Inclusion, belonging and intercultural spaces: A narrative policy analysis of playgroups in Australia

Abstract

This article employs narrative policy analysis to examine how community playgroups are constructed in the ECEC policy framework, in order to understand what might exclude families, and how more families can be included in community playgroups. Playgroups are a widespread and important component of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision in Australia, where parents and carers meet weekly with their babies, toddlers and preschool children. They are sites of social support for parents, together with play-based learning and socialisation activities for the children. Through the lens of intersectionality theory, four narratives are constructed through analysis of interviews with policy elite informants. The classic narrative draws on the enduring model of community playgroups from the 1970s, and the vulnerability narrative centres the supported playgroup model. The belonging narrative and the intercultural narrative indicate possibilities for future policy approaches to community playgroups.