Six principles of language development and how to support them in early childhood settings
Lisa-Maria Müller, Chartered College of Teaching This research summary is based on a talk by Prof Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, which you can access here. Early childhood practitioners have an essential role to play in supporting children’s language development. It is, after all, with them that many children spend most of their waking hours. It is therefore […]
Why are early identification and intervention important for children developing atypically? A neuroscience perspective
Professor Sam Wass, University of East London, UK In recent decades there has been a big international shift in education policy (LGA, 2019). It used to be the case that most funding was concentrated on the later stages of education. Increasingly, though, it is now being realised that in fact what children experience during the […]
Maximising engagement in the Early Years
Sayeh Mariner and Matt Shurlock, Essa Primary Academy, Bolton, UK In this video, Sayeh Mariner and Matt Shurlock discuss maximising engagement in early childhood education at their setting in Bolton where 80 percent of learners have English as an additional language. They talk about: actions taken to maximise engagement and address barriers to learning building […]
The role of play in early child development
Sara Baker, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Education, University of Cambridge, UK In this video, Sara Baker discusses the role of play in early child development, including: how play enables learning myths about play and child development how agency is developed in early childhood. You can read Sara’s article on this topic in Impact.
Schema theory and early child development
Christine Parker, Pen Green Teaching School Alliance, UK In this video, Christine Parker discusses schema theory in early child development, including: learning from and extending Piaget’s presentation of schema theory exploring and researching schema theory in practice to support children with complex needs how schema theory can inform provision in early childhood education. […]
The Montessori approach
Preeti Patel, Director of Education and Community, Montessori Global Education In this interview, Preeti Patel discusses the history and philosophy of the Montessori approach to education, including: the biography and pedagogical ideas of Dr. Maria Montessori the principles of Montessori education the Montessori learning environment in practice. Further details and resources can be accessed […]
Professional learning journeys in early childhood education
This video captures early childhood education professionals talking about their professional learning journeys, including: their motivation and passion for working in early childhood education and the importance of this educational phase routes into the profession and the importance of professional learning what they love most about working in the early childhood education sector.
Developing a pedagogy focused on interactions – East Sussex County Council’s collaborative research project ‘Interacting with Babies’ (0–18m): An outline of research, interactions and impact on practice
Laura Piper, Early Years Advisor, East Sussex County Council, UK This project aimed to improve practice and introduce research and professional reflection in 36 baby rooms over two years. Each setting had a practitioner lead, with 146 practitioners and 600 babies involved in total. The practitioner leads undertook small-scale research on their self-chosen aspects of […]
Supporting a child with a cleft in the Early Years
Daniel Sumner, Totley All Saints CE Primary School, UK Cleft lip and/or palate affects around 1,200 children born each year in the UK – one in 700. Clinical treatment is highly effective and outcomes for these children have improved across many measures in recent years (CRANE, 2020, 2021). However, despite there being no causal relationship […]
The value of play in a successful transition from Early Years to Year 1
Rebecca Underwood, Avanti Schools Trust, UK Have you ever been fortunate enough to have watched children play – to observe them captivated in a task that they have complete ownership over? If so, you will fully appreciate the infinite value of play and its major significance as part of a broad and balanced curriculum for […]
How Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Mantle of the Expert support children’s agency in their learning
Soizic Le Courtois and Sara Baker, Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK Introduction When children have agency in learning, they are experiencing learning as a participant rather than as a recipient, and as an activity in which they willingly engage rather than […]
Children’s pragmatic development
Elspeth Wilson, University of Cambridge, UK How do children learn to communicate well? Are they born little communicators or is their communicative development gradual? Children’s pragmatic skills include a wide range of abilities, from how to initiate a conversation and take turns, to understanding a metaphor or ironic comment. Research on child language acquisition shows […]
Challenging traditional concepts of teaching and learning through the introduction of woodwork in early childhood education and care
Ruth Beck, Manager, Chagford Montessori Nursery School, UK The revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DfE, 2021b) requires practitioners to design a curriculum addressing specific learning and development requirements. This piece investigates the developmental stage theory and sociological theory within the EYFS, with particular focus on the effects of introducing woodwork to an early childhood […]
Meeting the needs of high-ability learners in the Early Years
Jonathan Doherty, Senior lecturer in Teacher Education, Leeds Trinity University, UK An inclusive Early Years curriculum All children deserve the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential (DfE, 2021). The EYFS champions equality and the principle that inclusion is a fundamental human right for every child. Inclusive […]
Our eco plans: A case study
James Boddey, Director of Busy Bodies Child Care Centre, UK In early 2021, our kindergarten decided to make a concerted effort to be more considerate towards the planet, focusing on how we could do more to reduce our waste, to educate children and families on environmental issues and to make small steps towards a brighter […]
Understanding the World: A case study
Emma Lennard, Primary Curriculum Advisor, Knowledge Schools Trust, UK The Knowledge Schools Trust opened our first primary school in 2013 with a cohort of 60 Reception children. Now, nearly 10 years later, we have four primary schools within our trust and are growing. This case study will outline our approach to curriculum design and pedagogy […]
How can we improve parental engagement with minority ethnic families?
Tania Choudhury, Sheringham Nursery School Over the years, extensive research has determined just how important parental engagement is at any stage of a child’s development, perhaps more so in the early years. However, there appears to be limited research to capture how schools work to engage minority ethnic families in particular, and more specifically families […]
Engaging parents in play
Polly Crowther, Co-Founder, Early Insights, ELE, East London Research School, UK What parents do at home makes a huge difference to children’s progress (EEF, 2021). We know that play is a powerful way for young children to learn, and we know that sometimes parents find play difficult (Gutman and Feinstein, 2008). Research into the barriers […]
Early Years leadership: Creating the enabling conditions for effective professional development
Rebecca Curtis, (Associate Dean, Learning Design) and Helena Moore, (Dean, Learning Design) Ambition Institute The important role that professional development and training can play in raising quality in Early Years provision is well reported (Callanan, 2017; Kalitowski, 2016; Mathers and Smees, 2014, OECD, 2012), just as it is for teaching quality (Fletcher-Wood and Zuccollo, 2020; […]
Developing socio-emotional intelligence is key to our wellbeing and effective practice
Camila Devis-Rozental, Principal Academic, Bournemouth University, UK This article explores the notion of socio-emotional intelligence (SEI) as an important aspect for Early Years educators. What is socio-emotional intelligence? Socio-emotional intelligence (SEI) is a term that I developed as part of my research on trainee Early Years practitioners (Devis-Rozental, 2017). SEI can be defined as: <Q>‘the […]