ERIC Number: EJ1167763
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0957-5146
EISSN: N/A
Systems Advocacy in the Professional Practice of Early Childhood Teachers: From the Antithetical to the Ethical
Fenech, Marianne; Lotz, Mianna
Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, v38 n1 p19-34 2018
Dominant constructions of professionalism in early childhood education can diminish early childhood teachers' and educators' undertaking of advocacy at the systems or political level. In this paper, we propose an ethically grounded construction of professionalism that provides space for professional practice to move beyond the classroom and into the political sphere. Findings from interviews with four early childhood teachers from Australia who undertake systems advocacy as part of their professional practice show that this work is driven by ethical influences that extend beyond the rule-based imperative, in ethical codes, that teachers should undertake systems advocacy. Findings highlight the value of considering systems advocacy as practice that emerges from an interplay of three theoretical foundations of ethics: deontology, utilitarianism and virtue ethics. Implications for teacher professionalism and the building of a teacher disposition that incorporates systems advocacy are considered.
Descriptors: Advocacy, Early Childhood Education, Professionalism, Ethics, Preschool Teachers, Educational Practices, Systems Approach, Politics of Education, Foreign Countries, Semi Structured Interviews
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A