Shifting tectonic plates of key discourses in New Zealand early childhood education policy (1989-2017): A critical discourse analysis at the dawn of change

Abstract

This thesis analysed the presence of neoliberalism, socialism and te Ao Māori in fundamental policy documents that frame New Zealand early childhood practice. It did so to critically engage with, and thus make sense of, neoliberalism’s application and potential growth in New Zealand early childhood policies from 1989 to 2017. The research additionally focused on the interplay of socialist and te Ao Māori discourses in these texts, in conjunction with neoliberalism. It employed a poststructuralist conceptual framework that utilised Kristeva’s intertextuality and Foucault’s discourse, governmentality, and power/knowledge. The philosophical framework facilitated an appreciation of the early childhood education (ECE) sector and government discourses, via policies that exhibited discursive power, truths, and knowledges. This thesis’ approach was employed through a critical discourse analysis, incorporating Kristeva’s intertextuality, Fairclough’s manifest intertextuality and interdiscursivity, as well as a keyword search. This form of document analysis was selected because it enabled me as the researcher to gain a deeper more developed understanding of the policy texts, eliciting meaning and recognition of the discourses often naturalised within them.

Contrary to the dominant claims in ECE literature concerning contemporary discourse, the analysis did not discover the neoliberal discourse’s predominance within the selected policies and documents, as was expected. The neoliberal discourse did exist within government endorsed texts, such as the foreword of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017b) and Four Year Plan 2016-2020 (Ministry of Education, 2016). However, when the texts came closest to the sector, such as Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 1996; 2017b) and the Licensing Criteria Early Childhood Education and Care (Ministry of Education, 2008), the discourses of socialism, te Ao Māori and neoliberalism, nullified, transformed and modified one another. These findings were exemplified in the updated Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 2017b), that limited the neoliberal use of individualism from the original, while also upgrading children’s future potential. ‘Future’ within this text, however, was constructed through a modification of te Ao Māori by absorbing and embodying it in incomplete ways.

This thesis analysed the presence of neoliberalism, socialism and te Ao Māori in fundamental policy documents that frame New Zealand early childhood practice. It did so to critically engage with, and thus make sense of, neoliberalism’s application and potential growth in New Zealand early childhood policies from 1989 to 2017. The research additionally focused on the interplay of socialist and te Ao Māori discourses in these texts, in conjunction with neoliberalism. It employed a poststructuralist conceptual framework that utilised Kristeva’s intertextuality and Foucault’s discourse, governmentality, and power/knowledge. The philosophical framework facilitated an appreciation of the early childhood education (ECE) sector and government discourses, via policies that exhibited discursive power, truths, and knowledges. This thesis’ approach was employed through a critical discourse analysis, incorporating Kristeva’s intertextuality, Fairclough’s manifest intertextuality and interdiscursivity, as well as a keyword search. This form of document analysis was selected because it enabled me as the researcher to gain a deeper more developed understanding of the policy texts, eliciting meaning and recognition of the discourses often naturalised within them.

Contrary to the dominant claims in ECE literature concerning contemporary discourse, the analysis did not discover the neoliberal discourse’s predominance within the selected policies and documents, as was expected. The neoliberal discourse did exist within government endorsed texts, such as the foreword of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017b) and Four Year Plan 2016-2020 (Ministry of Education, 2016). However, when the texts came closest to the sector, such as Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 1996; 2017b) and the Licensing Criteria Early Childhood Education and Care (Ministry of Education, 2008), the discourses of socialism, te Ao Māori and neoliberalism, nullified, transformed and modified one another. These findings were exemplified in the updated Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 2017b), that limited the neoliberal use of individualism from the original, while also upgrading children’s future potential. ‘Future’ within this text, however, was constructed through a modification of te Ao Māori by absorbing and embodying it in incomplete ways.

This thesis analysed the presence of neoliberalism, socialism and te Ao Māori in fundamental policy documents that frame New Zealand early childhood practice. It did so to critically engage with, and thus make sense of, neoliberalism’s application and potential growth in New Zealand early childhood policies from 1989 to 2017. The research additionally focused on the interplay of socialist and te Ao Māori discourses in these texts, in conjunction with neoliberalism. It employed a poststructuralist conceptual framework that utilised Kristeva’s intertextuality and Foucault’s discourse, governmentality, and power/knowledge. The philosophical framework facilitated an appreciation of the early childhood education (ECE) sector and government discourses, via policies that exhibited discursive power, truths, and knowledges. This thesis’ approach was employed through a critical discourse analysis, incorporating Kristeva’s intertextuality, Fairclough’s manifest intertextuality and interdiscursivity, as well as a keyword search. This form of document analysis was selected because it enabled me as the researcher to gain a deeper more developed understanding of the policy texts, eliciting meaning and recognition of the discourses often naturalised within them.

Contrary to the dominant claims in ECE literature concerning contemporary discourse, the analysis did not discover the neoliberal discourse’s predominance within the selected policies and documents, as was expected. The neoliberal discourse did exist within government endorsed texts, such as the foreword of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017b) and Four Year Plan 2016-2020 (Ministry of Education, 2016). However, when the texts came closest to the sector, such as Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 1996; 2017b) and the Licensing Criteria Early Childhood Education and Care (Ministry of Education, 2008), the discourses of socialism, te Ao Māori and neoliberalism, nullified, transformed and modified one another. These findings were exemplified in the updated Te Whāraki (Ministry of Education, 2017b), that limited the neoliberal use of individualism from the original, while also upgrading children’s future potential. ‘Future’ within this text, however, was constructed through a modification of te Ao Māori by absorbing and embodying it in incomplete ways.

The findings of this thesis imply socialism, te Ao Māori and neoliberalism are constantly competing with one another in the analysed policies that construct New Zealand ECE discourses and, as a consequence, influence practice. This plurality has the potential to hinder one discourse from gaining domination over the others. Their joint consumption's and conflicts appear to periodically lessen and strengthen neoliberalism’s power/knowledges across eras, administrations, policies and paragraphs, as exemplified in the updated curriculum. These findings imply that the ‘drivers’ of power are pivotal, hindering and strengthening these discourses which are both complementary and competing. Additionally, the thesis establishes implications regarding the rich complexities of discourses, which can conceal themselves in other discourses, calling for deeper critical reflection if some power/knowledges are to be reduced.