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Call for book proposals: The BERA Guides series

Closes 31 Dec 2026

Call for book proposals: The BERA Guides series BERA, in collaboration with Emerald Publishing, invites book proposals for new titles in The BERA Guides series. This series aims to provide short,...

Beyond the checklist: Building a primary curriculum that sparks joy and includes every child

With the UK Labour government commissioning Professor Becky Francis to review England’s national curriculum, we have an opportunity to reconsider not just what children should learn but how. As...

The need for clearer parental engagement policies: Evidence from England

Parental engagement significantly boosts children’s academic success, with evidence from around the world demonstrating an average of four months of additional progress over a single academic...

Listening to young children: Are they happy in the nursery?

BERA Conference 2025

For Aristotle, wellbeing and happiness (eudaimonia) are the ultimate end and purpose of human existence. Yet, the United Kingdom demonstrated lower levels of life satisfaction and poor mental...

Nonresident fathers’ contribution to their children’s social competence in early childhood

BERA Conference 2025

Divorce and nonmarital childbearing have become increasingly common, leading to more children growing up with a father who lives elsewhere (Sheffield & Winship, 2020). This shift raises important...

Editorial: Reimagining a just early childhood education and care sector in England: Voices from the margins

This special issue arose from critical dialogue about injustice in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in England between diverse people engaged in practice, research and...

Reimagining a just early childhood education and care sector in England: Voices from the margins

This special issue arose from critical dialogue about injustice in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in England between diverse people engaged in practice, research and...

Connected, valued and vocal: Early years educators advocate for the ECEC sector in public policy debates

In this third contribution to the special issue we consider the complex issue of early years educators’ (EYEs) professional voices being heard and acted upon in contemporary policy debates about...

Climbing the qualification ladder or leaving the profession: The crisis in early childhood work

A crisis exists relating to the status of qualifications and pay in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce in England (Nutbrown, 2021) marked by both low pay and morale. In this...

‘Small things that no one sees’: Acts of advocacy in early childhood education and care

In this reflective blog post for this special issue, we draw on a vignette of the nursery practices that are everyday acts of advocacy. Our commentary foregrounds the unacknowledged labour of...

The complex problem of the education and care of babies: Could independent nurseries have the answer?

In this blog post, two managers of independent nurseries critically review the expansion of publicly funded childcare in England to include children aged nine months. Specifically, we examine the...

Connections across time: Activism as a nurturing network

We write as activists, advocates and historians about the ongoing impact of strike action taken by nursery workers 40 years ago and the way activism can nourish the profession. Despite the...