Exploring Early Childhood Professionalism through Video-cued Multivocal Ethnography in the U.S. and China
Abstract
This article is based on a multi-year, cross-cultural ethnographic study examining early childhood teachers’ practices in public education settings in the U.S. and China. Drawing on years of fieldwork and video-cued interviews, this study investigates how early childhood teachers in diverse cultural contexts perceive and enact professionalism in their daily practices and navigate top-down discourses within a neoliberal framework. Using poststructuralist and intersectional feminist lenses, it critically examines how teachers (re)construct the meaning of their practices within local communities and negotiate experiences of oppression and vulnerability related to gender, race, and ethnicity in their roles. Adopting Video-cued Multivocal Ethnography to capture diverse voices, this study explores the intersection of teaching practices, challenging hegemonic discourses of professionalism and the concept of universal truths of early childhood teaching. It highlights the need to recenter local and culturally specific narratives, offering insights to create a more sustainable and equitable environment for professionals from diverse backgrounds.
Keyword: early childhood teachers’ professionalism, early childhood workforce, video-
cued multivocal ethnography, cross-cultural study
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