Blog Special Issues
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has developed to meet different aims to encourage children’s holistic development; embed attitudes consistent with lifelong learning; facilitate preparation for and efficient transition into school; enable children to fulfil their rights to education; and support parents to find and engage in employment. It is shaped by the different discourses associated with these different aims – which are sometimes competing, sometimes mutually compatible.
Between May 2019 and February 2020, the research team of the BERA Research Commission 2019–2020 set up a series of one-day seminars in the four nations of the UK to explore discourses in play in the discussion of topical ECEC issues. Key questions were developed in consultation with local stakeholders to focus discussions and presentations, and analysis of the data generated during the events has now been published in the final report of the research commission.
Each event benefited from the work of an early career researcher (ECR) who contributed to the organisation of the events, analysis of the data, writing the report and sharing their research. This special issue of the BERA Blog brings together five blog posts written by these ECRs to foreground their research in ECEC, with the aim of catalysing efforts towards resolving tensions and moving forward with hope, resistance and creativity.
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has developed to meet different aims to encourage children’s holistic development; embed attitudes consistent with lifelong learning; facilitate...
Earlier this year the University of Manchester’s Institute of Education hosted the first of four events to support BERA’s research commission into competing discourses in early childhood...
In my doctoral research I focus on alternative outdoor early childhood provision in Scotland. I foreground a sociomaterial approach to understand how young children’s subjectivity, related to...
In 2022, the Foundation Phase in Wales will be replaced by the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), a national framework for children aged between three and 16. One of its aims is to provide...
Imagine a classroom of four-to-five-year-old children designing and co-creating their classroom spaces. They are not passive recipients of the spaces created for them, but architects, product...
Northern Ireland has an established early childhood education and care (ECEC) system with some strengths, such as near-universal participation in pre-school education. However, for children under...
Associate Professor at Plymouth University
Dr Jan Georgeson is Associate Professor of Education at University of Plymouth with a professional background as teacher of young children with special educational needs. She has also worked and volunteered as a Portage worker supporting parents...
Associate Professor at IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society
Guy Roberts-Holmes was awarded the 2016 BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award for his work in challenging the goals set out for Baseline Assessment for assessing and tracking the progress of 4-5 year olds within the primary system, which led to...
Associate Professor in Early Childhood Studies at Plymouth University
Verity Campbell-Barr is an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Studies and Associate Director for Research at Plymouth Institute of Education, University of Plymouth. Verity has over 15 years of experience researching early childhood education...
Director - International Montessori Institute at Leeds Beckett University
Dr. Nathan Archer is Director of the International Montessori Institute at Leeds Beckett University. He has a professional background as a Montessori Primary teacher and has worked in early childhood education for over twenty years in practice,...
Postdoc Researcher at U C L Insitute of Education
Siew Fung Lee’s research interests include the social and economic impact of policy on ‘disadvantaged’ children and families, ethnography, policy genealogy and critical methodology in education. She is a Research Fellow with the Healthier...
Lecturer and Researcher at Plymouth University
Katherine Gulliver is a Lecturer and Researcher at University of Plymouth. Her work focuses on Early Years, inclusion and special educational needs and/or disabilities. Her PhD explored innovative methodological approaches towards researching...
Senior Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University
A former early years locality lead for Manchester City Council, Martina Street has recently been seconded to Manchester Metropolitan University to take up the role of senior research associate. Building on her previous work of co-ordinating...
Head of Early Years Education at Stranmillis University College
Dr Glenda Walsh is an international expert in the field of play and playful pedagogies. Major research projects include the longitudinal evaluation of the Early Years Enriched Curriculum Project that informed the Northern Ireland Primary...
Associate Professor at University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Jane Waters is an associate professor in the Athrofa: Institute of Education at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She worked as a classroom teacher before joining higher education to lecture in Early Childhood Studies and Initial...
Earlier this year the University of Manchester’s Institute of Education hosted the first of four events to support BERA’s research commission into competing discourses in early childhood...
Continue reading blog postIn my doctoral research I focus on alternative outdoor early childhood provision in Scotland. I foreground a sociomaterial approach to understand how young children’s subjectivity, related to...
Continue reading blog postEarly childhood education and care (ECEC) has developed to meet different aims to encourage children’s holistic development; embed attitudes consistent with lifelong learning; facilitate...
Continue reading blog postImagine a classroom of four-to-five-year-old children designing and co-creating their classroom spaces. They are not passive recipients of the spaces created for them, but architects, product...
Continue reading blog postNorthern Ireland has an established early childhood education and care (ECEC) system with some strengths, such as near-universal participation in pre-school education. However, for children under...
Continue reading blog postIn 2022, the Foundation Phase in Wales will be replaced by the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), a national framework for children aged between three and 16. One of its aims is to provide...
Continue reading blog post
