Professional role and identity of Icelandic preschool teachers : effects of stakeholders’ views

Abstract

In this article, we explore the reality of Icelandic preschool teachers who are, asin most other countries, predominantly female. The gendered nature of the roleand the current identity adopted by preschool teachers appear to impact on theirperceived status and professionalism. In this process, stakeholders in early childhoodeducation (ECE), as well as the preschool teachers themselves, play importantparts. The question that underlies the paper is: ‘How do the views ofpreschool teachers and stakeholders in ECE affect the preschool teachers’ professionalidentity?’ The data used to answer the question are from focus groupresearch carried out with preschool teachers and stakeholders in ECE in onecommunity in Iceland. These stakeholders, besides preschool teachers and staffwithin the preschools, were parents, professionals at the municipal preschooloffice and politicians. The theoretical perspective informing the methodology ofthe research was ‘symbolic interactionism’ and the concept of ‘democratic professionalism’was used as an aspirational framework to analyse the data. Thefindings reveal connections between the ideology relating to the preschool teachers’educational role, their limited leadership and the gendered views of stakeholders.At the end of the paper, implications and recommendations forpreschool teachers are suggested.