Nannies, nursery nurses and early years professionals: constructions of professional identity in the early years workforce in England

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent policy in England has created a new status of ‘Early Years Professional’, thus imposing professionalisation of the early years workforce. There has been an increase in policy focus on those working with young children, and such a focus raises questions about practitioners’ own responses to the debate about their training, education, qualifications and work. How early years practitioners see themselves, their collective or individual identity, or both, may be unsettled by being the centre of discussion and reform. This research aimed to investigate historical and recent texts using discourse analysis to expose discourse that may have shaped and contributed to the workforce’s construction of their professional identity. A theoretical framework of professional identity, proposed by Tucker, is useful in its recognition of how prevailing and contemporary discourses contribute to the construction of professional identity. Findings suggest that constructs may exacerbate uncertainty, change and st...