An investigation of long day care services in Australia that are Exceeding the National Quality Standard

The National Quality Framework (NQF) was introduced in 2012 to raise quality and drive continuous improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. Under the NQF, ECEC services are assessed and rated using the National Quality Standard (NQS), through an assessment and rating process. This study investigated the characteristics of long day care (LDC) services rated as high-quality, and the extent to which these characteristics are assessed in the assessment and rating process. The study adopted a qualitative, multiple case study design to examine and compare five LDC services rated as Exceeding the NQS and explore educators’ perceptions of the NQS assessment and rating process. Triangulation of data collection methods (observations, educator interviews and document analysis) elicited rich meanings of ‘high-quality ECEC’ in LDC centres. Foucauldian ideas of discourse, power/knowledge and regimes of truth, and a theorising of quality as subjective, informed data analysis. The quality characteristics identified in this study were consistent across the five LDC services. However, the routes to achieving quality were markedly different and dependent on each service’s context. Findings also showed variation in each service’s provision of quality ECEC to elements in the NQS. Applying Foucault’s work on discourse to these findings, it is suggested that quality in ECEC is in part being produced and disseminated through policy discourses and policy texts such as the NQF and NQS. The educators in this study had mixed perceptions about the assessment and rating process. Findings suggest the need for an improved system to better measure quality ECEC. However, enhancing service quality requires a greater focus on additional policy levers such as improving work conditions, minimising staff turnover and increasing professional recognition through equitable wages