?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Teacher+decision+making+in+early+childhood+education&rft.creator=Kilderry%2C+Anna+Dorothea&rft.subject=teacher+decision+making%2C+early+childhood+curriculum%2C+policy%2C+accountability%2C+preschool+education%2C+critical+theory%2C+critical+discourse+analysis+(CDA)&rft.description=The+study+investigated+early+childhood+teacher+decision+making+at+the+preschool+level+in+the+state+of+Victoria%2C+Australia.+Victorian+teachers+at+the+preschool+level+were+in+an+interesting+position+in+2004.+Unlike+most+other+Australian+states+Victoria+did+not+have+a+curriculum+framework+guiding+educational+content+and+pedagogy.%0D%0A%0D%0AConsequently%2C+this+study+was+able+to+take+advantage+of+this+situation+and+examine+teacher+decision+making+at+a+time+when+early+childhood+teachers+were+relatively+autonomous+in+deciding+curriculum+content.+The+opportunity+to+study+teacher+decision+making+in+this+way+has+since+passed%2C+as+Victorian+preschool+teachers+are+now+regulated+by+newly+introduced+state+and+national+curricula+frameworks.%0D%0A%0D%0ATo+identify+influences+affecting+teacher+decision+making+three+preschool+teachers+were+interviewed+and+curricula+related+policies+were+analysed.+The+data+were+analysed+using+Fairclough%E2%80%99s+critical+discourse+analysis+(CDA)+technique.%0D%0A%0D%0ACritical+discourse+analysis+enabled+a+close+analysis+of+influences+on+teacher+decision+making+illustrating+how+discourse+is+legitimated%2C+marginalised%2C+and+silenced+in+certain+curricula+practices.+Critical+theory+was+the+underpinning+framework+used+for+the+study+and+enabled+taken-for-granted+understandings+to+be+uncovered+within+early+childhood+policies+and+teacher+interviews.%0D%0A%0D%0AKey+findings+were+that+despite+there+not+being+a+government-mandated+curricula+framework+for+Victorian+preschool+education+in+2004%2C+teachers+were+held+accountable+for+their+curricula+practice.+Yet+as+professionals%2C+early+childhood+teachers+were+denied+public+acknowledgment+of+their+expertise+as+they+were+almost+invisible+in+policy.+Subsequently%2C+teachers%E2%80%99+authority+as+professionals+with+curricula+knowledge+was+diminished.+The+study+found+that+developmentally+appropriate+practice+(DAP)+was+a+dominant+discourse+influencing+teacher+decision+making+(TDM).+It+operated+as+legitimated+discourse+in+the+2004+Victorian+preschool+context.+Additionally%2C+the+study+found+that+teacher+directed+practice+was+legitimated%2C+marginalised%2C+and+silenced+by+teachers.+The+findings+have+implications+for+early+childhood+teacher+decision+making+at+the+practice%2C+research%2C+and+policy+levels.%0D%0A%0D%0AFindings+show+that+the+dominance+of+the+DAP+discourse+informing+teacher+decision+making+limits+other+ways+of+thinking+and+practising.&rft.publisher=Queensland+University+of+Technology&rft.date=2012&rft.type=Thesis&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Feprints.qut.edu.au%2F53196%2F1%2FAnna_Kilderry_Thesis.pdf&rft.rights=free_to_read&rft.relation=Kilderry%2C+Anna+Dorothea+(2012)+Teacher+decision+making+in+early+childhood+education.+PhD+thesis%2C+Queensland+University+of+Technology.&rft.id_number=https%3A%2F%2Feprints.qut.edu.au%2F53196%2F&rft.identifier=Faculty+of+Education%3B+Office+of+Education+Research