How do early years practitioners construct what it means to be professional? How do they perceive the relationship between Froebelian theory and practice, if at all? What value do they attach to early years qualifications? This paper explores these questions drawing on data from thirty-three interviews with early years practitioners working in six settings in England as part of a Froebel Trust funded research project. Analysis of the data suggests that these practitioners construct versions of professionalism which tend not to acknowledge Froebelian theory and early years qualifications as relevant to their practice. To counter this perspective, we argue that a different approach to professional development, explicitly informed by Froebelian principles, could help to develop early years professionals' ability to justify their early years principles and practice, whilst they fulfil the statutory requirements made of them.