Creating researchful pedagogy for baby room practitioners in early years settings

The East Sussex ‘Interacting with babies (0-18m)’ collaborative research project The aim of this project was to create a learning culture of professional reflection for a community of baby room practitioners. Following successful projects in other counties, we wanted to know whether conducting practitioner action research could improve reflective practice. Background Our observations during support given to settings identified weaknesses in interactions between practitioners and babies. A national review by Canterbury Christchurch University (Goouch and Powell, 2013), identified that baby room practitioners often feel neglected and isolated from other practice in settings, especially if they are in separate rooms. Research such as the Osgood report (2017) identifies a need for more practitioner training focused on children aged from birth to three years. Page et al. (2013, p. 13) recognises that ‘Practitioners must be ready to respond to change but, more importantly than ever