Educational Reform: The discourses that shape and reshape the positioning and engagement of early childhood professionals in long day care settings in Victoria, Australia

This post-structural thesis investigated how educational reform discourses shaped and reshaped the positioning and engagement of eleven early childhood professionals working in the long day care sector in Victoria, Australia. It explored connections between reform and the discourses of change, teacher education and professional development. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Michel Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power revealed a range of subject positions and coping strategies among participants as they navigated the changes of early childhood reform. This new knowledge contributes to policy development, reform implementation and institutional practices for the purpose of future reform initiatives in an ever-changing field.