Head, heart and hands: constructing a holistic approach to professional identity and professional development in the early childhood workforce

The field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has been engaged in discussions about professionalism of the workforce for a considerable period. This paper proposes a holistic model of professional identity construction that considers three elements; the head (utilising reflections on knowledge, reason and thinking), the heart (exploring passion, feelings and values and beliefs) and the hands (which represents professionalism as worked out in practice in the workplace). It suggests how these aspects can be constructed into a model of professionalism that remains fluid and flexible, and is able to respond to changing demands. There is evidence to suggest that the model can be utilised as a professional development (PD) tool for use with students and practitioners in the field.