Sue Smedley

Learning to be a primary school teacher: reading one man’s story

Few men choose to become primary school teachers. Those who do move into a world often thought of as feminized and contend with a publicly‐voiced rhetoric which simultaneously idealizes and demonizes them. This paper turns a spotlight on one student’s stories of being a man and a student primary school teacher. It considers how he negotiates the assumptions made about him as a gendered individual challenged by the task of learning to be a teacher. It has not been the norm for women to research men. The author sets out from a different place as a woman writing about a man. The paper argues that the emotional investment and paradox in this man’s narratives cannot be understood without recourse to developing understandings of masculinity and difference, learnt through language which maintains or challenges inequalities and which interrelates with social and cultural contexts which have histories.

Learning to be Froebelian: student teachers’ life histories 1952–1965

Drawing on the life histories of nine women who were trained at Froebel College in the 1950s and 1960s, this paper examines the women’s narratives as Froebelian student teachers and explores their remembered constructions of their experiences. Using an analytical framework underpinned by theories of identity and language their stories are shown to shed light on the women’s engagement with and commitment to Froebelian ideas and their sense of identifying with what the college stood for. The women’s stories illustrate a version of professionalism, located in time, place and culture, which incorporates contradictory elements of self-belief and self-effacement. In reflecting on their identities as Froebelians, their stories enact an understanding of politics and advocacy which demonstrates professional autonomy. Unexpectedly, their stories also show some difficulties with articulating Froebelian principles, and instead express an emotional attachment. That emotional engagement, rather than being seen as an inadequacy, is argued to be a strand in developing a hopeful, motivating and enabling professional workforce, capable of working effectively in the challenging current context of increasing statutory pressures towards performativity, regulation and control in early childhood education and care.

Finding a place for Froebel's theories: early years practitioners’ understanding and enactment of learning through play

ABSTRACT This paper is part of a wider research project, exploring the possibilities to protect and extend Froebelian principles in practice and analyses interview data from thirty-three early years practitioners to investigate their understanding and enactment of learning through play in relation to the theories of Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852). Analysis of the data sheds light on the practitioners’ professional priorities, referencing the centrality of play, respect for childrens ideas, and risk and safety. Even though many of the practitioners’ principles resonate with Froebels ideas, the majority of the practitioners do not theorize their practice as Froebelian, neither do they perceive theory and practice as interrelated. This paper argues for policy-driven early years’ training with a focus on Froebels theories, to create confident practitioners and advocates, who appreciate the origins of their practice and can provide rich learning experiences.

Higher education provision and access for early years educators: Localised challenges arising from national policy in England

Much has been written about the sustained attempts by successive governments to professionalise the early years sector over the past 20 years in England. A feature of these policy interventions has been to focus on creating a graduate workforce to improve academic outcomes for young children. In this article, the authors draw on data from their recent Froebel Trust-funded project, which involved interviews with 33 early years practitioners, to first explore the challenges facing state-maintained early years settings in contrasting geographical contexts in England, including rural, suburban and urban, as they work towards achieving compliance with the recent policy aim of one graduate in each of their settings. Second, the authors use policy enactment theory to inform their analysis of senior staff members’ perceptions of tensions and opportunities created by having a graduate workforce in state-maintained early years settings. Third, the authors tentatively explore how to reconceptualise staff education and training with existing, experienced early years staff that would re-emphasise Froebel-informed approaches to enable practitioners to theorise their practice in a move towards what the authors have termed in this article as ‘developmental professionalism’. The data shows that there is uneven access to higher education in contrasting geographical contexts for those professionals seeking to gain graduate status, and the authors examine the implications of this for early years practitioners and managers attempting to access graduate qualifications.

Men teaching children 3–11. Dismantling gender barriers

One of the defining characteristics of this book, according to the authors Elizabeth Burn and Simon Pratt-Adams, is that they have written it in collaboration: a female teacher and a male teacher i...

Life history insights into the early childhood and education experiences of Froebel trainee teachers 1952–1967

Drawing on life-history interview data collected as part of a research project funded by the Froebel Trust, this paper explores the family backgrounds and educational experiences reported by nine women who attended Froebel College located in London in the United Kingdom (UK), in the 1950s and 1960s. Informed by Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and field and theories of identity, this paper explores any shared habitus and dispositions within the early childhood and family milieu reported by the participants. The paper also considers the women’s educational experiences and their stories of getting into Froebel College, reflecting on the commonality of family values and the secondary education pathways they reported. The findings show some striking resonances between Froebel’s educational ideals, in particular his belief in the mystical and transformative power of learning through play and engaging with nature, and the participants’ stories of their early childhood experiences.

One Story amongst Many.

This study makes use of an autobiographical account to draw attention to some of the traditions, histories and cultures that position women primary teachers and their work. The writer begins with a rationale for autobiographical writing, with reference to readings of autobiographical writing and discussions of the relationship between the individual and society. There follows an autobiographical account of the writers own formation as a primary teacher, which highlights pertinent issues in relation to perceptions of primary teachers, namely, career choice, child‐centred pedagogy and the metaphor “teacher as mother”. A case is then made for engaging teachers, in particular student teachers, in detailed autobiographical reflection to help them to make sense of their professional lives and to further their professional development.