Taking the 'early yearsy' route: resistance and professionalism in the enactment of assessment policy in early childhood in England

This paper explores how early years teachers respond to policy, using the case of Baseline Assessment, a new statutory assessment introduced to Reception classes (age 4–5) in England in 2015. Using interview and survey data collected during the period when the policy was introduced, the paper examines how teachers engaged in different forms of resistance to this unpopular policy reform. It is argued that as early years professionals Reception teachers draw on and draw strength from specifically early childhood-based knowledge and understandings, such as the emphasis on the whole child and an ethics of care, which provide them with justifications for resisting policy. This resistance is thus part of their identity as early years professionals and allows for a particular positionality within the school. However, it is also argued that sometimes taking the apparently resistant ‘early yearsy’ route can actually facilitate policy; this is discussed as compliant resistance