Recent policy in England has created a new status of "Early Years Professional", thus imposing professionalisation of the early years workforce. There has been an increase in policy focus on those working with young children, and such a focus raises questions about practitioners' own responses to the debate about their training, education, qualifications and work. How early years practitioners see themselves, their collective or individual identity, or both, may be unsettled by being the centre of discussion and reform. This research aimed to investigate historical and recent texts using discourse analysis to expose discourse that may have shaped and contributed to the workforce's construction of their professional identity. A theoretical framework of professional identity, proposed by Tucker, is useful in its recognition of how prevailing and contemporary discourses contribute to the construction of professional identity. Findings suggest that constructs may exacerbate uncertainty, change and struggle for the workforce, and that there are complex and enduring aspects of professional identity that may influence perceptions. Imposed changes in training, assessment and qualifications, long-held beliefs evident in discourse, ideology and day-to-day practices also contribute to constructs of professional identity. The implications for practice are a need to recognise the complexity of professional identity and therefore the needs of some members of workforce as they move towards professionalisation. It is also argued that the voice of the workforce has been absent historically, and that current reform provides an opportunity for listening and responding. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)