Australian Research in Early Childhood Education and Care: Insights Into the Actual; Imagining the Possible

Susanne Garvis,Shane N Phillipson,Sivanes Phillipson

doi:10.3102/0091732x20985075

Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) remains a priority area for public policy, internationally and in Australia. However, an analysis of empirical research published internationally up to 2008 has identified a bias toward positivist methodologies within a “scientific/psychological’ rather than educational perspective and with a focus on the interactions between preschoolers, family, and child care variables. For some researchers, this bias raises concerns that public policy in ECEC is based on limited research perspectives. This chapter examines research focusing on the Australian context and published between 2010 and 2014 to determine whether this bias exists in Australian research. We explore the quality of ECEC research to develop an overall understanding of the current situation of ECEC research in Australia. Our findings suggest that Australian research in ECEC is very dissimilar to research published internationally, especially in its reliance on qualitative paradigms and a focus on the educators (principals, teachers, and teacher aides). The strong qualitative focus may allow a diverse range of voices within the ECEC sector to be heard and identified, moving beyond traditional notions of historically marginalized individuals and communities that dominate other education research areas.

Highlights

Review of Research in Education, 45 system policies and procedures, and children’s health and safety (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, 2014; Council of Australian Governments, 2009)
This section begins with the descriptive analysis of Australian research in Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the period 2010 to 2014, including research paradigm, research methods, research type, participant group, participant focus, and research aspect
We have been able to determine that ECEC research in Australia is different in profile to international ECEC research

Summary

Introduction

Review of Research in Education, 45 system policies and procedures, and children’s health and safety (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, 2014; Council of Australian Governments, 2009). Authors who specialize in qualitative methodologies have opined that their academic peers, journal editors, and policymakers overlook the importance and legitimacy of their research studies (Ceglowski et al, 2011; Freeman et al, 2007; Schuermans, 2013; Tracy, 2010) in favor of objective, quantitative, and positivist/postpositivist research approaches (Morse, 2015) Such vituperations (Ceglowski et al, 2011; Chattoe-Brown, 2015; Winsler, 2015) are pertinent in understanding the state of ECEC research in Australia. We acknowledge that multiple realities can exist, depending on which perspective is taken

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion