Maternalist discourse in nursery nurse training at Wellgarth Nursery Training School from 1911-1939: current dilemmas of class and status in historical context

TY - JOUR

T1 - Maternalist discourse in nursery nurse training at Wellgarth Nursery Training School from 1911-1939

T2 - current dilemmas of class and status in historical context

AU - Read, Jane

PY - 2017/4/10

Y1 - 2017/4/10

N2 - This article explores current dilemmas of status surrounding professional roles for the early years workforce through research into training for nursery nurses at Wellgarth Nursery Training School, London, from 1911 to 1939. It interrogates the issues through the lens of vocational habitus and feminine and emotional capital and draws comparison with contemporary training for Froebel teachers. The data identify maternalist discourse as a common factor in training for Wellgarth and Froebel students, with consequences for a gendered workforce. The research demonstrates that class was the key factor in the ability to pursue a career in nursery nursing or teaching, and shaped unique professional identities. The historical perspective sets current European and English policy on early years professional roles, and the plethora of recent literature on differentiated constructions of professionalism, which problematises conceptions of professional roles as caring or teaching, within a history dating back over one hundred years. The archival data which comprised the research material for this paper can be accessed at the London Metropolitan Archive.© 2017, Taylor and Francis. The attached document (embargoed until 10/10/2018) is an author produced version of a paper published in Gender and Education, uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2017.1302076. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

AB - This article explores current dilemmas of status surrounding professional roles for the early years workforce through research into training for nursery nurses at Wellgarth Nursery Training School, London, from 1911 to 1939. It interrogates the issues through the lens of vocational habitus and feminine and emotional capital and draws comparison with contemporary training for Froebel teachers. The data identify maternalist discourse as a common factor in training for Wellgarth and Froebel students, with consequences for a gendered workforce. The research demonstrates that class was the key factor in the ability to pursue a career in nursery nursing or teaching, and shaped unique professional identities. The historical perspective sets current European and English policy on early years professional roles, and the plethora of recent literature on differentiated constructions of professionalism, which problematises conceptions of professional roles as caring or teaching, within a history dating back over one hundred years. The archival data which comprised the research material for this paper can be accessed at the London Metropolitan Archive.© 2017, Taylor and Francis. The attached document (embargoed until 10/10/2018) is an author produced version of a paper published in Gender and Education, uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2017.1302076. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

KW - Nursery nurses

KW - Froebel teachers

KW - training

KW - professional roles

KW - vocational habitus

KW - feminine capital

U2 - 10.1080/09540253.2017.1302076

DO - 10.1080/09540253.2017.1302076

M3 - Article

SN - 0954-0253

SP - 1

EP - 18

JO - GENDER AND EDUCATION

JF - GENDER AND EDUCATION

M1 - DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2017.1302076

ER -