Vince, Sharon;
(2024)
Disciplinary Power in Early Childhood Education
and Care Funding Policies in England: How the 15
and 30 hours are exacerbating ‘splits’.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis explores current early childhood education and care (ECEC) funding policies in England which entitle the children of working parents on a minimum income to 30 hours of government funded ECEC, whilst children from homes on very low incomes or without both parents working are allocated just 15. It argues that these policies have exacerbated ‘splits’ – the split between early education and childcare in the sector, between children in some of the most vulnerable families on low incomes and their peers, and within ECEC practitioners, who must often compromise their child-centred values and beliefs when enacting the policies. A theoretical framework encompassing policy enactment theory, Foucauldian concepts of discourse and disciplinary power and micropractices of power which examine how disciplinary power is evident within practice, are utilised to explore how power operates through the funding policies. Qualitative data collected from interviews with 19 early years practitioners in a range of settings across the sector is analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify the discourses evident. The way in which the policies are enacted is demonstrated, including the temporal and sometimes spatial ‘split’ of children entitled to 15 and 30 hours, the loss of discretionary hours for vulnerable families and the subsidy maximising behaviours employed by some maintained settings. The intensification of competition that the funding reforms have resulted in, and the impact this has had upon the ‘split’ between the maintained and private factions of the ECEC sector, is also examined. The effect that this has upon ECEC practitioners, exacerbating the split between the child-centred pedagogue and entrepreneurial, neoliberal worker is explored. I conclude that ECEC funding policies in England are maintaining and increasing these splits across the sector, and that this requires consideration with the policies due to be expanded to infants by 2025.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Disciplinary Power in Early Childhood Education and Care Funding Policies in England: How the 15 and 30 hours are exacerbating ‘splits’ |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Early years, power, discipline, critical policy sociology, policy enactment, practitioner subjectivity |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Learning and Leadership |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10198295 |
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