As part of the broader push towards greater equity in education, it has long been recognised that having a workforce that better represents the racial diversity within society is vital for a variety of reasons – including the character, ubiquity, pervasiveness, duration and importance of teaching as a social activity (Thomas, 2022). However, to date, many of the existing studies on the roles of race and ethnicity in the profession have taken place in primary, secondary and higher education contexts. As such, there has been little attention given to the workforce in the early years.
In the early years policy context in England, the focus has primarily been on tackling the gender imbalance. For instance, the Early Years Workforce Strategy (DfE, 2017, p. 25) makes explicit reference to the ‘gender diversity of the workforce’, stating: ‘We recognise that recruitment and retention of men is a challenge for the early years sector’. However, there is no reference to racial diversity and the value it could bring to enhancing children’s experiences.
