A poetic inquiry into the normalisation of early years’ leadership
Authors: Kathryn Morris, Early Years Senior Manager and Dr Christine Parker, Early Childhood Researcher and Writer
What a busy day,
I’ve been mum, friend, teacher,
“but all you do is play”.
(Natasha Harrison 2024)
Our research explores leadership within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in England, with a particular focus on early years’ leaders working in private and voluntary sector settings. The research aimed to amplify the voices of early years’ leaders whose professional experiences are often marginalised or misunderstood. Using poetic inquiry, specifically haiku, the study sought to capture leaders lived, emotional and relational experiences of leadership. Rather than positioning leadership as hierarchical or managerial, the research was interested in how leaders understand themselves as leaderful practitioners—working collaboratively, relationally and alongside others.
I want to write
poetry tomorrow, can I
join your team?
Why This Is Important
Early years leadership in England has become shaped by what is now normalised in the sector: marketisation, competition, regulation, inspection, and increasing expectations without equitable pay or working conditions. While policy has raised expectations around quality, this has not been matched by professional recognition or financial investment. As a result, early years leaders often operate in a context of cruel professionalism (Menan 2024) where accountability and responsibility increase, but security, respect and reward do not.
This has contributed to workforce burnout (Solvason et al 2025), recruitment and retention crises, and leaders being pulled away from leadership into frontline staffing just to keep settings open. Despite this, early years leaders remain deeply committed to children, families and communities. Understanding how leaders experience this tension matters, not only for policy and system reform, but for recognising the professional love, resilience and values that sustain the sector. This research challenges deficit narratives and creates space for leaders to be heard on their own terms.
What We Did
The study used an art-based methodology, drawing on poetic inquiry (van Rooyen & d’Abdon, 2025) to create a safe, accessible and non-threatening way for early years leaders to reflect on their work. Nineteen participants took part, including fifteen early years leaders and four members of an early years’ support team within a local authority.
Engagement took place through informal focus conversations and an early years’ evening event. Leaders were invited to respond to a simple provocation: “What makes you proud about working in your setting?” Their words became the inspiration for haiku poetry, a structured but creative form designed to capture “an insight into a moment of experience.” Haiku writing (Ross, 2022) was chosen because it slows thinking, values emotion and meaning, and supports reflective risk-taking without requiring academic language.
professional pride is
how children at our setting have
grown and developed
What We Found
Four key themes emerged: embedded values, emotional responses, family and community, and leaderful practice. Contrary to expectations shaped by policy and academic discourse, leaders’ responses were overwhelmingly positive. They spoke with pride about children’s wellbeing, resilience, play, outdoor learning and having a voice. Families were consistently positioned as partners, not problems, and community identity was celebrated.
allowing children
to be heard! when they might
not have their voice
Leaders demonstrated a strong sense of professional identity rooted in relationships, care and commitment, even while acknowledging long hours, low pay and systemic pressures. The poetic inquiry process itself proved powerful, energising participants and offering recognition often missing from their professional lives.
Rather than reinforcing narratives of crisis alone, this research revealed joy, purpose and resilience. It suggests that poetic inquiry can be a valuable tool for reflection, evaluation and professional dialogue in early years settings. Most importantly, it shows that when early years leaders are given space to speak creatively and authentically, their leadership is not diminished, but made visible.
References
Menon, N., Johnston, L., Powell. A., Richardson, B. & Straker, A. (2024) (Care)fully reconstituting cruel professionalism with and for early childhood educators: how caring activism can resist uncaring conditions, Early Years, 44:5, 1079-1092, DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2024.2393150
Ross, B. (2022) Writing Haiku. A Beginner’s Guide to Composing Japanese Poetry. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing.
Solvason, C., Sutton-Tsang, S. & Stobbs, N. (2025) Heading for burnout: The early years workforce in England post COVID-19 in Journal of Early Childhood Research 1 – 13
Van Rooyen, H. & d’Abdon, R. (2025) Poetic Inquiry as Research. A Decolonial Guide. Bristol, England. Policy Press.
Suggested further reading
Folbre, N (2012) Should Women Care Less – Intrinsic motivation and gender inequality. British Journal of Industrial Relations 50 (4) 597 - 619
Maclean, V. L. (2024) Image of the Educator: (re)Thinking Identity. Journal of Childhood Studies, 93-104. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs202421777
Pithouse-Morgan, K., Naicker, I., Chikoko, V., Pillay, D., Morojele, P. & Hlao, T. (2014) Entering an ambiguous space: Evoking polyvocality in educational research through collective poetic inquiry. Perspectives in Education 2014: 32(4) pp149-171
Raelin, J. (2011) From leadership-as-practice to leaderful practice. Leadership, 7(2),pp.195-211.
Bios
Kathryn is an Early Years Leader in a Local Authority, where she leads strategic initiatives to improve outcomes for children under five. Her experience spans more than thirty years across the Private, Voluntary and Independent sector, Sure Start Centres, and Maintained Nursery Schools. She has also taught in Further and Higher Education and managed multi-agency collaborations integrating adult education, children’s centres, and early years provision. She is currently undertaking an Education Doctorate at the University of Sheffield, where her research focuses on arts-based methodologies to elevate the voices of early years practitioners working in the private sector.
Christine has been a professional educator for over 45 years, teaching children and adults within the early childhood and primary phases of education in England schools and Higher Education Institutions in England and Pakistan. Christine has been actively engaged in practitioner research throughout her career and her research specialisms centre around Multilingual Childhoods and Early Years’ Leadership. Currently research partners are located globally, in Ireland, Myanmar and Pakistan.