Right from the start: an exploration of the lived experiences of qualified teachers in maintained early years settings

This thesis addresses a gap in the research currently used to inform policy related to the professional development and retention of teachers in England. It investigates the lived experiences of qualified teachers in maintained settings (QTMEYS) from a psycho-social perspective using a theoretical framework which incorporates ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci, 2000) and Festinger’s (2001) theory of cognitive dissonance. This narrative inquiry used an innovative six point data collection and analysis strategy to explore three key questions: how do QTMEYS conceptualise their professional practice; what factors shape their experience of practice; and what are the implications of these findings for the professional development of QTMEYS. Written narratives of professional practice were collected from five participants at various stages in their careers, including two who had left teaching, one who had moved to the private sector, a Reception teacher and a teacher based in a Maintained Nursery. These narratives were analysed using The Listening Guide (Gilligan, 1982). The I-Poems developed at this stage of analysis formed the stimulus for co-analytical interviews with each participant. Finally, the corpus of data was interrogated using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006). The result are rich, illustrative findings which contribute towards the body of data on the lived experiences of teachers. The findings of this study suggest that QTMEYS experience neglect, isolation and conflict ‘right from the start’ of their professional journey. At the heart of these experiences is a lack of understanding and respect for Early Years pedagogy shared not only by policy makers, but by other members of the teaching profession. These findings have implications for my professional practice as an ITE lecturer and wider implications for both ITE providers and policy makers. The central thesis arising from this study is that changes in initial teacher education (ITE) could significantly improve the lived experiences of QTMEYS.