Professionalism as Relational Practice: 

Guest Editorial

Authors

• Päivi Kupila University of Tampere, Finland
• Zsuzsa Millei University of Tampere, Finland

Abstract

This special issue of JECER focuses on professionalism as a relational practice in ECEC and publish original research articles and reflective pieces of ECEC researchers to further our understandings of professionalism in this relational manner. Applying a range of perspectives, the articles draw out different relations present in professionalism and raise further questions about and contradictions prevalent in evolving constructs of professionalism. This issue also reveals some interesting and unexpected ways in which professionalism unfolds for individuals, teams and institutions, between different institutions and governance levels, and how notions of professionalism are constructed in interplays between these multiple levels and players. By focusing on these manifold relations, the contributors provide invaluable insights into the dynamic changes that are currently taking place in light of timeless features that remain the core purpose of ECEC organisations: children´s learning, growth and care, as the heart and main responsibilities of professional work.