The discourse of control: disruption and Foucault in the early childhood classroom

Disruption can be a result of a wide array of circumstances, but is commonly identified as a ‘control problem’ in early childhood classrooms. In this article, the author argues that the recognition of disruption as a ‘control problem’ is embedded in and governed by the social power and values entrenched in teaching discourses. Classroom practices draw strongly on the discourse of educational psychology and utilise its power and immanent knowledge to ‘discipline’ early childhood agents through classroom practices. These early childhood practitioners then become both an object and a subject of this knowledge. This article problematises particular discourses used in a metropolitan West Australian pre-primary classroom and aims to find alternative avenues to view disruption. To aid this search, the multiple meanings of ‘discipline’ in connection to behaviour management, learning and pedagogy are explored.