{"title":"‘What works’ and for whom? Bold Beginnings and the construction of the school ready child","authors":"L. Kay","doi":"10.1177/1476718X211052791","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"School readiness is a dominant discourse in current policy agendas in UK and international contexts, fulfilling a range of goals such as providing children with the ‘best start in life’ by breaking the cycle of poverty, and preparing children for formal learning in compulsory education. Focussing on the school readiness agenda in England, this paper interrogates how the local touchdown of international policy formulations influences policy at country-level. It is argued that the emphasis on teaching Mathematics, Reading and Writing as a way of readying children for school raises concerns over the formalisation of pedagogy and curriculum in the Reception year (aged 4–5), in preparation for the transition to Year One of the National Curriculum. Using Hyatt’s Critical Discourse Policy Analysis Frame (CPDAF) this paper examines how the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) report ‘Bold Beginnings’ further strengthens the policy discourse that establishes Reception as a site for school readiness through a discursively constructed narrative of ‘what works’. Based on the analysis, the paper then questions whether the ‘what works’ OfSTED agenda works for teachers and children.","PeriodicalId":46652,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Early Childhood Research","volume":"20 1","pages":"172 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Early Childhood Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X211052791","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
School readiness is a dominant discourse in current policy agendas in UK and international contexts, fulfilling a range of goals such as providing children with the ‘best start in life’ by breaking the cycle of poverty, and preparing children for formal learning in compulsory education. Focussing on the school readiness agenda in England, this paper interrogates how the local touchdown of international policy formulations influences policy at country-level. It is argued that the emphasis on teaching Mathematics, Reading and Writing as a way of readying children for school raises concerns over the formalisation of pedagogy and curriculum in the Reception year (aged 4–5), in preparation for the transition to Year One of the National Curriculum. Using Hyatt’s Critical Discourse Policy Analysis Frame (CPDAF) this paper examines how the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) report ‘Bold Beginnings’ further strengthens the policy discourse that establishes Reception as a site for school readiness through a discursively constructed narrative of ‘what works’. Based on the analysis, the paper then questions whether the ‘what works’ OfSTED agenda works for teachers and children.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Early Childhood Research provides an international forum for the dissemination of early childhood research which transcends disciplinary boundaries and applies theory and research within academic and professional communities. The journal reflects international growth in research on young children’s learning and development and the impact of this on provision. The journal enjoys a wide readership which includes policy-makers, practitioners and researchers in the intersecting fields of early childhood education and care, with early childhood defined as the years from birth to eight.