Hierarchies of Professionalism in Interprofessional Partnerships for Inclusion: Mapping the Role and Professional Identities of Early Years Educators ¹

Abstract

Despite the rhetoric emphasising partnership working, there has been a dearth of research related to the educational practices that reify interprofessional partnerships for young children with special educational needs. This doctoral study examined the subtle power shifts in the interactions between early years educators and other professionals against the backdrop of deficit policy discourses and institutional challenges. This research adopted a case study approach and utilised methodological triangulation to unveil educators' phronetic knowledge. The findings point to power differentials and partnership inequities which affect the roles and identities of early years educators. Participants assumed emergent leadership roles that encompassed elements of social pedagogy and pedagogical eclecticism which eschewed medicalised interventions in favour of intuitive pedagogical approaches centred on the child and family.

Citation

Morfaki, A., Bovill, H. and Bowden-Clissold, N. (2024), "Hierarchies of Professionalism in Interprofessional Partnerships for Inclusion: Mapping the Role and Professional Identities of Early Years Educators ¹ ", Waller, R., Andrews, J. and Clark, T. (Ed.) Critical Perspectives on Educational Policies and Professional Identities, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 11-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-332-920241002