Jane Murray | University of Northampton (original) (raw)

Publications by Jane Murray

Early Child Development and Care, 2018

Drawing on new empirical research focused on children’s emotional experiences, this special issue... more Drawing on new empirical research focused on children’s emotional experiences, this special issue is timely. Its articles concern challenges and opportunities inherent in young children’s emotional experiences in twenty-first century contexts of early childhood education and care. They are intended to provoke debate, discussion and critique as well as asking significant questions of policymakers, practitioners and carers who may influence young children’s emotional experiences. As a collection, the articles promote the idea that we must continue to further our understanding of children’s emotional experiences. Nevertheless, the findings they highlight indicate that a test-based approach may detract from young children’s emotional development and the positive emotional experiences in early childhood which have potential to provide an important foundation for a fulfilling life.

Early Child Development and Care, 2018

Whilst international policymakers have reached consensus on the importance of investing in early ... more Whilst international policymakers have reached consensus on the
importance of investing in early childhood development and
increasingly monitor that investment using standardized measurement,
the nature and rationale of early childhood education and care (ECEC)
provision remain diverse. In the context of that disparity, this article
explores an aspect of ECEC provision that is commonly recognized for
its potential to enhance young children’s development and learning, yet
for which characteristics remain variable: partnerships between ECEC
practitioners and parents. The article reports and discusses results from
a cross-cultural narrative study that investigated the nature of such
partnerships in three different countries: England, Hungary and
Kazakhstan. During focus group interviews, ECEC academics (n = 16)
discussed five themes that emerged from literature reviews. Findings
indicate more differences than similarities between the countries’
narratives concerning ECEC parent-practitioner partnerships, suggesting
such partnerships may be an aspect of ECEC provision for which a
homogeneous approach and quality measure across countries are not
feasible.

Primary Geography, 2018

This article discusses both how play can support pupils’ learning and the ways that children invo... more This article discusses both how play can support pupils’ learning and the ways that children involved in the Young Children As Researchers (YCAR) project used play to build and demonstrate their geographical knowledge and understanding.

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2018

The the increasingly demanding expectations of early childhood educators are too often unmatched ... more The the increasingly demanding expectations of early childhood educators are too often unmatched by their status, pay and conditions. Across the world, governments have signed up to universal ‘access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education’ by 2030 (UN, 2015); in fairness to young children, they should now show their commitment by addressing the inequities that disadvantage many early childhood educators.

11th September 2017 was a big day for Tommy, my four-year-old nephew in England: it was the day h... more 11th September 2017 was a big day for Tommy, my four-year-old nephew in England: it was the day he started school. Tommy is the middle child of three in his immediate family; he is an active, inquiring little boy, disposed to becoming deeply involved in activities that interest him. He likes playing outside, he loves playing with his toy cars and he enjoys baking cakes. But at 4.5 years old, Tommy’s opportunities to engage in activities that he values have already diminished. Now, he must focus on another agenda: learning to use phonic knowledge to decode and read words, on spelling correctly and on counting and ordering numbers to 20...

In spite of a growing international consensus on the strong influence of early childhood experien... more In spite of a growing international consensus on the strong influence of early childhood experiences on lifetime outcomes, the nineteen chapters reveal contemporary early childhood pedagogy as a collection of spaces characterised by plurality, complexity, and dissonance. These characteristics signal the importance of recognising early childhood pedagogies: multiple models of practice for the many diverse learning and care contexts that have the capacity to value young children as individuals and enable each to flourish now and throughout their lives. Moreover, such characteristics disrupt notions that a single ‘optimal’ early childhood pedagogy is either possible or desirable.

This exciting global collection of empirical research reports and discursive papers provides inspiration to spark new reflections, fresh debates, and innovative endeavours among early childhood students, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers around the world. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Child Development and Care.

This book is located at the heart of early childhood education, where young children build knowle... more This book is located at the heart of early childhood education, where young children build knowledge. Based on empirical research evidence, 'Building Knowledge in Early Childhood Education: Young Children Are Researchers' provides practical guidance for early childhood leaders, tutors, practitioners, parents and students to identify, understand, interpret and articulate the complex processes and outcomes that are inherent in the ways young children interact with the world to construct knowledge. The book is also about how adults might support children in that endeavour.

Outstanding leaders and excellent practitioners in early childhood education understand the importance of interweaving knowledge about their practice and their children with evidence based research and theories in our field. This book is a framework that brings together these aspects to understand young children’s actions. Drawing on research findings from the Young Children as Researchers (YCAR) project, the book shows how young children construct knowledge when they are engaging in their everyday activities at home and in their early childhood settings, in ways that are congruent with research behaviour.

The academy has tended to marginalise young children as researchers (YCAR), even in matters affec... more The academy has tended to marginalise young children as researchers (YCAR), even in matters affecting them, which denies young children agency and amounts to social injustice. Drawing on the YCAR study, which adopted a qualitative ‘jigsaw’ methodology to co-research with children aged four to eight years (n = 138), their parents, practitioners, and professional researchers, this article considers epistemological factors and epistemological categories that may support young children’s research behaviours in everyday activities. Those support structures are helpful in securing a warrant for recognising young children’s self-directed research on the academy’s terms. That recognition has potential to reposition young children away from the margins of research to an intrinsic position in research concerning matters that affect them, securing their rights as researchers. Such research can inform early childhood policy and practice in a deeply grounded manner that values young children as competent thinkers with expertise concerning their own lives.

This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (25:2) critiques the uses o... more This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (25:2) critiques the uses of large-scale data as a basis for homogeneous approaches to curriculum and pedagogy and highlights the value of small scale research for informing the field of early childhood education.

This Editorial for the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (25:2) introduces a co... more This Editorial for the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (25:2) introduces a collection of articles developed as part of the work of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association’s Young Children’s Perspectives Special Interest Group. The role of belonging for young children’s well-being and development of identity is explored, both in respect of significant numbers of refugee and migrant young children in Europe in the period running up to publication, and for any young child experiencing liminality.

This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (25:1) discusses the value ... more This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (25:1) discusses the value of universal holistic early childhood provision.

This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (24:4) discusses the expone... more This Editorial for the International Journal of Early Years Education (24:4) discusses the exponential development of the global field of early childhood since 1993, win the light of the major international target within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to introduce universal early childhood education globally.

Within English early childhood education, there is emphasis on improving speech and language deve... more Within English early childhood education, there is emphasis on improving speech and language development as well as a drive for outdoor learning. This paper synthesises both aspects to consider whether or not links exist between the environment and the quality of young children’s utterances as part of their speech and language development and if so, the nature of those links. In a small-scale case study, data were captured in a natural environment and in indoor and outdoor classrooms. The quality of utterances was analysed using Type/Token Ratios (TTR) analysis. Findings indicate that participant’s speech quality differed according to environment. Children’s lexical diversity was richer in a natural environment than in indoor and outdoor classrooms, which produced mirrored outcomes. The findings suggest that within the natural environment, where learning is child-initiated, the quality of utterances manifest in ways not found in indoor or outdoor classrooms, where learning is adult led.

This paper introduces the Special Issue of Early Child Development and Care focused on Early Chil... more This paper introduces the Special Issue of Early Child Development and Care focused on Early Childhood Pedagogy. It opens by considering past and present discourses concerning early childhood pedagogy and focus is given to established philosophical underpinnings in the field and their translation to contemporary guidance, alongside research and policy. It is argued that early childhood pedagogy is a contested, complex and diverse space yet these factors are entirely appropriate for supporting young children to flourish as valued individuals in different contexts. Building on this argument, it is posited that it may be more appropriate to discuss early childhood pedagogies rather than early childhood pedagogy. The paper goes on to critique a range of established early childhood pedagogies, before introducing eighteen papers from across the World that make exciting new contributions to the discourse. It is intended that this collection will inspire new debates and fresh endeavours concerning early childhood pedagogies.

This essay tells the story of how one enquiry addressed perceived marginalisation of young childr... more This essay tells the story of how one enquiry addressed perceived marginalisation of young children’s research by the academy.

This chapter discusses definitions of play and research, alongside discussing young children’s ri... more This chapter discusses definitions of play and research, alongside discussing young children’s rights to play and research and their marginalisation from both.

This chapter explores issues concerning young children and research. It... •• identifies conflic... more This chapter explores issues concerning young children and research. It...
•• identifies conflicts between children’s participation and protection rights
•• considers dilemmas and difficulties of judging children’s competence in relation to participation

Early Child Development and Care, 2018

Primary Geography, 2018

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2018

This project identifies pupil and teacher perspectives on the effects of KS2 and KS3 pupils' expo... more This project identifies pupil and teacher perspectives on the effects of KS2 and KS3 pupils' exposure to an Aspiration and Achievement (AA) Day in an AshokaU Changemaker University.

This study was commissioned to identify delegates’ expectations and perspectives about an Early C... more This study was commissioned to identify delegates’ expectations and perspectives about an Early Childhood Studies Foundation Degree Taster Session they attended in July 2014.

"Natural research behaviours may present in children younger than eight years but tend to be over... more "Natural research behaviours may present in children younger than eight years but tend to be overlooked by professional researchers, with the result that young children are rarely recognised as agents in enquiry concerning matters affecting them. This exclusion amounts to social injustice as it underestimates children’s capabilities and denies them particular rights. The thesis proposes that young children engage in research activity congruent with professional adult researchers’ behaviours, as part of their daily lives. Furthermore, the inequity caused by excluding children from recognition as researchers may be addressed if professional researchers were to find ways to recognise and value the children’s contributions as researchers.
The empirical study that is the focus for the thesis secured a taxonomy of research behaviours from professional adult researchers which was then applied to naturalistic observations conducted with - and by - children aged 4-8 years in their settings and homes. A ‘jigsaw’ methodology was adopted, featuring constructivist grounded theory and critical ethnography, among other methodologies. Throughout, the project was committed to participatory, emancipatory and inductive principles, though challenges were encountered along the way. Alongside observations, multiple other methods and analysis were employed in the co-construction of data with children and their practitioners in three English early childhood settings and children and their parents in five homes. Professional adult researchers also contributed to primary and meta-data.
Results indicated that problem solving, exploring, conceptualising and basing decisions on evidence were regarded by professional researchers as the ‘most important’ research behaviours. Children engaged in these behaviours of their own volition, alongside other research behaviours. Their activities included exploring materials to create novel artefacts in art work, rolling in giant cylinders, cooking and ordering objects systematically. While undertaking these activities, children often revealed higher order cognitive processes such as trial and error elimination, causality, analogy and a posteriori conceptualisation.
The study produced a ‘plausible account’ suggesting that children aged 4-8 years do engage in research activity naturalistically as part of their daily lives and that this activity is congruent with professional adult researchers’ behaviours. "

Bridges, D., Conroy, J., Davis, R., Elliott, J., Enslin, P., Griffiths, M., McLeod, G., Foreman Peck, L., Lukes, D., Murray, .J, Oancea, A., Pring, R., Saunders, L., Smeyers, P., Smith, R. and Watts, M. (2007) Educational Research and Policy: Epistemological perspectives. London: TLRP

This set of resources is a response from a group of philosophers of education to an invitation fr... more This set of resources is a response from a group of philosophers of education to an invitation from TLRP to contribute from work in theory of knowledge to current debate about what is or ought to be the relationship between educational research and educational policy. The central question was: what sort of research can and should inform such policy?

FULL CITATION: Armstrong, S., Barker, J., Davey, R., Diosi, M., Horton, J., Kraftl, P., Lumsden,... more FULL CITATION:
Armstrong, S., Barker, J., Davey, R., Diosi, M., Horton, J., Kraftl, P., Lumsden, E., Marandet, E., Matthews, H., Murray, J., Pyer, M. and Smith, F. (2005). Evaluation of Play Provision and Play Needs in the London Borough of Redbridge. Northampton: Centre for Children and Youth, University of Northampton. ISBN 1-900868-50-4.

Invited Keynote: Estonian-Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care Conference: 'Leadership in t... more Invited Keynote: Estonian-Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care Conference: 'Leadership in the Future - Challenges to the Professionalism of Leaders and Teachers', University of Tartu, Estonia. 12th-13th May, 2016.

Delegates who attended this invited keynote were early childhood teachers, setting leaders and policymakers from Estonia and Finland. In the keynote, I pictured quality, professionalism and leadership in early childhood education and care by defining, envisaging, framing and problematising each aspect, before exploring possibilities for moving forward.

For this invited keynote, I asked educators to envision inclusive practice for their schools and ... more For this invited keynote, I asked educators to envision inclusive practice for their schools and nurseries through the lens of ‘authentic inclusion’. I explored the questions ‘What is inclusion?’, ‘What is inclusive practice?’ and ‘What – and who - is inclusive practice for?’ to argue that authentic inclusion is not a separate item on a tick list; authentic inclusion is about all we do as educators and it is how we live our lives. Authentic inclusion includes us all.

The most recent UNICEF (2013) publication on the state of the world’s children is dedicated to th... more The most recent UNICEF (2013) publication on the state of the world’s children is dedicated to the rights of children with disabilities to an education and a meaningful and productive life. The report stresses the importance of building an educational system based on the fundamental principles of inclusion, which are the respect for the rights, aspirations and potential of all children. While inclusion has been practiced and researched in primary and secondary school, much still needs to be done with regard to childcare provision. Despite envisaged changes and setback, concerns for improving childcare’s conditions, provision and offer remain pivotal issues both in relation to educational practice and to the need of the economy. Thus, it is not surprising that considerations about the importance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) have grown considerably in the last three decades in England, in Europe and at the wider international level.

Within the Young Children as Researchers (YCAR) study, two aims were to establish ways young chi... more Within the Young Children as Researchers (YCAR) study, two aims were to establish ways young
children construct knowledge by basing their decisions on evidence and to promote social justice by
revealing young children as agents who make decisions based on evidence. An argument is constructed suggesting that recognition of young children’s decision-making based on
evidence as an element in their constructions of knowledge can empower children as social agents.
Designed according to the academy’s protocols, the YCARstudy was driven principally by a value
orientation framed by emancipatory, participatory and inductive approaches. Plural paradigms, a ‘jigsaw methodology’ and multiple methods gave primacy to participants: 138 children aged 4-8 years in three English early childhood settings participated, joined by their practitioners, families and professional researchers. Whilst the study complied with BERA guidelines (2004), its ethical progress was secured by its value orientation. Participating academy members identified the basis of decisions on evidence as ‘important’ research behaviour. Subsequently, analysis and meta-analysis of data with participants revealed participating children aged 4-8 years as agents who based decisions on evidence according to certain factors and adopted this behaviour for constructing and applying knowledge. The study indicates that ways in which participating young children construct knowledge by basing decisions on evidence carry important messages for practitioners, policymakers and the academy.

This presentation reported the application of critical ethnography as a means to capture children... more This presentation reported the application of critical ethnography as a means to capture children’s voices in two ways. Firstly, as researchers and secondly as a an authoritative space in which the children’s voices could speak and be heard. The Young Children As Researchers (YCAR) study aimed to conceptualise ways in which young children aged 4-8 years are researchers, could develop as researchers and may be considered to be researchers. The presentation reports on an empirical study exploring research behaviours presenting naturalistically in young children aged 4-8 years. A ‘jigsaw methodology’ was developed, comprising critical ethnography, constructivist grounded theory, case study and the ‘Mosaic Approach’ (Clark and Moss, 2011). Ethnography is commonly indicated in early childhood research because of its capacity to reveal multiple facets of young children’s lived experiences, including features of their everyday contexts that affect and effect those lived experiences. The particular rationale for the present study’s use of critical ethnography was its potential invocation for social justice in respect of a guiding assumption that young children and their voices are excluded from adult worlds, including the ‘academy’. Since the study was an attempt towards democratisation of research, it was guided by three approaches that were adopted to promote recognition of children’s empowerment as researchers: emancipation, participation and induction.

Through interview conversations, focus group and a nominal grouping exercise, perspectives of established academy members (n=47) regarding research were gathered, resulting in the identification of four research behaviours academy members identified as ‘most important’: exploration, finding solutions, conceptualisation and the basing of decisions on evidence. Furthermore, the academy members indicated theoretical sampling and consequently, 138 children aged 4-8 years in three early childhood settings and five homes in one English Midlands town participated, together with their parents and practitioners. Children’s everyday naturalistic behaviours were co-constructed through gathering, analysis and meta-analysis of data; in this process, features of critical ethnography integrated coherently with the other instruments forming the jigsaw methodology. Many examples of the four most important key research behaviours presented in children’s naturalistic activities; factors affecting or effecting these behaviours included children’s applications of prior experiences, their innovations, their autonomy, their dispositions and their interactions with material contexts as well as social and cognitive domains.

In this study conducted according to the academy’s own protocols, young children’s engagements in research behaviours the academy regards as ‘most important’ were established in ways that suggest the children’s forms of knowledge construction are valid and their voices authoritative. In the research process, the utility of critical ethnography was manifest in form and function: it integrated effectively with other methodologies to create a ‘jigsaw methodology’ that facilitated participatory, emancipatory and inductive approaches. Critical ethnography was also valuable as a vehicle for reifying social justice: the study outcomes reveal a rationale for challenging young children’s exclusion from the academy.

This study explored how warrant may be established for young children to be regarded as researche... more This study explored how warrant may be established for young children to be regarded as researchers. The study builds on work in which children and young people are positioned as researchers. Adopting the ‘new sociological’ stance that young children are ‘experts in their own lives’ (Langsted 1994: 29), this study challenges assumptions of ‘evolving capacities’ (Lansdown, 2005) that may exclude young children from the ‘rarefied world of the academic’ (Redmond, 2008:17). For this interpretive study, a ‘jigsaw’ methodology was developed, combining features of single methodologies to produce a research design responsive to the research aim whilst retaining reflexivity to participants. The present ‘jigsaw’ methodology comprised constructivist grounded theory, critical ethnography, case study and ‘mosaic approach’. It adopted multiple methods to secure multiple perspectives. The study was conducted according to BERA Ethical Guidelines; its ethical protocol was approved by the University Research Ethics Committee where it was developed. Professional researchers established a taxonomy of research behaviours and young children’s capabilities in relation to these behaviours were recognised, providing warrant to regard young children as researchers in the academy’s terms. These findings indicate that the ‘jigsaw methodology’ proved effective for this study. The dynamic ‘jigsaw’ methodology developed as the study progressed, diverting primacy to the participants and the data they co-constructed, rather than a fully planned methodological rubric. The flexibility and reflexivity afforded by the ‘jigsaw methodology’ may make it particularly useful for research in ‘real world’ ECEC contexts.

Children’s research capacities have become increasingly recognised by adults, yet children remain... more Children’s research capacities have become increasingly recognised by adults, yet children remain excluded from the academy, with reports of their research participation generally located in adults’ agenda. Such practice restricts children’s freedom to make choices in matters affecting them, underestimates children’s capabilities and denies children particular rights. The present paper reports on one aspect of a small-scale critical ethnographic study adopting a constructivist grounded approach to conceptualise ways in which children’s naturalistic behaviours may be perceived as research. The study builds on multi-disciplinary theoretical perspectives, embracing ‘new’ sociology, psychology, economics, philosophy and early childhood education and care. Research questions include: ‘What is the nature of research?’ and ‘Do children’s enquiries count as research?’ Initially, data were collected from the academy: professional researchers (n=14) confirmed ‘finding solutions’ as a research behaviour and indicated children aged 4-8 years, their practitioners and primary carers as ‘theoretical sampling’. Consequently, multi-modal case studies were constructed with children (n=150) and their practitioners (n=18) in three ‘good’ schools, with selected children and their primary carers also participating at home. This paper reports on data emerging from children aged 4-8 years at school (n=17) and at home (n=5). Outcomes indicate that participating children found diverse solutions to diverse problems, some of which they set themselves. Some solutions engaged children in high order thinking, whilst others did not and selecting resources and trialing activities engaged children in ‘finding solutions’. Conversely, when children’s time, provocations and activities were directed by adults, the quality of their solutions was limited, they focused on pleasing adults and their motivation to propose solutions decreased. In this study, professional researchers recognised ‘finding solutions’ as a research behaviour and children aged 4-8 years naturalistically presented with capacities for finding solutions; however, the extent to which such capacities flourished was affected by the children’s encounters with adults.

Complementing Sen’s definition of capability (1993), two strands of enquiry have developed strong... more Complementing Sen’s definition of capability (1993), two strands of enquiry have developed strongly in recent years to highlight young children’s potential proficiencies as researchers. Psychology has been transformed by the application of increasingly advanced neuro-imaging techniques to reveal potentially sophisticated cognitive abilities in infants and young children. Concurrently, a ‘new sociology of childhood’ positions children as competent from birth. A perception exists of children as ‘social actors’ with power to enact change, albeit dependent on context. Varied lenses for understanding young children’s behaviours have emerged and the field of children’s participation in matters affecting them has grown. Consequently, interest has developed in children as co-researchers or researchers, rather than research objects. However, discourse focused on children’s research tends to be characterised by adults relaying their own agendas through children and is dominated by engagement with older children. Recognition of young children aged 0-8 years researching their own agendas is slow in its development. Nevertheless, it is proposed that children aged 0-8 years can be researchers. This proposition invites questions, for example:
• How can children aged 0-8 years be conceptualised as researchers?
• What warrants may be established for young children’s research?
• What factors may support or inhibit young children’s research?
• How might young children’s research be disseminated and used?

As an early years’ teacher, I witnessed children from two years frequently exploring in their ear... more As an early years’ teacher, I witnessed children from two years frequently exploring in their early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and ‘exploration’ is a recognised as research behaviour. However, children are generally barred from the spaces inhabited by academics and policymakers. Formal research dissemination positioning children as the researchers tends to focus on those older than eight years and when children are recognised as researchers, it is usually in the context of enquiry dominated by adult agendas and research design. Excluding young children’s own enquiries from recognition conflicts with ‘new sociology’ perspectives positioning children as competent social actors. A small-scale interpretive study was developed to explore this paradox. Underpinned by BERA’s ethical framework (2004), the study employed critical ethnographic case studies within a constructivist grounded theory approach.To begin, professional researchers reconfirmed ‘exploration’ as one of thirty-nine research behaviours and indicated young children aged 4-8 years and their practitioners as ‘theoretical sampling’. Multi-modal case studies were constructed with children (n=138) and their practitioners (n=18) in three ECEC settings judged ‘Good’ by independent inspectors. This paper addresses questions focused on ‘exploration’, one research behaviour reconfirmed by professional researchers. It asks: Do young children aged 4-8 years in three ECEC settings explore? If so, what are their explorations and what affects them? Do young children’s explorations count as research? Findings indicate that 7-8-year-old children in a predominantly teacher-directed setting were frequently observed ‘off-task’, in pursuance of their own explorations. Notwithstanding this, 7-8-year-old children in a teacher-directed setting explored less than 4-5-year-old children in open framework settings where varied resources, time, space, freedom, stimulation and affirmation from adults were characteristics.

In research with children, challenges of gaining access to data in ethically appropriate ways are... more In research with children, challenges of gaining access to data in ethically appropriate ways are well documented. Within an educational research context, studies engaging with children younger than 8 years as researchers in their own lives are less well documented, despite evidence suggesting the feasibility of this. Addressing the conference theme of Doing Research, Becoming an Educational Researcher within the Methodology and Theory section, this presentation focuses on several challenges encountered when accessing data during a critical ethnographic study located within a constructivist grounded theory approach. Conducted according to the British Educational Research Association’s ethical guidelines (2004) and adopting observations and interview conversations, this participatory enquiry explored perspectives of professional educational researchers, children 4-8 years, their practitioners and primary carers on the nature and potential of children younger than 8 years as researchers. The presentation reflects on access challenges encountered when gathering data, including negotiating gatekeepers, securing consent and gathering material for analysis. It also discusses how the study developed in response to these challenges.

This paper reports interim findings of a small-scale study exploring constructions of personal ep... more This paper reports interim findings of a small-scale study exploring constructions of personal epistemologies by children aged 4-8 years in three early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. The ways in which these are manifested and the ways in which English educational policies and practices affect and validate young children’s constructions of knowledge are also addressed. The study explores the potential of children as researchers.

Montessori (1916), Isaacs (1930) and Piaget (1963) brought scientific rationality to early childhood research, creating new ways for young children’s thoughts, actions and voices to be captured. ECEC research has developed exponentially in recent years, increasingly acknowledging young children’s capable constructions of knowledge in matters affecting them and building a view of the child as whole and capable . However, the English ECEC context persists in viewing children as deficient. Drawing on emancipatory discourse, this qualitative study is located within a constructivist grounded theory approach and draws on ethnographic case study. Ethical developments in the field are acknowledged and addressed.

Findings empirically establish ‘academy’ characterisations of ‘research’ and demonstrate children’s owned constructions of knowledge as authentically manifested within this framework. However, such constructions are frequently disregarded by those influencing children’s experiences in English ECEC settings. The potential for young children’s personal epistemologies to provide warrant for policy decisions in England would benefit from further exploration.

This small-scale qualitative study explores the potential of young natural children's research be... more This small-scale qualitative study explores the potential of young natural children's research behaviours to gain warrant to inform matters affecting their lives. The study is located in:

Young children's agency;
Psychological insights into young children’s cognition;
Emancipatory research methodologies.
The project investigates four young English children's constructions of understanding within the cultural contexts they inhabit and ways in which policies and practices may affect their ontological development. Interview conversations, focus group discussions and observations are employed as part of a small-scale, ethnographic case study series located within constructivist grounded theory . Ethical issues are a prime consideration. Findings suggest that young children younger than 8 years seem able to engage in warranted research behaviours and these may have the potential to indicate directions of travel for policy in matters affecting them. However, some children may be so directed in their ECEC settings and homes that they have few opportunities to engage in natural research behaviours. Positioning young children as researchers may present significant challenges for professional researchers; this would benefit from further exploration.

Bridges, D., Foreman-Peck, L., Murray, J., Oancea, A., Pring, R., Smeyers, P., and Vannobergen, B. (2007) Educational Research and Policy: Epistemological Considerations. Paper series presented at Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain Conference, New Hall, Oxford. 30 March-1 April 2007.

England is currently facing a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at raising the quality of serv... more England is currently facing a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at raising the quality of services for children and their families. This paper reports on a study of one local authority early years’ setting that not only reflects historical changes in provision but also the importance of being responsive to policy initiatives. It has had to compete with the growth of private, voluntary and independent settings offering full time day care aimed at meeting changing workforce patterns. It has focused on future direction to ensure that it continues to have a role in providing the highest quality early childhood education and care in a changing and competitive market place. Therefore it has made the transition into becoming a children’s centre. This research reports on the two stage small scale research project aimed at capturing the views of staff prior to, and one year after, becoming a children’s centre. It aims to enable their experiences to be disseminated so that they can impact on future development. Initial findings indicate a positive response to the change but considerable concerns relating to the practical and financial support provided.

This paper reports interim data from a project that aims to establish and question elements of ea... more This paper reports interim data from a project that aims to establish and question elements of early years’ educational research (Stenhouse, 1975; Hargreaves, 1996) in order to seek democracy in the relationship between the academic and practice worlds of early childhood education and care (Edwards et al., 2005:5). The study explores the nature and potential of early years’ educational research cultures by seeking new ways to perceive young children and their practitioners as leaders of epistemologically rigorous ‘use-inspired’ research (Hillage et al., 1998; Stokes, 1997; Furlong and Oancea, 2005; OECD, 2002:28), providing a basis for co-construction of meaningful experience while attempting to identify supporting roles for academics within that process. Alongside a literature search that audits research cultures in a range of fields, a mixed methodology was adopted in the early stages to provide opportunities for participation by a range of early years’ leaders and academics. From this data the methodology for the remainder of the project will be co-constructed using a grounded theory model. The participatory approach to the study design reflects the aims and purpose of the study. Early data indicate beliefs that use-inspired research is important for ‘good’ practice and that academic and financial support enabling practitioners to research are the most desirable criteria for facilitating early years’ educational research. However, early evidence suggests that even leaders who adopt child-centred learning practices in their settings doubt the potential of young children as researchers. The next stage of the research will attempt to examine further these perceptions.

It may be argued that one key to compliance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the... more It may be argued that one key to compliance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 12, is an environment where the child is enabled to contribute to “matters affecting the child”. If we accept that reflective practice in early years settings enhances and informs effective future practice (Schon, 1983, Dahlberg and Moss, 1999, Moss and Petrie, 2002), the link between these features is in enabling children to collaborate in reflection (Hasan, 1996, Clark and Moss, 2001). If we see the practitioner as the co-constructor of that reflection (Moss and Petrie, 2002, Podmore, 2004), thereby becoming a conduit for enabling children to partake effectively, but we acknowledge that: “In Britain…we want to ‘modernise’ children’s services without modernising the workforce” (Moss and Petrie, 2002: 145), it can be argued that children’s ability to partake effectively may be compromised, damaging prospects for effective future practice.
This paper reports on early stages of a project that aims to establish, through e-mail survey to headteachers and interviews, the extent to which reflective practice is occurring in early years settings in one area of the UK. The study looked initially at practitioners’ perceptions of their own reflective practice and continues by considering the perceptions of both children and practitioners in supporting children. It is intended that this project may form the basis for action by academics to enable practitioners and children to develop reflective practice and to provide a vehicle for wider dissemination, thereby valuing children and practitioners as researchers.

As they join Key Stage 1, many young children in the UK still face an outcome-driven National Cur... more As they join Key Stage 1, many young children in the UK still face an outcome-driven National Curriculum that is measured by a narrow set of criteria within two years. This is despite the introduction of the statutory play-based Foundation Stage Curriculum in September 2000. Indeed, the Foundation Stage Curriculum itself contains outcomes as well as context for the children’s learning and suggestions for that process. Conversely, the surrounding literature and much effective international practice both tell us that the most effective early years’ learning puts the child, not extrinsically driven outcomes, at the centre of good practice. As a Foundation Stage practitioner, working with 4-5-year-olds in a primary school between during the academic year 2001-2, I attempted daily to manage the lack of reconciliation between a fully learner-centred approach, the curriculum-centred Key Stage 1 approach and the Foundation Stage approach, which includes elements of each. Through action research employing a triangulated model, this study focused on finding ways to achieve that reconciliation.

Routledge eBooks, Jun 29, 2020

The academy has tended to marginalise young children as researchers, even in matters affecting th... more The academy has tended to marginalise young children as researchers, even in matters affecting them, which denies young children agency and amounts to social injustice. Drawing on the Young Children As Researchers (YCAR) study, which adopted a qualitative 'jigsaw' methodology to co-research with children aged 4-8 years (n=138), their parents, practitioners, and professional researchers, this article considers epistemological factors and epistemological categories that may support young children's research behaviours in everyday activities. Those support structures are helpful in securing a warrant for recognising young children's selfdirected research on the academy's terms. That recognition has potential to reposition young children away from the margins of research to an intrinsic position in research concerning matters that affect them, securing their rights as researchers. Such research can inform early childhood policy and practice in a deeply grounded manner that values young children as competent thinkers with expertise concerning their own lives.

The book is clearly structured, consisting of two sections. Initially, the book provides context,... more The book is clearly structured, consisting of two sections. Initially, the book provides context, rationale and an articulation of the authors’ position, whilst the second section draws on the authors’ own research to provide ways in which primary student teachers and teachers might use and develop talk across some primary curriculum subjects in their practice

This short chapter introduces the section of the handbook concerning young children's rights to p... more This short chapter introduces the section of the handbook concerning young children's rights to protection. UNICEF (2006) suggests that children may need protection from exploitation, violence, and abuse. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (2001, 7) defines child exploitation as: 'abuse of a child where some form of remuneration is involved or whereby the perpetrators benefit in some manner-monetarily, socially, politically, etc. Exploitation constitutes a form of coercion and violence, detrimental to the child's physical and mental health, development, and education'. Examples of child exploitation might include child labour, sexual exploitation, abduction, sale or trafficking of children, as well as child soldiers. 'Child abuse' is regarded as 'an act of commission that is outside of accepted cultural norms' (physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse') or an act of 'omission, the failure to provide for the child's basic needs' (neglect) (UNHCR, 2001, 6-7). Child abuse and exploitation are incorporated into definitions of violence against children. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations (UN), 1989) (Article 19) identifies violence against children as 'all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse'. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) (2006, 9) define child maltreatment as: 'all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.' Violent acts against children are quite simply identified as physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, sexual abuse or neglect experienced by those up to 18 years World Health Organisation (WHO), 2017) One person may perpetrate violence on another, it can be selfinflicted, or a large group may act violently as a collective (WHO and ISPCAN, 2006. Data and research findings about violence against children are limited (UNICEF Child Protection and Monitoring Group, 2014), but according to available data, violence against

We are three educational researchers working together in the School of Education at the Universit... more We are three educational researchers working together in the School of Education at the University of Northampton. A University since 2005, Northampton comprises six Schools and 14,000 students and has embarked on a programme of major changes, asserting itself a leader in social enterprise and innovation and planning a new campus. Our School of Education has a good reputation for teaching but despite its current tally of 40 PhD students it is less renowned for research. In 2013, we three were seconded for a minimum of two years as the first substantive researchers at senior lecturer level within our School’s Centre for Education and Research, with Dr Cristina Devecchi since appointed an Associate Professor. In a volatile national context of rife marketization and increasingly scarce research funding in education, our core role is to build educational research capacity within our University. In this paper we relate our professional stories, reflecting on where we have come from, what...

Research aims To investigate perspectives of parents, carers and practitioners concerning book gi... more Research aims To investigate perspectives of parents, carers and practitioners concerning book gifting to socio-economically disadvantaged children aged 2 and their families in the English midlands. Relationship to previous research works Book gifting to young children has been evaluated (e.g. Demack and Stevens, 2013; Levy et al., 2014; Venn 2014; Wylie, 2014), indicating mixed success. Challenges for researchers in accessing early childhood research sites are addressed but literature is sparse (Lofland and Lofland, 1984; Murray, 2011). Theoretical and conceptual framework The paper is shaped by (a) family literacy and (b) qualitative pluralistic ECEC research approaches. Paradigm, methodology and methods A pluralistic qualitative approach framed an evaluation. Six methods were conducted with parents and practitioners from four ECEC settings: (1) documentary evidence, (2) practitioner surveys, (3) parent/carer surveys, (4) parent/carer interviews, (5) home literacy activities audit...

This paper provides interim data from a study which captures the views of a group of parents who ... more This paper provides interim data from a study which captures the views of a group of parents who take up 15 hours of funded 2YO childcare. It aimed to investigate the perspectives of parents of 2YOs in an inner city school regarding effects on their family lives of 15 weekly hours of free ECEC for their 2YOs. A subtle realist stance was taken to question the rationale for this policy and an instrumental case study approach adopted to understand, explore and exemplify the issue. ‘Astra Setting’ is 2YO provision in a primary school serving an urban area of ethnic super-diversity with a high percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged children. During school term-time, it has capacity for 12 morning children and 12 different afternoon children but currently takes 10 morning and 5 afternoon children of at least seven different nationalities. All Astra Setting parents (n=30) were invited to participate in a structured questionnaire and 27% (n=8) of those parents were invited to partic...

Following the 2013 Goldacre paper extolling the benefits of teacher research, this paper reports ... more Following the 2013 Goldacre paper extolling the benefits of teacher research, this paper reports on a small-scale study conducted in a UK University School of Education by two teacher educators who train and support teacher researchers. The paper focuses on views of teachers and teacher educators regarding whether ethical guidelines for educational research should be required for teachers’ school-based research. The School of Education requires its staff and students to conduct research according to the BERA (2011) Revised Guidelines for Practitioner Research; this study was no exception. However, before it began, the teacher educators who led it had found anecdotally that teachers often questioned why they should follow ethical guidelines for researching in their own schools. Since teachers tend not to seek parental consent for gathering, storing and reporting assessment data, they often queried the requirement in respect of research data; equally, they troubled the classroom pract...

Early Child Development and Care, 2021

This article considers the relevance of Susan Isaacs' practice and research for twenty-first cent... more This article considers the relevance of Susan Isaacs' practice and research for twenty-first century early childhood education, reflected in two studies conducted discretely nearly a century apart that theorize young children's constructions of knowledge: Isaacs' Malting House School study and the 'Young Children Are Researchers' study. The article reviews Isaacs' work with particular focus on 'discovery, reasoning and thought', her values and three key disciplines that informed her practice and research: pedagogy, philosophy and psychology. Selected findings from Isaacs' Malting House School Study and the 'Young Children Are Researchers' study are critiqued to build the argument that not only has Isaacs' work left a powerful legacy to the field of early childhood education, but that it also has potential to benefit the field now and into the future. However, this proposition is contingent on early childhood educators who are highly knowledgeable and skilled: factors that have policy implications.

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2021

Early Child Development and Care, 2020

Data were collected from heads of households across Bhutan, using a Knowledge, Attitudes and Prac... more Data were collected from heads of households across Bhutan, using a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices method to gain insights regarding children with disabilities up to 18 years in Bhutan. Fieldwork was conducted by local enumerators, trained by researchers from the UK who undertook the analysis and interpretation of the data. Results indicate that whilst there are largely positive attitudes towards children with disabilities in Bhutan, the majority of respondents conceptualised disability narrowly and were pessimistic about such children's ability to lead full lives. Households including children with disabilities were less positive than others concerning the ways in which children are regarded and supported in their communities. Fatalistic views related to beliefs in karma were seen to persist and influenced expectations regarding what children with disabilities might achieve. More positive attitudes are held by younger people and those who are more highly educated. Attitudes and expectations have had a negative effect in restricting access to educational and social inclusion for many children with disabilities.

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2018

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2017

In many ways, people across the world are more connected now than they have ever been. Global non... more In many ways, people across the world are more connected now than they have ever been. Global non-governmental organisations and international government summits bring people together to address issues and make decisions that impact on us all. In our own field of early childhood we see evidence of globalisation affecting young children, for example large comparative studies inform international policies, and we are witnessing a trend towards global monitoring, including the OECD's forthcoming International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study (IELS), a development that has attracted contention. Social media, 24/7 news, more affordable air travel and transnational companies add to an apparently connected global environment that our digitally-native young children enter from birth. Conversely, it may be argued that the world's people are becoming less connected. The convenience of digital communication may lead to fewer face-to-face engagements, whilst economic pressures mean many children are separated from their parents for extended periods, spending long days in professional day care or years with grandparents while their parents work in cities far from home: a common practice among rural families living in China. Our post-truth world has resulted in mistrust

Article 12 States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own view... more Article 12 States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. Article 13 The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice. Can we interpret children's behaviours as research (Murray, 2012a)? conducted by adults on and about children, evolving to research with and by children Fielding (2001) presents this evolution as a continuum. At one end lies research on children followed by research about children Moving further along the continuum, engaging with or by children in research has recently gained popularity

The book ‘Linkages of VPL’ is both a result of the project ALLinHE as well as an agenda for furth... more The book ‘Linkages of VPL’ is both a result of the project ALLinHE as well as an agenda for further exploring and paving the way for VPL, not only in higher education but also in other qualification-levels and – even better – in contexts of work, volunteering, citizenship, inclusion activities and leisure. With this book, the aim is to show that lifelong learning is possible in any context, country and culture, and that there are always shared elements that make it possible to make a manageable tool for lifelong learning out of the methodology of VPL. The reasons why this is so relevant and of value to the citizens and their organisations across the globe is explained in the variety of approaches, practices and visions, presented in this book. http://www.vplbiennale.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Biennale-book1-Power_of_VPL_final.pdf

This paper explores the application of critical ethnography as a means to capture the nature of c... more This paper explores the application of critical ethnography as a means to capture the nature of children’s voices as researchers in their own right, and as a way to give those voices an authoritative space in which to speak. The study aimed to conceptualise ways in which young children aged 4-8 years are researchers, could develop as researchers and may be considered to be researchers. Guiding questions included: 1) What is the nature of research? 2) How can a study be conducted to establish young children as researchers? 3) What enquiries are important to young children and how can they engage in them? 4) What support structures might encourage young children to participate in research?...

We are living in interesting times. Across Europe and the world the collapse of the economy, and ... more We are living in interesting times. Across Europe and the world the collapse of the economy, and a particular financial model, has brought new challenges, which are impacting on all ways of life. Higher Education has not been immune to radical changes, which call for innovative answers. One of such changes is the redefinition of what education is, where it is located, who has authority over it and how knowledge in such an undisciplined discipline (Bridges, 2006) is constructed and validated. Simultaneously, a more market-like model demands HE institutions to re-think staff deployment, career progression, training, student engagement, experience and participation. In such a new world, educational research seems to be a discipline under siege. One proof of such a feeling of loss and dismay is the lack of direct reference to an education strand in the Horizon 2020 European funding stream (EU, 2013). In the UK, recent criticism regarding its inability to provide ‘useful’ knowledge (DfE,...

Early Years, 2014

This is the third edition of the Sheffield Hallam team book and it addresses a range of key issue... more This is the third edition of the Sheffield Hallam team book and it addresses a range of key issues in the field of early years, with particular focus on the English context. The title is bold, yet Janet Kay's opening chapter serves to dissipate any concerns regarding this as she interrogates head on the challenges of defining and engaging in 'good practice in the early years' and includes a distinct aim for the book: 'to offer students and existing practitioners a discussion of various aspects of practice' (3). Alongside a wholly appropriate focus on principles and values, the editor's introductory chapter provides a strong foundation for this eclectic text. Nine chapters follow, each focused on a different aspect of the field of early years.