ERIC Number: EJ1051262
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1463-9491
EISSN: N/A
The Discourse of Control: Disruption and Foucault in an Early Childhood Classroom
Millei, Zsuzsanna J.
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, v6 n2 p128-139 2005
Disruption can be a result of a wide array of circumstances, but is commonly identified as a "control problem" in early childhood classrooms. In this article, the author argues that the recognition of disruption as a "control problem" is embedded in and governed by the social power and values entrenched in teaching discourses. Classroom practices draw strongly on the discourse of educational psychology and utilise its power and immanent knowledge to "discipline" early childhood agents through classroom practices. These early childhood practitioners then become both an object and a subject of this knowledge. This article problematises particular discourses used in a metropolitan West Australian pre-primary classroom and aims to find alternative avenues to view disruption. To aid this search, the multiple meanings of "discipline" in connection to behaviour management, learning and pedagogy are explored.
Descriptors: Self Control, Early Childhood Education, Classroom Techniques, Educational Psychology, Preschool Teachers, Metropolitan Areas, Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods, Ethnography, Semi Structured Interviews, Observation, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Aides, Administrator Attitudes, Classroom Communication, Behavior Problems, Power Structure, Educational Philosophy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A