Safeguarding ECE values in elementary school classrooms in the United States

A photovoice-centered inquiry of teachers’ beliefs and practices

Abstract

Current and consistent trends in the US affecting the field of early childhood education (ECE) threaten the preservation of key ECE values in public elementary schools (Allee-Herndon & Roberts, 2021). Values that have served as the foundation of ECE, such as embracing play and relationships as the context for learning and centering diversity, are continuously pushed aside with the ongoing “schoolification” of early childhood around the world (Bradbury, 2020). In our work as early childhood teacher educators, our aim is to develop teachers who are prepared with the skills, knowledge, and values that will enable them to protect what they know to be good teaching in the face of ever-increasing pressure for standardization and other threats related to the current political climate.

To understand how graduates of our program fare in their ability to live out ECE values, we conducted five rounds of in-depth photovoice-centered focus group discussions. Qualitative critical analysis revealed significant ways in which ECE values informed teaching. As our participants worked to align the knowledge and practices learned in ECE teacher preparation with pressures faced in public school contexts, they were bolstered by their ability to define themselves as early childhood educators existing in elementary school spaces. This deep connection to ECE values appeared to provide a sense of confidence in their teaching moves and served as an impetus to engage acts of resistance and enact socially just commitments.