ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an early education educator – in this case based in England and called ‘an early education practitioner’ – enhances their own professional practice and the education of young children by adopting a critical stance towards their practice. It focuses on reflective professional practice and uses the term ‘reflective activism’, a concept that emerged from published research and conceptual interrogation by Hanson and Appleby. ‘Reflective activism’ was perceived as deriving from a sense of professional responsibility for improving the quality of provision for children and families. The concept of reflective activism, and its potential impact for educators and children, is critically examined through the lived experience of the early education practitioners with different professional learning journeys, personal perspectives and ways of expressing them. The chapter examines the impact of the practitioners’ learner identity as reflective activists on their disposition to nurture children’s learner identity in their practice.
