<p> The purpose of this feminist case study was two-fold: (1) to describe the ways that Collaborative Inquiry (CI) can be proposed as a counter-discourse of professional development that acknowledges the multiple forms of personal and professional knowledge among five women preschool practitioners, and (2) to explore alternative constructs of the preschool practitioner that seek to disrupt the preschool teacher/child care worker dichotomy. Data were collected through transcripts of CI group meetings, semi-structured participant interviews, selected researcher field notes, and participant observations during select classroom visits and meetings with participants. Feminist and poststructural perspectives set forth by Butler (1990), Osgood (2010), and Foucault (1977), among others, were utilized to interpret the data. Findings from the CI process included the importance of conversation and 'small talk' informal and shared readings, the use of student documentation and artifacts, and collaboration as important tools and processes of the group. Findings from the case included the positioning of the Center and its staff within a business discourse. Data revealed how these preschool practitioners complied with and/or negotiated the discursive practices of power relations, regulation, normalization, and surveillance, as the Center participated in the voluntary <i>Step Up to Quality</i> accreditation process to increase Center funding. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3618943 |
| Date | 13 June 2014 |
| Creators | Black, Felicia V. |
| Publisher | Kent State University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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