The types of work of early childhood education and care professionals: an interactive perspective

ABSTRACT

In this study, we reconstruct the types of work performed by early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals working with children up to three years of age from an interactional perspective. The theoretical framework of the investigation is social organization of work defined by Strauss and colleagues in regard to medical sector. Analysis of thematic narrative interviews with caregivers focusing on their interactions with children and their parents revealed six types of interactional work carried out by caregivers: information work, relation work, emotion work, safety work, child development work and professional identity work. Dilemmas inscribed in each type of work are discussed in reference to potential practical and policy implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education and care
• social organization of work
• thematic narrative interviews
• types of interactional work
• professional identity

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to prof. UŁ. Lucyna Telka and dr. Elżbieta Skoczylas-Namielska (Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Łódź) for their support in coding the interviews and to the professionals from the Łódź Public Crèche Network for their openness and support in conducting the interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The term caregiver was used in the text intentionally. Despite the fact that Polish legal documents defining the role of facilities for children and youth indicate that they all provide care, upbringing and education, it is commonly accepted that for professionals working with children under 3 years of age the term derived from the word care is used (opiekun), for those working with children 3–6 years of age the term derived from the word upbringing (wychowawca przedszkolny), and those working with school-age children the term derived from the word education (nauczyciel).