How Policies and Policy Actors Shape the Pre-K Borderland: Implications for Early Childhood Educators’ Work Experiences

Background/Context: Public prekindergarten (pre-K) is increasingly common in U.S. public schools. The policy decision to house pre-K classrooms in public schools places pre-K teachers in a “borderland of practice,” where the separate worlds of the early childhood and K–12 systems collide. Borderland work has implications for pre-K teachers’ job satisfaction, professional identities, and sense of belonging. Focus of Study: The purpose of this study was to understand how pre-K borderlands come to be constituted and how features of the borderland shape the lived experiences of school-based pre-K teachers. The context for the study was Michigan’s state-funded pre-K program, Great Start Readiness Program. We drew on scholarship in border studies to conceptualize the pre-K borderland as the space around the borders separating early childhood education (ECE) and K–12 systems. We sought to understand how the pre-K borderland was shaped by policies and policy actors and the implications this had for pre-K teachers’ work experiences and well-being. Research Design: This comparative case study was conducted in two Michigan counties during the 2017–2018 school year. Data included interviews and focus groups with district officials (12), interviews with pre-K teachers (28), and interviews with principals (10) and kindergarten teachers (13). Findings: Results indicate that school districts in Michigan provided pre-K through two main implementation models: elementary school and district early learning centers (ELCs). This complicates previous literature that equates school-based pre-K with the elementary model. We found that pre-K teachers in both settings faced challenges that negatively affected their work experiences and well-being. All teachers, regardless of implementation model, struggled to build professional connections with elementary school colleagues. Many also felt unsupported by administrators who lacked an understanding of pre-K. Teachers in elementary buildings had to navigate conflicting policies and building colleagues who perceived their work as “just playing.” Pre-K teachers in district ELCs faced compensation disparities that resulted in low morale and threatened to push them out of pre-K. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that neither borderland—elementary school, district ELC—was ideal, suggesting that the solution to better supporting pre-K teachers does not lie in simply altering one aspect of their work experience. Conclusions/Recommendati