A Narrative Inquiry into the Storied Lives of Birth through Kindergarten Licensed Early Childhood Educators

The quality of inclusion for young children with disabilities in early childhood learning environments has long been attributed to the effectiveness of the teachers within such settings. As the service delivery system shifted toward more inclusive models, endeavors to improve preparation for inclusion have been marked by efforts to combine the fields of early childhood education and early childhood special education. While the initial development of such programs, commonly referred to as blended, came from the belief that the approach would promote inclusion, it remains unclear how well they actually prepare educators for inclusive practice. Additionally, high variability persists in both inclusive practice and blended preparation, impacting how teachers construct knowledge, a critical component of teacher identity development. This narrative inquiry explored the storied lives of six educators through the contextual theories of teacher identity development and blended preparation identity development. Findings illuminated participants’ professional identity has been constructed across time as they: a) gained new theoretical knowledge that informed their belief systems, b) were engaged in eye opening experiences that impacted personal and professional paradigm shifts, and c) as their perception of agency was enhanced by bidirectional social influences. Implications for research and professional practice are discussed.