Beginning to Dismantle the Binaries that Frame the Neoliberal Kindergarten

Abstract

The binary logic of policymakers’ neoliberal reforms has restructured kindergarten into a learning environment where teachers struggle to nurture children as learners. At the same time, the critiques that challenge these policies are also rooted in this binary logic. This allows policymakers’ neoliberal reforms to remain intact. In this article, I address this issue through analysing findings from a larger research study that examined how a range of education stakeholders (n=88) made sense of the changed kindergarten through binary logic. I then take apart these three binaries that emerged in my analysis process to provide insight into possible pathways for change that education stakeholders at all levels of governance can begin to engage in to dismantle policymakers’ neoliberal education reforms.