Care in the curriculum for 3-year-old children

The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has seen significant reform over the past 20 years. Outwardly, this has contributed to the care versus education dichotomy, seemingly decentering care in the pursuit of neoliberalist educational and economic outcomes. Recent inquiries, reports and recommendations have demonstrated a keen focus on these educational and economic outcomes, further contributing to the commentary that care and education are separate and exist unconnectedly within the ECEC sector. Global literature on the matter of care demonstrates that while care is fundamental to the life-long trajectories of children under the age of 3 years, the matter is less focused on children in their preschool years. This further adds to the argument for the replacement of care with educational pursuits in more formal ECEC settings. To contribute to this international dialogue through a phenomenological paradigm, I have conducted a single-site case study of a standalone kindergarten in the eastern suburbs of Naarm (Melbourne) to understand the way in which the early childhood teacher (ECT) working with 3-year-old children makes decisions about the inclusion of care in their curriculum. A triangulation approach to data generation alongside a quadrilateral theory of care and a deductive reflexive thematic analysis reveals that the ECT’s curriculum decisions surrounding play and the design of the environment play a significant role in how 3-year-old children experience care.