Early years as a career? Policy, practice and professionalism 2003-2017

BERA Blog Special Issues: BERA/TACTYC

In March 2017, the long-awaited Early Years Workforce Strategy for England was published by the DfE. It aims to put in place a number of measures to address some of the difficulties currently...

Giving a Voice to Mothers

BERA Blog Special Issues: BERA/TACTYC

My work on the Parenting chapter of the BERA/ TACTYC Review of the Early Years Literature triggered some questions that I felt compelled to further investigate. The literature that I accessed...

Play and Pedagogy

BERA Blog Special Issues: BERA/TACTYC

Carrying out the research for the section on Play and Pedagogy was a pleasure. This was because the field of play scholarship is extensive, international, multi-disciplinary and progressive in...

Are we all ready in 2017?

BERA Blog Special Issues: BERA/TACTYC

The formalisation process which the review shows has been happening in Early Childhood Education, particularly since 2010, has moved into a new phase in 2016-17. The OECD has been considering a...

BERA-TACTYC Early Childhood Research Review 2003-2017

We are pleased to announce the launch of the BERA/TACTYC Review of Early Childhood Education and Care in the UK, 2003-2017. This  review has involved a wide range of early childhood specialists,...

Critical Pedagogies: Are the benefits of alternative schooling being overlooked?

With increasing criticism of the English government regarding over-testing and high pressure in state schools, alternatives to early years formal education, such as practitioners of the Montessori...

The digital home lives of young New Zealanders

International trends indicate that internet access is now widespread in developed countries around the world including New Zealand. So you may be surprised to discover that not all New Zealanders...

Working together or working apart? An effective approach to parent-school relationships

It is not a new argument that parents and family in general have a very strong impact on children’s cognitive and social performance. This argument originates back in the ecological theory of...

How care-full is early childhood assessment?

The first priority in education – if by education we mean learning to be human – is learning to live in personal relation to other people…I call this the first priority because failure in...

The essence of social pedagogy

This short text aims to shed some light on the education of first year child welfare pedagogues in Norway. These are undergraduates and social pedagogy is mandated in their education and...

Leadership in Early Childhood: Is it just for those working at the very top?

This blog explores some of the key findings from the book ‘Leading in Early Childhood’, by Geraldine Davis, Anglia Ruskin University and Gemma Ryder, University of East London. Our research...

Professionalism and the early years practitioner

Government-led workforce reforms in the early years sector have led to significant change in the range and level of qualifications available to practitioners, and social and economic policy over...