'The more things change the more they stay the same': Early childhood professionalism in Covid-19 times

For decades the early childhood sector has been pursuing recognition as a profession. In that time the sector in Australia has developed national legislation, an early childhood curriculum document and developed an extensive range of accountability measures. Simultaneously the international arena has been presented with compelling research that demonstrates the importance of children's early years in terms of their own outcomes, and also in terms of national productivity. Despite this work, little has changed in the way early childhood work is perceived by community members and by governments. During the Covid-19 pandemic early childhood educators in Australia were identified as essential workers and were required, where possible, to keep their services operational. One might imagine that such an identification might lead to changes in the way in which the sector is perceived. This research, using an interpretive social constructionist approach to interview six early childhood service managers, coordinators, educational leaders, aimed to gain a shared understanding of their experiences and perceptions. The results indicate that they perceive little change in the way the sector is perceived, and they supported their perceptions with evidence of the lack of support received by them from government (in comparison to the support received by other essential work sectors). We suggest that an entirely new approach needs to be taken in order to pursue the professionalisation agenda and posit that values framing theory might provide a helpful direction on which to focus attention.