Learning, Development and the Early Childhood Curriculum: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England

Autor/in	Wood, Elizabeth
Titel	Learning, Development and the Early Childhood Curriculum: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England
Quelle	In: Journal of Early Childhood Research, 18 (2020) 3, S.321-336 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Wood, Elizabeth)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1476-718X
DOI	10.1177/1476718X20927726
Schlagwörter	Discourse Analysis; Early Childhood Education; Child Development; Teaching Methods; Foreign Countries; School Readiness; Educational Policy; Educational Quality; Outcomes of Education; Preschool Curriculum; Learning Theories; Equal Education; Inclusion; Diversity; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Diskursanalyse; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Kindesentwicklung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Ausland; Readiness for school; School ability; Schulreife; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg; Learning theory; Lerntheorie; Inklusion
Abstract	This article focuses on the national policy framework for early childhood education (birth to 5 years) in England -- the Early Years Foundation Stage, specifically the use of child development theories as the underpinning knowledge base for practice. The aim is to understand what constructions of learning and development are foregrounded in policy, and their implications for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Critical Discourse Analysis methods are used to expose learning and development as messy constructs, and to propose three arguments. First, the evidence base for the Early Years Foundation Stage relies on selective appropriation of child development theories, and findings from government-funded research. These sustain normative discourses, reflecting a Piagetian ontology of 'development leads learning', through which children become 'knowable' and 'measurable'. Second, the Early Years Foundation Stage shifts from "developmental processes" to "learning outcomes" as the basis for constructing curriculum, assessment of children's outcomes and school readiness. Third, the Early Years Foundation Stage constitutes a discursive regime, which influences how practitioners must fulfil performance criteria that serve multiple purposes of assessing outcomes, evaluating standards and defining 'quality'. From a critical perspective, this analysis questions the efficacy of the Early Years Foundation Stage in addressing the problems of equity and inclusion in diverse societies. The Early Years Foundation Stage exemplifies the policy technologies that can be discerned in international contexts, through which specific forms of curriculum coherence and control are produced. An alternative 'learning leading development' onto-epistemology is proposed, which offers potential for challenging the (il)logic of the Early Years Foundation Stage. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01