Disrupting Traditional Narrative: Navigating Preservice Early Childhood Education Through Hospitality, Time and Dialogue

Abstract

This dissertation examines the concepts of hospitality, time, and dialogue as theoretical and ethical counterpoints to the instrumentalism and anti‑intellectualism that persist in preservice early childhood education, particularly within practicum contexts. The inquiry begins with a critical analysis of the neoliberal discourses embedded in contemporary processes of professionalization and standardization in early childhood education in Ontario. It then explores how hospitality, dialogue, and time can create possibilities for more intellectually vibrant and ethically responsive encounters during practicum. Through generative dialogue with key thinkers in education and continental philosophy, the dissertation conceptualizes hospitality, time, and dialogue as potentially transformative, disrupting dominant narratives by foregrounding ethical responsibility and openness to the Other. It concludes with a series of propositions that contribute to ongoing efforts in early childhood education research to envision more ethical and intellectually generative possibilities for practicum and to enrich the educational experiences of future early childhood educators.