'The Angel in the House' was a poem written in 1858 by Coventry Patmore as a homage to his widow, and serves as a description of how devoted wives should behave in Victorian times.
Such wives were to be industrious, humble, unpaid, virtuous, loving, caring, charming, available, free of fancy, courteous, naturally talented, innocent, truthful, attractive, and of course, invisible and uncomplaining.
While these notions may seem like relics from a bygone era, a closer examination of Government approved documents which guide and shape the work done in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, such as standards, frameworks and curricula, shows that when it comes to the way in which educators' talents, interests and wellbeing are considered, they are not so far away after all.