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making a person doubtful of his or her capabilities and ideas (Merriam Webster
Dictionary, 2005). The image an early childhood educator has of self can impact practice.
According to Hill, Stremmel, and Fu (2005) knowingly or unknowingly, we construct a
personal philosophy or theory of teaching that is brought with us at the onset of our
journey to teach. This image of who we are or will be as a teacher, combined with a view
of the child as learner, forms a pedagogical orientation. The image of the child and the
image of the teacher merge to create a theory of teaching and learning which we know as
pedagogy.
Belenky et al. (1986) studied women and voice, examining how women
conceptualize the self, “to see what kind of picture of the self they were able to hold out
for their own viewing” (p. 31). Women who live in silence had difficulty with
conceptualizations of the self, “they remain standing in their own shoes, describing only
what they see gazing outward from their own eyes. They find no vantage point outside of
the self that enables them to look backward, bringing the whole self in to view” (p. 32).
Early childhood educators who have a full and realistic view of their self-image are in a
position to learn about their own teaching in order to develop professionally. In stark
contrast to this are the early childhood educators who are not in a position to learn and
develop because their view of themselves is limited by prevailing images.
The image that portrays the sector as less worthy reflects an educational field that
generates very little by way of prestige, influence, or compensation (Mahmood, 2000).
When early childhood educators believe that the “wider community undervalues and
misunderstands their role and level of expertise” (Goodfellow, 2002, p. 4), they can
internalize this negative image. In describing the paths taken by early childhood