Knowing and interpreting prekindergarten policy: A Bakhtinian analysis

Authors

  • Bethany Wilinski Michigan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2211

Keywords:

early childhood education, pre-kindergarten policy, discourse, assessment

Abstract

Many state-funded prekindergarten (preK) programs are implemented through school-community partnerships, which has been promoted as a way to increase preK access, to meet the needs of families, and to ensure program quality (Schumacher, Ewen, Hart, & Lombardi, 2005). In spite of the potential benefits of such partnerships, there are also challenges to bringing together the K-12 and ECE systems (McCabe & Sipple, 2011). In this paper I use Bakhtin’s (1981) notions of authoritative and internally persuasive discourse to analyze the discourse that staff members at a Lakeville, Wisconsin, ECE partner site used to situate their approach to assessment in opposition to state and district assessment policy. ECE partner site staff drew on their institution’s long history and strong sense of best practice in early education to characterize required preK assessments as unnecessary, too aligned with the elementary grades, and a duplication of other approaches to assessment that they valued. Yet, even as they resisted the assessments, ECE partners’ internally persuasive discourse shifted slightly over time; staff members conceded that some aspects of the assessment policy had a positive effect on their program. This discursive analysis provides insight into some of the challenges associated with bringing together the ECE and K-12 systems. It points to the need for policy to address the particular challenges faced by ECE partners as they encounter new mandates in public preK and for the need to ensure that partnerships are characterized by mutual understanding. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Bethany Wilinski, Michigan State University

Bethany Wilinski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University and the education sector lead for the Tanzania Partnership Program. A former preschool and elementary school teacher, her research focuses on how teachers, children, and families in the U.S. and Tanzania experience early childhood education policies. Her work in Wisconsin focused on teachers’ enactment of public prekindergarten policy. She is currently engaged in a study of parent involvement in Michigan’s public preK program and a longitudinal study of pre-primary teacher training in Tanzania.

Downloads

Published

2017-03-27

How to Cite

Wilinski, B. (2017). Knowing and interpreting prekindergarten policy: A Bakhtinian analysis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25, 27. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2211

Issue

Section

Discursive Perspectives Part 2

Most read articles by the same author(s)