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An exploration of advocacy towards the professionalisation of early years educators in higher education degrees Mary Delany (5766902) PUREID: 670926804 Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) advocacy professional identity policy higher education Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) professionals training, employment conditions, and regulations impact greatly on the quality of provision in ECEC services. The ECEC professional is an emerging concept in Ireland characterised by poor work conditions and low status. There has been little research focus on the topics of advocacy towards professionalism within Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) Early Childhood Programmes or Early Years Educators (EYE) advocating for their own profession. This study aimed to probe into the concept of advocacy towards the enhancement of the professionalisation of EYEs in the ECEC system with a particular focus on HEI (EC) programmes and does provide an insight into the importance of HEI (EC) programmes to empower lecturers and students to advocate for the ECEC profession.<br><br>A qualitative approach was undertaken to explore the perspectives and experiences of three unique highly informed groups of participants. A group of expert ECEC advocates participated in four individual interviews and one joint interview (N=6), HEI lecturers on Early Childhood (EC) degree programmes participated in three focus groups and completed 3 interviews (N=20), and graduates that had completed Early Childhood (EC) degree programmes in HEI participated in two focus groups and completed two interviews (N=10), (Total N=36). The study was informed by a Paulo Freire and Michel Foucault theoretical lens and utilised themes of power, regimes of truth and critical pedagogy.<br><br>Findings revealed many neoliberal tensions, difficulties and resistance in the implementation of current policy to practice for EYEs. There is ambiguity about professional advocate identity Who Early Years Educators are and What they do and a severe lack of ‘tribal’ identity in the sector. An implication from the findings includes a reconceptualisation of the ECEC profession as political, relational and uncertain. These findings contribute to a requirement for HEI (EC) programmes to review the purpose of the education and training of EYEs as the current education approach is not sufficiently developing critical thinkers, socio<br>political understanding, professional identity or advocacy for the profession. HEI (EC) programmes should consider adapting a Paulo Freire informed critical pedagogy approach. This will require a need for both a physical place and a relational space where EYEs could develop their professional advocate identity during their student experience in HEIs and for up to two years post graduation.<br><br>This study’s conclusions and recommendations may contribute to conversations in the ECEC and HEI system that consider a political, agentic, relational and uncertain professional identity which would promote ECEC advocates for change in the future. 2026-10-01T16:16:50Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32805281.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/An_exploration_of_advocacy_towards_the_professionalisation_of_early_years_educators_in_higher_education_degrees/32805281 All Rights Reserved