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Understanding ethnicity within the early years workforce requires more than demographic data analysis and structural inequalities documentation. It requires deep listening to the lived realities and experiences of practitioners who navigate their professional identities while minoritised by race, language or culture. Reflexivity is not optional but essential to making sense of the emotional, relational and identity-based experiences shaping the workforce.

Our recent reflections as a team of development coaches at JCL Skills Solutions working with learners on the Early Years Skills Bootcamps drew on insights from coaching sessions, workshops and facilitated discussions. These Bootcamps, which are designed to support new and aspiring early years practitioners (many of whom are multilingual or entering the sector through career-change pathways), revealed far more complex experiences than those typically captured by workforce statistics. While the national data highlights underrepresentation in maintained nursery schools and patterns of occupational hierarchy, the voices behind the numbers reveal internalised doubt, hypervisibility and fragile belonging (Sakr et al., 2022).

‘Will they understand me?’

One learner’s question captured a reality that many had been carrying silently: ‘What will I be able to teach the children? Hear my accent and look at me – they might not understand me.’ This was not simply a concern about communication but an expression of identity insecurity, deeply rooted in societal messages about who is perceived as a credible, competent or ‘professional’ early years practitioner. Research echoes this, showing that ethnically minoritised staff often feel both hypervisible and unheard (Dujczynski et al., 2023).

These reflections show us how racialised narratives shape professional esteem, with accents becoming stand-ins for assumptions about capability. Yet open exploration can shift these fears, and reframing linguistic diversity as a strength enables learners to see the value where previously they saw deficit.

‘Reframing linguistic diversity as a strength enables learners to see the value where previously they saw deficit.’

Another tension that surfaced repeatedly was how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is often experienced as a compliance exercise. Learners did not immediately recognise their own identities as central to this work and it was only when personal stories surfaced – learners perceiving themselves as ‘not good enough’ – that the deeper work of representation and affirmation could begin. For educators navigating English as an additional language, the emotional labour of learning is intertwined with fears of judgment, linguistic insecurity and cultural misrecognition. EDI teaching that stays at the level of legislation cannot reach these spaces (Douglass et al., 2025; Park et al., 2024).

The coaching reflections demonstrated that when learners are offered safe, structured spaces for vulnerability, significant shifts occur as reflective dialogue has transformative impact on learners. Colleagues across cohorts noticed similar patterns: multilingual learners becoming more willing to lead discussions; previously hesitant learners taking risks and re‑entering learning spaces; and groups recognising the power of shared cultural knowledge in supporting bilingual families. These moments exemplify what research often calls ‘identity‑affirming pedagogy’ approaches which validate who learners are, and not just what they can do (Cummings, 2005).

Across the early years sector, conversations about recruitment, retention and diversity continue with urgency; however, the reflections gathered through coaching reveal that the barriers practitioners face are not solely structural, they are also deeply personal. They live in internal narratives shaped by race, language and representation. Reflexive practice pushes us to notice these internal narratives, to understand how they intersect with wider systemic patterns, and to respond with care.

If we want a workforce that truly reflects the communities we serve, we must create conditions where minoritised practitioners feel confident, valued and heard. That begins with reflexivity: acknowledging the emotional and identity‑based dimensions of this work and responding through dialogue, representation and affirmation. The early years workforce needs diversity not as a slogan. Reflexive practice shows how EDI can move beyond policy into practice.

References

Cummings, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., & Cohen, S. L. (2005) Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38–43.

Douglass, S., Chung, S., Danovitch, R., & Kirton, T. (2025) A review of research on culturally relevant and responsive education: Implications for K-12 schools and districts in the United States. Teachers College, Columbia University. Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

Dujczynski, M., Sakr, M., & Santos Pinto, C. (2023, April 28) Researching ethnicity and the early years workforce: The need for reflexivity. Â鶹ÒùÔº Blog. /blog/researching-ethnicity-and-the-early-years-workforce-the-need-for-reflexivity

Park, H., Zong, J., Polat, N., & Schallert, D. L. (2024) Bilingual/ESL preservice teachers’ heritage language and language identity: Evidence from multimodal literacy autobiographies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 152, Article 104775.

Sakr, M., Dujczynski, M., & Santos Pinto, C. (2022) Ethnicity & the early years workforce: A census of staff in maintained nursery schools in England. British Educational Research Association. /publication/ethnicity-the-early-years-workforce-a-census-of-staff-in-maintained-nursery-schools-in-england