Early childhood teachers' understandings of and provision for quality

IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED THAT high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) enhance children's wellbeing and development and have social and economic benefits. Yet quality is a contested term that is understood differently and used in diverse ways for a range of purposes. This paper reports on a study that investigated a) how six early childhood teachers working in long day care services understood and made provision for quality, and b) their perspectives on how quality was understood and provided for in their services. An in-depth interview was conducted with each teacher. Data analysis was informed by Cleveland and Krashinksy's (2005) tangible and less tangible aspects of quality and Goodfellow's (2003) hidden dimensions of professional practice. The paper highlights the potential use of metaphor to illuminate less tangible aspects of quality, particularly those associated with professional practice and policy making