Dangerous time: a critical qualitative inquiry into early childhood educators' perspectives on planning time in southern Ontario

This critical qualitative inquiry lifts the silenced voices of early childhood educators about their perspectives on planning time. Planning time is essential for educators to plan and document ongoing curriculum-making. Yet, not all educators are afforded this time, exacerbating poor wages and working conditions and contributing to stress, burnout and high turnover rates. Framed with feminist poststructuralism and queer time, this study situates planning time within discourses of neoliberalism and developmentalism and reconceptualizes it as a dangerous site of transformation and activism. Nine ECEs participated in a focus group discussion, and two provided written responses. The findings support educators’ need for daily, ample time with their partners to plan and document curriculum along with a revision of unrealistic expectations. Moreover, this study discovers how educators are resisting oppressive power and discourses and identifies how they may further use the transformational document, How Does LearningHappen? as tool in their resistance. Keywords: early childhood educators, planning time, transformation, resistance, neoliberalism, developmentalism