The Know-that and Know-how of Relationships in Early Childhood Education and Care

The discursive formation of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) places the ECEC workforce as central to both structural and process conceptions of quality. Whilst structural quality considers the qualification... [ view full abstract ]

The discursive formation of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) places the ECEC workforce as central to both structural and process conceptions of quality. Whilst structural quality considers the qualification level of the initial training of the workforce, process quality draws attention to the forming of relationships between the ECEC workforce and children. Yet in combining these two aspects of quality the question arises as to the role of initial training in supporting future members of the ECEC workforce to form relationships with children. Acknowledging the complexities of what constitutes quality ECEC, an analysis of the components of the initial training of the ECEC workforce establishes the combination of know-that and know-how, whereby the former represents propositional knowledge and the latter the application of knowledge (Winch 2014). However, the relationship between know-that and know-how is not linear, but multi-dimensional. Those working in ECEC draw on knowledges in shaping the know-how of forming relationships in ECEC, whilst the process of forming relationships will also develop experiential knowledge. Drawing on examples from those training to work in ECEC I illustrate the multiplicity of know-that for ECEC and the complexities of the know-how of forming relationships in ECEC.

Winch, C. (2014). "Know-how and Knowledge in the Professional Curriculum", in M. Young and J. Muller, (eds.), Knowledge, Expertise and the Professions. London: Routledge.