Relationships in early childhood education – beyond the professional into the personal within the teacher–child dyad: relationships ‘that ripple in the pond’

ABSTRACT

The dyadic nature of the teacher–child relationship is recognized as a significant factor in young children’s learning experiences. However understandings about how teachers’ own personal and professional identities and experiences influence their construction of teacher–child relationships are under researched. This article extends upon earlier research by exploring the concept of a networked dimension of teachers’ personal relationships and how they inform their perceptions of their relationships with children within a dynamic system. Through the interpretation of four teachers’ life history narratives and utilizing the lens of development systems theory, we present original insights regarding how they understand their personal and professional relationships with children. We illuminate how teachers’ lives are open, networked and overlapping in nature and that there are implications for teachers’ initial education and professional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher–child relationships
• developmental systems theory
• early childhood education

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants for their engagement in our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jo Albin-Clark is a senior lecturer in early childhood education at Edge Hill University. She has research interests in how teachers develop their pedagogical thinking.

Ian Shirley is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University. His research interests include music education, critical policy research and the role of discourse in society.

Maggie Webster is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University and coordinator for Religious Studies. Her research interests include alternative spiritualities, new religious movements, social media, rites of passage, transitions and Paganisms.

Clare Woolhouse is a senior research fellow in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University. Her areas of research include equality and inclusion, cultural studies and identity studies and she utilizes a range of qualitative and/or multimodal methods.