Marketisation, elite education and internationalisation in Australian early childhood education and care

Over the past quarter of a century, the childcare component of Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) has transformed from a publicly funded, community-based system to a predominantly commercial enterprise. The associated marketisation of ECEC has given rise to widespread claims of educational excellence, but the creation of an elite ECEC sector is only nascent. Additionally, the internationalisation and intercultural competence evident in ECEC is rooted in Australian multicultural policy and philosophical commitments to cultural inclusion, rather than the promotion of cultural agility through the internationalisation of elite ECEC in global childcare markets. Thus the relationship between the market, elite education and internationalisation in early childhood education is, in many ways, distinct from the interplay of these forces within other education sectors.