Teaching reading: what are our long term goals?

In the light of the Cremin et al., (2014) have shown readers benefit from being invited to participate in richly reciprocal and interactive reading communities, communities which include their...

Problematising the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Needs of Early Years Educators in England

Aileen Kennedy’s (2005) ‘most read’ article was used as a starting point for a current research project that explores the CPD experiences of a sample of Early Years educators in the north of...

Hashtagcrockoftest or how to resist (the baseline assessment for 4-5 year olds in England)

I’m both laughing and crying. We do a lot of that in education, don’t we? Someone at work who works closely with teachers just told me that teachers in English schools, if asked about a test...

The Language We Carry Inside

‘Everything can change, but not the language that we carry inside us, like a world more exclusive and final than one's mother's womb.’              Italo Calvino Why is it that...

Reading More Wisely

In 2014, ReadingWise invited us to carry out an independent study of its Computer-Based Literacy Programme for Accelerated Reading Acquisition. Following exploratory meetings, schools and adult...

The Arts: An Interesting Approach in the Early Years Settings

The early years settings have a very strong influence on children’s future cognitive and social performance. The interactions and the activities in this area hold an important role in...

Visual methods, objects and material culture in early childhood

This Innovation Session that took place at BERA took the form of a workshop/masterclass in researching early childhood using visual methodologies, combining presentations, graffiti and Information...

The potential of inter-professional learning in supporting children with speech, language and communication needs

You may be aware of two pieces of research recently published about children’s speech, language and communication needs. The National Literacy Trust (

De-professionalising or re-professionalising the Early Childhood Workforce in England

This blog is based on the papers presented in the BERA 2015 Conference Symposium ‘De-professionalising or re-professionalising the Early Childhood Workforce in England?’ Elizabeth Wood, Jo...

Developing the role of the teaching assistant: Centralisation as a way forward?

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

The teaching assistants (TAs) that I meet are enthusiastic, keen to improve their practice, and valued by the teachers and senior leaders that they work with. However, research on the national...

Researching with young and developmentally young children: Ethical considerations, dilemmas and compromises

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

One of the most challenging considerations when researching with children is the question of gaining their consent to participate in research and their perspectives on the topic under study....

Positive Behavioural Supports – a critical analysis

In the US we have a systematic and prescriptive practice to deal with children manifesting chronic behavioural issues in the classroom. The method is called Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS). PBS...