Devotion to Data

Abstract

The early childhood sector for children (0-5 years) in England has been a site of intense datafication in the last decade, with implications for how teachers see themselves and their roles (Bradbury and Roberts-Holmes, 2017). However, policy reforms beginning in 2020 have changed the curriculum and assessment demands for school-based early childhood teachers, with a move away from a data-driven 'tick box' approach of assessing children's development against set criteria presented as a positive step. At the same time, these policy changes have proved controversial with some professionals, provoking a grassroots movement which produced an alternative set of guidance described as 'by the sector, for the sector'. Interview data from early adopters of these changes are used in this paper, alongside social media discussion of the changes, to examine the tensions between this retreat from data and established expectations about collecting and analysing data. It is argued that this shift has provoked complex responses and debates in the early childhood sector, including, for some, a continued dedication to collecting and recording data on young children as a key part of being a professional early childhood teacher. The case of England's early years thus presents a first step towards a post-datafication phase, where data are not required but are still collected.