Discourses of Professionalism in Family Day Care

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Discourses of Professionalism in Family Day Care
Language: English
Authors: Cook, Kay, Davis, Elise, Williamson, Lara, Harrison, Linda J., Sims, Margaret
Source: Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. 2013 14(2):112-126.
Availability: Symposium Journals. P.O. Box 204, Didcot, Oxford, OX11 9ZQ, UK. Tel: +44-1235-818-062; Fax: +44-1235-817-275; e-mail: subscriptions@symposium-journals.co.uk; Web site: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2013
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Child Care, Child Caregivers, Standards, Professional Identity, Focus Groups, Interviews, Telephone Surveys, Well Being, Administrators, Neoliberalism, Gender Differences, Measures (Individuals), Caregiver Attitudes, Comparative Analysis, Qualifications
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.2304/ciec.2013.14.2.112
ISSN: 1463-9491
Abstract: Family day care in Australia is currently undergoing rapid "professionalisation" within a national reform agenda that seeks to raise and standardise early childhood service quality. Included within this reform is a requirement that all family day care workers obtain formal qualifications and that workers are referred to as "educators" rather than "carers". This study drew on focus groups and interviews with family day care workers, management, government and industry representatives collected as part of a larger study into family day care workers' capacity to promote children's social and emotional wellbeing. Our analysis identified three discourses of professionalisation within family day care that provide important insights into the sector at a time of significant change. Management promoted workers as "educators" aligned with a neo-liberal, masculine understanding of professionalism and the objective measures used to assess service quality. This discourse excluded what "carers" felt were important, subjective and maternal aspects of their service delivery. To reconcile these discursive extremes, some workers took up a discourse that emphasised the requirements of their "job" and the standards of professionalism required by management. In conclusion, we contend that the take-up of educational discourses in family day care produce and reproduce tensions between "women's work" and "masculine professionalism" that undermine the sector's attempts to increase their status and recognition. (Contains 1 note.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 47
Entry Date: 2014
Accession Number: EJ1013535
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Discourses of Professionalism in Family Day Care
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Contemporary+Issues+in+Early+Childhood%22"><i>Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood</i></searchLink>. 2013 14(2):112-126.
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  Data: Symposium Journals. P.O. Box 204, Didcot, Oxford, OX11 9ZQ, UK. Tel: +44-1235-818-062; Fax: +44-1235-817-275; e-mail: subscriptions@symposium-journals.co.uk; Web site: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec
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  Data: 10.2304/ciec.2013.14.2.112
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  Data: Family day care in Australia is currently undergoing rapid "professionalisation" within a national reform agenda that seeks to raise and standardise early childhood service quality. Included within this reform is a requirement that all family day care workers obtain formal qualifications and that workers are referred to as "educators" rather than "carers". This study drew on focus groups and interviews with family day care workers, management, government and industry representatives collected as part of a larger study into family day care workers' capacity to promote children's social and emotional wellbeing. Our analysis identified three discourses of professionalisation within family day care that provide important insights into the sector at a time of significant change. Management promoted workers as "educators" aligned with a neo-liberal, masculine understanding of professionalism and the objective measures used to assess service quality. This discourse excluded what "carers" felt were important, subjective and maternal aspects of their service delivery. To reconcile these discursive extremes, some workers took up a discourse that emphasised the requirements of their "job" and the standards of professionalism required by management. In conclusion, we contend that the take-up of educational discourses in family day care produce and reproduce tensions between "women's work" and "masculine professionalism" that undermine the sector's attempts to increase their status and recognition. (Contains 1 note.)
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  Data: 2014
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  Data: EJ1013535
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      – Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: Child Care
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      – SubjectFull: Child Caregivers
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      – SubjectFull: Standards
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