Gifted education for infants and toddlers in Aotearoa New Zealand: An insight into exemplary practice (2015)

View/ Open
Thesis Discipline
EducationDegree Name
Master of EducationPublisher
University of Canterbury. School of Educational Studies and LeadershipCollections
Abstract
This investigation utilises a Foucauldian lens to analyse constructs of exemplary practice promoted by the gifted and early childhood communities of Aotearoa New Zealand. The study considers how the discourses promoted by these communities are contested or employed by the teachers nominated as exemplary. Power relationships between adults, children and government are explored. Historical and contemporary developments in early childhood education and giftedness are investigated. Attention is paid to competing depictions of the infant, the toddler and giftedness. Dominant discourses and discursive images within international research literature are analysed and repositioned in relation to the Foucauldian oeuvre of the study. Within the findings it is argued that the construction of the term ‘exemplary’ is informed by discourses of giftedness, a developmental discourse, an ‘expert’ discourse and a neoliberal discourse. The governance of giftedness and gifted education is identified as crucial to the construction of the term exemplary within Aotearoa New Zealand. The notions of ‘rights’, ‘social justice’ and ‘empowerment’ are problematised, and the dominance of the discursive image of the child as ‘confident and competent’ in relation to giftedness is queried. Possibilities for further conversations between early childhood teachers and researchers on the concept of giftedness are explored. The role of the government and of teachers in taking opportunities to promote situational change, with the best interests of gifted children in mind, is considered.
Keywords
early childhood; gifted; Foucault; governmentality; infants and toddlers; New ZealandRights
Copyright Andrea Marie DelauneRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Supporting young gifted children through transitioning from early childhood education to school
Dean J; Delaune A (2019)The importance of the early years has long been recognised. Positive experiences in the early years help to build children’s learning and development across the lifespan. This article argues that strong collaborative ... -
Attention and early childhood education.
Delaune, Andrea M. (University of Canterbury, 2020)Informed by Iris Murdoch’s concept of attention, this thesis argues that economic and scientistic discourses within early childhood education misrepresent and neglect essential moral aspects of pedagogy. Early childhood ... -
The planet and very young people: Exploring guardianship in early childhood context in Aotearoa New Zealand
Mackey, G. (University of Canterbury. School of Teacher Education, 2015)