From Child’s Garden to Academic Press: The Role of Shifting Institutional Logics in Redefining Kindergarten Education
Item
Title
From Child’s Garden to Academic Press: The Role of Shifting Institutional Logics in Redefining Kindergarten Education
Abstract/Description
The impermeability of schooling to reform is a frequent conclusion of studies of educational organizations, but historical accounts suggest that kindergartens have undergone significant transformation. Once a transitional year emphasizing child development, kindergarten now marks the beginning of formal academic instruction. Guided by institutional theory, this article explores the evolution of public discourse about kindergarten by analyzing newspaper articles, policy documents, and professional association activities. I argue that the media advanced academic messages about kindergarten before state activism, while the state later embedded an academic model in policy. The case of kindergarten surfaces general implications for understanding educational change, highlighting how new ideas and practices are advanced by a diverse set of actors in the organizational field.
Author/creator
Date
In publication
Volume
48
Issue
2
Pages
236-267
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Published Text
Scholarship genre
Theoretical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISSN
0002-8312
Citation
Russell, J. L. (2011). From Child’s Garden to Academic Press: The Role of Shifting Institutional Logics in Redefining Kindergarten Education. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 236–267. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831210372135
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