Becoming professional? Exploring Early Years Professional Status and its implications for workforce reform in England

Abstract

Across the ‘European learning space’ (Lawn, 2006) professionalisation of early years workforces has become a key priority and there has been a flow of this policy between borders (Oberhuemer, 2005). Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) is central to these developments in England.Within what is regarded as a traditionally ‘split’ early years workforce (Moss, 2008), EYPS felt to offer a route for those from a childcare background to improve their position relative to teaching professionals (HMT, 2004). Alongside these developments theoretical perspectives have emerged attempting to explain the professionalisation process in England. They include the following: 1) a post-structural theory suggesting the operation of an official discourse of professionalisation as a mode of control and regulation of EYPs’ roles (Osgood, 2006); 2) an activist theory suggesting EYPs can take the lead in defining their own professionalisation and roles (Miller, 2008). Based on qualitative interview data, this article provides a typology which classifies EYPs as: role makers, role takers, role distancers or role avoiders. Then the potential of the post-structuralist and activist perspectives to explain how EYPs have come to play these roles is considered. It is claimed both these perspectives fall short in accounting for the complexity involved in the emergence of EYPs roles and a theory informed by critical realist insights is advocated as an alternative. The article concludes by casting doubt on the contributory potential of EYPS to facilitate change within the early years workforce.