Voices at the Table: An Analysis of Collaboration in the Policy Process for a Local Preschool Initiative

Abstract

This chapter tells the story of the Early Childhood Collaborative (ECC), a committee set up to formulate a plan for the delivery of universal preschool education for 4-year-olds in a medium sized Midwestern city in the United States. As I explore the policymaking interactions of this collaborative, the issue of who was included, the capital needed for inclusion, and the power related to social networks and how that shapes collaboration are illuminated. It is argued that in order to bring diverse voices to the table, alternate ways of creating space for participants in policy formulation need to be considered. It is in these spaces that it might be possible to create and present counter narratives to dominant views of how early childhood education should be enacted.

Citation

Heimer, L.G. (2005), "Voices at the Table: An Analysis of Collaboration in the Policy Process for a Local Preschool Initiative", Ryan, S. and Grieshaber, S. (Ed.) Practical Transformations and Transformational Practices: Globalization, Postmodernism, and Early Childhood Education (Advances in Early Education and Day Care, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0270-4021(05)14002-6