Embodied Professional and Cultural Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practices in the UK context

In recent years, social research has turned its attention to ‘embodiment' (Harrison, 2000). This paper reports on data from my EdD thesis entitled ‘Gendered notions of the ‘good’ early years practitioner’, where I... [ view full abstract ]

In recent years, social research has turned its attention to ‘embodiment' (Harrison, 2000). This paper reports on data from my EdD thesis entitled ‘Gendered notions of the ‘good’ early years practitioner’, where I consider the implications of such a turn for social analysis itself. The field of  Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has been historically constructed, and perceived by the society as feminised and gendered where the nursery acts as one of the modern apparatus of social regulation. To unravel the ways in which the current early childhood practice is functioning, the study followed a qualitative approach that involved twenty-six narrative interviews with early years practitioners/professionals including Early Years Educators, Early Years Teachers and Social Workers. Analysis was informed by the feminist post-structuralist paradigm where I employ thematic analysis to illustrate that the current early years practice influences the ways in which the early years practitioner/professional performs the uncertain or problematic nature of embodiment, bodily affect and performativity (Butler, 1999). Narratives revealed that these aspects of embodiment have been marginalised (or not) by the society which influenced the process of subjectification (identity shaping). It is widely accepted belief that ECEC is still women’s work (Osgood, 2012; Cameron et al., 1999), as it is considered to be ‘natural’ for women. Data also show that in the UK context those individuals who do not act according to the dominant requirements of gender or do not perform within the socially accepted masculinity or femininity domain may risk marginalisation (Davies, 1990).

Keywords: embodied, professionalism, early years, performativity,