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Problematising the educational leader policy in Australian early childhood education and care.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Problematising the educational leader policy in Australian early childhood education and care.
Authors: Wu, Bin1 (AUTHOR) bin.wu@rmit.edu.au, Cook, Kay2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Education Policy. May2026, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p374-395. 22p.
Subject Terms: *Early childhood education, *Educational leadership, Governmentality, Equality, Labor market, Policy analysis, Socioeconomics, Policy discourse
Abstract: This paper applies Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' (WPR) approach to critically examine the educational leader policy in Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC). The sector has experienced a persistent shortage of qualified staff, largely due to its traditionally low social and professional status. This shortage is framed in policy discourse as a key barrier to achieving the government's vision of high-quality education. In response, the 2012 introduction of the educational leader role was positioned as a solution, tasked with leading pedagogy and mentoring peers to lift quality. However, utilising the WPR approach to policy analysis reveals a deeper contradiction rooted in capitalism: while dependent on socio-reproductive labour such as care work, the system simultaneously devalues those who perform it. The policy's proposed solution reinforces dominant discourses of care and productivity. It operates as a form of governmentality, using educational leadership as a cost-efficient mechanism to tackle workforce 'deficiencies' without addressing structural inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Education Research Complete
Description
Abstract:This paper applies Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' (WPR) approach to critically examine the educational leader policy in Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC). The sector has experienced a persistent shortage of qualified staff, largely due to its traditionally low social and professional status. This shortage is framed in policy discourse as a key barrier to achieving the government's vision of high-quality education. In response, the 2012 introduction of the educational leader role was positioned as a solution, tasked with leading pedagogy and mentoring peers to lift quality. However, utilising the WPR approach to policy analysis reveals a deeper contradiction rooted in capitalism: while dependent on socio-reproductive labour such as care work, the system simultaneously devalues those who perform it. The policy's proposed solution reinforces dominant discourses of care and productivity. It operates as a form of governmentality, using educational leadership as a cost-efficient mechanism to tackle workforce 'deficiencies' without addressing structural inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:02680939
DOI:10.1080/02680939.2025.2569039