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Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the different ways in which a number of Chilean stakeholders conceptualise the ‘good early childhood educator’ in Chile. In a context where new foreign narratives are increasingly dominating the field and the recent standardisation of the educators’ professional role is being implemented, this research constitutes a critical and alternative viewpoint, analysing the situation as a whole and creating dialogues between key actors in order to open possibilities to new understandings. Twenty-three participants, including early childhood educators, teacher educators and key informants from national providers of early childhood education, were interviewed. Adopting a postmodern approach to grounded theory (situational analysis), the participants’ discourses were analysed and compared, together with a diversity of identified elements and human and non-human actors. Shared meanings, conflicts, tensions and local understandings were identified in the data and cartographic tools were used to illustrate them. The article concludes with some reflections on the new possibilities these findings can bring to the future of structures and discourses within the early childhood profession in Chile and worldwide.
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Author biography
Maria Viviani is a Chilean early childhood educator who recently completed her PhD at the University of Bristol, UK. Her research interests lie in the area of professional education for early childhood practitioners, parenting and community programs. Maria has worked as a teacher mentor in Chile, and collaborated actively in a number of research projects. She is currently working as a researcher at the School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, and developing an online community platform for educators in Latin America.
