Table Of Content(2) Women studying childcare cover 244 x 170mm, 9.6mm spine 2_Last Bastion cover 20/05/2011 11:45 Page 1
women women
studying childcare studying childcare
Integrating lives through adult education Integrating lives through adult education
Hazel R Wright Hazel R Wright
Most studies of adult education align it with life change, but
this research-based book tells a different story. It reveals how
mature women who are training to work in childcare within the
voluntary sector seek continuity in their lives. They engage
with activities that connect aspects of their family, workplace
and educational experience, and thus construct a sense of
personal identity through these linkages.
Drawing on data from 150 students enrolled over ten years on
a diploma course in an FE college, Hazel Wright uses the
women’s biographical narratives to capture new theoretical
perspectives on educational and life-choices. Her study, which
links to Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, reveals how a
vocational course embracing broad liberal goals contributes to
the realisation of various unplanned social benefits within the
students’ local communities. We gain insights into their needs
and wants and see how their strengths and choices create
stability in their lives. Opening with an informative historical
overview, the book concludes with a concept catalogue of the
ideas borrowed from sociology, psychology and economics
used in education books.
Women Studying Childcare’s lively theoretical analysis and
wealth of narrative detail are relevant to early years’
practitioners and to women students. For educational providers
and childcare employers it offers insights that will support the
recruitment and retention of mature students and staff.
Dr Hazel Wright is Senior Lecturer in Education at Anglia
Ruskin University.
ISBN: 978-1-85856-485-2
Trentham Books
www.trentham-books.co.uk
WOMEN studying childcare Hazel R Wright
childcare 244 x 170 24/8/12 2:46 pm Page i
Women Studying Childcare
Integrating lives through adult education
childcare 244 x 170 24/8/12 2:46 pm Page ii
childcare 244 x 170 24/8/12 2:46 pm Page iii
Women Studying Childcare
Integrating lives through adult education
Hazel R Wright
Anglia Ruskin University
Trentham Books
Stoke on Trent, UK and Sterling, USA
childcare 244 x 170 24/8/12 2:46 pm Page iv
Trentham Books Limited
Westview House 22883 Quicksilver Drive
734 London Road Sterling
Oakhill VA 20166-2012
Stoke on Trent USA
Staffordshire
England ST4 5NP
© 2011 Hazel R Wright
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or any information
storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from
the publishers.
First published 2011
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
ISBN 978 1 85856 485 2
Designed and typeset by Trentham Books Ltd and printed
in Great Britain by 4edge Limited, Hockley
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Contents
List of acronyms • ix
Preface • xi
Acknowledgements • xiii
Chapter 1
Introducing the research project • 1
Chapter 2
Putting policy in perspective • 11
Chapter 3
Committing to a career in childcare • 21
Occupational typologies
Attitudinal typologies
Taking an overview
Chapter 4
Making choices in real life • 41
Integrated lives theory
Greedy institutions
Cognitive dissonance
Adaptive preference
Reacting to social expectations
Supporting the community
Social capital
Community ties
Friendship ties
Social meshing
Capability approach
Identifying capability indicators
Creating capability chains
Taking an overview
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WOMEN STUDYING CHILDCARE
Chapter 5
Recalling experiences and expectations • 67
Past personal experiences
Exceptional problems
Failures of the system
Embedded family values
Class issues
Gender issues
Cultural issues
Maternal identity
Vocational reasons for working in childcare
Income
Altruism
Wanting to work with children
Not planning a career
Drifting into employment
Convenience
Educational perspectives
Vocational aims
Functional skills and relevance
Liberal views
Chapter 6
Examining educational practices • 89
Personal coping strategies
Becoming a student
Forming groups
Finding a friend
Patterns of studying
Family support
Workplace issues
Fuzzy work/life boundaries
Excessive hours and paperwork
Extended opening
Handling change
Problems in the workplace
Committees
The educational context
Addressing barriers to education
Approaches to assignments
Views on course structures
Learning and teaching preferences
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CONTENTS
Chapter 7
Considering the consequences of studying • 113
Individual gains
Social gains
Effects on family
Vocational adjustments
Stepping up
Inching forward
Seeking better conditions in schools
Focusing frustration
Educational impacts
Residual learning
Learning processes
Further study
Too much too soon
Integrated lives
Chapter 8
Meeting women’s needs: heeding women’s strengths • 133
Revisiting the strands
Reviewing the links
Considering gender
Extending integrated lives theory
Transition and growth
Living in a slowly shifting present
Conceptualising instability
Living at the micro-level
Considering policy implications
List of Figures
Figure 1: The triple triangle maintaining integrated lives • 43
Figure 2: Integrated lives strengthened by community ties • 50
List of Tables
Table 1: Taxonomy of typologies • 23
Table 2: Capability indicators • 58
Concept catalogue (CC) • 151
Appendix: Typology attribution • 165
References • 169
Index • 177
vii
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Acronyms
BAECE British Association for Early Childhood Education
CA Capability Approach
CACE Central Advisory Council for Education
CRB Criminal Records Bureau
CWDC Children’s Workforce Development Council
DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families
DES Department of Education and Science
DfE Department for Education
DfEE Department for Education and Employment
DfES Department for Education and Skills
DoH Department of Health
EYPS Early Years Professional Status
FdA Foundation Degree
FE Further Education
(G)C(S)E (General) Certificate of (Secondary) Education
HE Higher Education
HMSO Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
IEP Individual Education Plan
NFER National Foundation for Educational Research
NIACE National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education
NVQ National Vocational Qualification
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