early childhood education (ECE). It is argued that this report exemplifies how the remit of Ofsted has extended to provide policy-led evidence that is based on the construction of 'problems' of practice, and the proposed solutions. The Ofsted version of teaching and play relies on circular discourses that reinforce the government's standards and accountability agendas. This analysis reveals the extension from Ofsted's remit of inspection, to a mandate for defining 'quality' and 'good' practice. These actions, relationships and processes constitute the 'meaning-laden architectures' (Fairclough et al, 2004) that connect discourse and power. Using the metaphor of a kaleidoscope, it is proposed that 'Teaching and Play', and related reports, represent unbalanced and unbalancing acts in which policy-led evidence, based on flawed and biased 'research', exerts power effects for children, families and practitioners.

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Strategies, systems and services: a Northern Ireland early years policy perspective

Cited by 5 publications

References 13 publications

Trainee teachers’ perceptions about parent partnerships: are parents partners?

Trainee teachers’ perceptions about parent partnerships: are parents partners?

The view from Wales

Unbalanced and unbalancing acts in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a critical discourse analysis of policy-led evidence on teaching and play from the office for standards in education in England (Ofsted)

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