ABSTRACT
Professionalism can be difficult to define. Some people might claim to know it when they see it, but ideas vary about what it is. Dictionary definitions suggest that it involves belonging to or being connected with a particular profession or demonstrating the skills relating to a profession. It is likely that in the field of early childhood education and care, early years practitioners will be at various points along a continuum of professionalism depending upon their age, stage in their career and level of training and qualifications. As Penn (1998) notes, work involving caring has traditionally been done by women; 99 per cent of those working in early childhood services are women. She cites a worrying survey by Penn and McQuail (1997) which revealed that women thought they brought a ‘natural’ talent to the job and felt that this aptitude was at least as important, if not more important, than training. Penn goes on to argue that such attitudes are problematic. Firstly, because they devalue the theory underlying professionalism. Secondly, they do a disservice to men wishing to enter the profession, as they suggest that men do not possess such aptitudes. Such attitudes create barriers to raising the status of the professional roles associated with early childhood practitioners.
