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Since the implementation of the New-Born Hearing Screening Program in 2006, deafness can now be identified early leading to early amplification, and early intervention all of which have been shown to positively affect language outcomes for deaf children (Yoshinaga-Itano et al., 1998). Despite this, a gap in attainment between deaf and typically hearing children still exists in all developmental measures, taken at age 5 years in England (National Deaf Children's Society [NDCS], 2021). Although there is a plethora of research that has set out to address this gap, this has largely focused on the development of literacy and maths (Marschark et al., 2011) yet no studies have explored the significant gap in attainment in science for deaf children in the early years, nor considered how best to support children's development in this area. This thesis addresses this gap in research. Chapter 1 outlines the rationale for the focus on science education and deaf children. Chapter 2 and 3 then discuss the effects of deafness on spoken language and cognition before setting a context for the pilot home-based science intervention we developed in the study. The overarching methodology is the focus of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents the first paper, published in Deafness and Education International, which elicited the attitudes and behaviours of caregivers of deaf and typically hearing children towards science, pre- and post-study commencement. Here we found that irrespective of group (control or intervention), participating in a study about science talk led to an increase in caregiver reported science talk and a generally positive view of science across all groups. Chapter 6 reports a study into the effects of the intervention on deaf and typically hearing children's conceptual understanding of science and their scientific enquiry skills. Here we present the findings of caregiver report assessments which were completed over an ~13-month period. In total, caregivers completed five assessments (each at two different time points); four on their child's understanding of concepts and one on their developing scientific enquiry skills. We found that all caregivers, irrespective of group, reported positive gains in their child's conceptual understanding. Caregiver assessments of scientific enquiry reported greater gains for deaf children than those typically hearing. This study offers preliminary evidence to suggest that longer-term interventions may provide an opportunity to narrow the attainment gap between deaf and typically hearing children. Chapter 7 explores, the reported increase in caregiver science talk presented in Paper 1 using analysis of video-recorded interactions between caregivers and their children (deaf and typically hearing) using measures of input quality. In general, caregivers of typically hearing children used a greater quantity of utterances, a significantly greater proportion of complex sentences and made more links to previous experiences than caregivers of deaf children, whereas caregivers of deaf children used significantly shorter utterances and a greater proportion of closed questions. We found the intervention to positively affect utterance length, the number of science and causal words, with effects on the use of science words being greater for caregivers of deaf children. Chapter 8 draws together the findings from across all three empirical studies and considers the implications of our study on future research with deaf children as well as implications for practice.

Aims and Background: This action research study aimed to improve my practice of working systemically with an Early Years setting. Two integrative literature reviews highlighted a lack of research in this area, alongside a desire for Educational Psychologists to work at a systemic level in the Early Years, giving a rational for this research. Method and Data analysis: The study took an exploratory design and an action research framework to investigate How can I improve my practice of working systemically with an EY setting over an academic term. In this research, the data collected was qualitative, as I received feedback from participants, I analysed it and modified my practice. Consequently, data collection and analysis were discussed simultaneously. The essence of my data set is made up of my research diary, observations, audio recordings of a meeting and focus group with the EY staff and questionnaires to evaluate each systemic piece of work. Much of the data was analysed using a broadly ethnographic approach and some of the data from cycle three was also analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results and Discussion: By working systemically with an EY setting I improved my practice in this area and created a toolbox of approaches that a Trainee Educational Psychologist or an EP new to systemic working could use when working systemically with an EY setting. This toolbox included: consultation skills, attuned interactions, participation, contracting and guiding principles. One limitation of this research was that I did not have sufficient contact time with the Early Years staff to explore with them 'how' I worked systemically and as such I had to determine this from my own interpretations of the data. Thus, I would recommend this, as an area for further research.

This thesis presents an examination of spectatorship in a performance context, concerning 0-18 month old infants and their carers. The thesis is presented in the form of a written submission and practical documentation. The practical documentation offers an encounter with the performance experiment, which sits at the core of this research sited in a 'live laboratory'. The methods of the live lab were created to give space to consider the infant's lived experience by acknowledging the power of novelty and the strength of that which is familiar. Through this lens it was possible to determine the ways in which compositional and directorial choices influence infants' attentional preferences. From observation of multiple live performances and examination of audio-visual recordings, I have been able to distinguish how infants attend to performance and the forms of attention performance elicits. The inclusion of 'pausing' as a research method has enhanced opportunities to analyse subjective, dyadic and collective actions. Added together with an overarching analysis of infant vocality and detailed examination of moments of distal and proximal movement, the findings allow me to propose a clear definition of infant spectatorship through the presentation and discussion of a taxonomy of relative stillness. The taxonomy provides form for a notion of infant spectatorship which has been found to exist as a multiplicity of action and activation, held within a practice of care, curiosity and risk. By revealing the audible and visual entanglements of engagement and disengagement, this research contributes to a growing understanding of how moments of infant-led and parent-led spectatorship are shared. Taken together, this thesis offers new perspectives on how infants attend to performance in the directed environment of the theatre.

This thesis documents my story as a teacher. It begins with an account of the end of my teaching career, narrating the story of my suspension from practice, based on an accusation of falsifying data. This constitutes the start of a fascination with datafication, which continues throughout the thesis. The exploration of datafication begins with the conceptualisation of datafication as a doppelganger or second self. The use of the doppelganger as a thinking-tool enables me to experiment with fighting against datafication in the form of the data-doppelganger. Following on from this critique of the existing system through the conceptualisation of the data-doppelganger, I return to the field in an attempt to resist the dominant discourse of datafication. An ethnographic participatory action research project provides me with an opportunity to move to a more active phase of the research, where I attempt to work with others to develop new ways of assessing children in early years. As my thinking develops following the research project, I produce myself not as a coherent subject but as a divided self, a new subjectivity which to me, makes sense of the conflicted world in which I find myself. This acceptance of the divided subject constitutes a resolution to the conflict I encounter within myself and enables me to engage in active resistance to datafication. My final paper, which provides an analysis of a Roma child's development from a Roma perspective, embodies this resistance. In it, I link thought and action in praxis to produce an alternative child subject, a subject not seen through the lens of datafication, but viewed through a Romani lens. In this way, the thesis tells the story of my experience of datafication, a journey from encounters with the doppelganger to a final act of praxis.

Musical environments have been observed to be highly engaging for autistic children, ameliorating barriers often experienced in everyday communication and interaction. Musical play provides an ideal space in which to support and encourage engagement with caregivers and peers, as well as self-expression for this group. Over 12 months, 25 families with autistic children between the ages of three and eight years participated in an innovative home-based musical programme based on the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework of musical development, which was designed to encourage parents to help their children engage in musical play in everyday life. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, including the qualitative analysis of interviews and diaries, alongside observations of musical play and quantitative behavioural measures that explored the role of musical spaces for supporting interaction, creativity and development in autistic children. The findings showed that music was widely used as a tool by parents to orientate their children in their home environments, scaffolding routines, enhancing communication, and supporting emotional regulation. Significant changes in musical and interactive behaviours were observed over the course of the intervention, alongside significant improvements in social communication, highlighting possible interactions between musical play and wider development. More broadly music was found to facilitate shared enjoyment and emotional regulation. Crucially, the strategies were those that parents themselves could undertake with their children. There is a growing need to recognise and develop safe spaces to support autistic children and their families. This research highlights how a music programme using an accessible model can be implemented across community and informal educational settings.

This research contributes to developing a reconceptualisation of professional learning and development (PLD) in two contexts of practice, in Tuscany, Italy, and London, UK, through a Froebelian lens and concentrates on the way in which Early Childhood educators develop and conceptualise their professional identities. I have constructed two freestanding but related case studies (Stake, 2003), highlighting and exploring the complex interrelationships within the cases selected. I have developed this qualitative study using semi-structured interviews, activity-based focus groups and documentary research. The main strategies I have used to analyse the data are a dynamic approach to Grounded Theory supplemented by Clarke's (2005) Situational Analysis. The purpose of the study is to explore PLD opportunities and the process of identity development for Early Childhood educators, considering contemporary practices in Tuscany and London to create a vision of PLD that is informed and guided by Froebelian philosophy. This research produces new insights on what it means to be an Early Childhood educator today in London and San Miniato - with it I have shown the need for a reconceptualisation of the current PLD offer with one that is instead designed around educators' needs, starting from where the learner is and aiming to make a significant difference to the professional lives of Early Childhood educators working with young children, while staying true to fundamental Froebelian principles and philosophy. Implications of this study suggest that a reconceptualised offer of PLD must be strictly linked to the culture of practice in the setting, where the educators' experiences and needs are used to diversify the offer to remain relevant to local realities and local practitioners. Educators' identity development must be supported with a holistic approach that also cares for their mental wellbeing to build resilience against everyday stress brought by close interpersonal relationships with children and families.

Integration is considered to be a key part of medical education by the UK General Medical Council (GMC, 2009, GMC, 2016). Despite this, it is a jargon term without a consistent meaning throughout worldwide medical education. This study used non-participant ethnographic observation of medical students, and semi-structured interviews with both students and staff, with the aim of understanding how students experienced integration at Manchester medical school. The study also aimed to understand facilitators of, and barriers to, the integrated experience. The findings showed how the integrated experience was driven by multi-subject problem-based learning agendas that allowed parallel subject learning to occur via group discussion and via making explicit links to related learning. Experiencing patient contact early in the course, alongside basic science learning, facilitated integration. Integration was also facilitated by the way in which peers supported each other with their learning, and by staff making deliberate attempts to teach in an integrated manner. Barriers to integration included subject compartmentalisation, conflicting information, boundaries between course components, and issues with staff liaison. There was evidence of integration in operation; however, the Manchester medical course fell short of being fully integrated. A new model of integration has been presented to help understand integration in the early years of medical education. This model is informed by the finding presented in this thesis.

Prompted by the increasing number of children accessing alternatives to mainstream education, this research project was designed to investigate the activity of parents as they engaged in choosing different forms of education for their four-year-old child. The intention was to highlight the individual and entangled activity of parental choice in the English system of education. Facet methodology facilitated an exploration of the multi-dimensionality of each parent's lived experience. It allowed for flexibility within the research process that used open interviews to follow the narratives of six sets of parents while they were thinking about and making different educational choices for their child. This included home education, the local primary school, a creative education, a Steiner school, a Montessori school and an independent selective school. Drawing upon Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory of individual activity as a framework for thinking about educational choice, combined with the new materialist concepts of intra-action and diffraction, the conceptual framework of 'diffractive activity' has been developed. Diffractive activity brings to the fore the role of history, society and relationalities within the activity of choice. It is built upon five principles of complexity, intra-action, diffraction, entanglement and movement. Findings cast the activity of educational choice as a complex process of coming to know, influenced by possibilities, relationalities and entanglements. It starts as an internal process of thinking where educational choice is not limited by practical circumstances but is open to different possibilities. Relationalities emphasise how choice is not a linear process but a dynamic, iterative and entangled process. Entanglements bring choice alive, as a lived experience, an activity that is threaded through time, space, and place. My conclusions are two-fold, firstly that educational choice does not begin with a choice of school, but is a relational activity of thinking about education, and secondly through the introduction of diffractive activity as a framework for thinking about individual human activity.

Early intervention has been a recurrent theme in addressing educational underachievement for children who are at risk of experiencing multiple adversities and undesirable outcomes (Dawson, Dunn and Morgan, 2010). However, there has been some dispute regarding the definition of early intervention - as to whether it should be focused on early with regards to chronological age and/or early in relation to the onset of adversities (Dawson et al., 2010). Often service design draws upon the latter, using the Hardiker (1991) model as a framework to measure degrees of adversity. However, whilst there is certainly a need to intervene on experiences of adversity, the first three years of life involve a period of rapid neurological growth that significantly influences later outcomes and so intervening early by the definition of chronological age is also vital (Perry, 2014). More specifically, Mathers, Eisenstadt, Sylva, Soukakou and Ericka-Stevens (2014) report the period of development that occurs between 24 and 36 months is marked by significant advances in language, cognition and social collaboration, all of which are imperative to achieving positive outcomes throughout life. Despite this, McGuiness, Eakin and Connolly (2012) report a significant gap in policy and service provision for two-year-olds in Northern Ireland and Mathers et al., (2014) call for an increase in evidence relating to how services can best meet the unique needs of two-year-olds. Therefore, this study aimed to add to the critical discussions and evidence base on early intervention as a means of improving outcomes for children by considering the developmental needs of two-year-olds and the implications for service provision in Northern Ireland. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed to gain a breadth and depth of knowledge from a range of stakeholders including programme co-ordinators, practitioners and parents. The design of the research was holistic, in terms of combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, and pragmatic, in terms of the design giving considerable consideration to the needs and working conditions of the participants. The data collection methods included a systematic review, semi-structured interviews, practitioner surveys, the ages and stages questionnaire (ASQ) and in setting observation studies. Participants were recruited from three programmes, each targeting toddlers aged 24-36 months in a different environment, namely private day care, a pre-school setting and a community based early intervention service. Participants included the co-ordinator/s of each programme, practitioners who currently deliver the programme, toddlers attending the programmes and the parents of said toddlers. The research identified six key findings, namely the lack of uniformity and universality in service provision for two-year-olds, with no clear programme direction or curriculum in place; broad consensus that social, emotional, language and physical development should be prime target areas for this age group; some reluctance and/or anxiety about directly addressing two-year-olds’ cognitive development- possibly due to discomfort with ideas of school readiness, eluding to the ongoing educare debate and lack of clarity on childcare versus early education versus early intervention; the lack of universality in service purpose and design results in some difficulties in designing an appropriate group environment for two-year-olds; the role of parents in service provision for toddlers was also problematic, being viewed as both essential and at times incompatible with service design (particularly in the case of private childcare services); and finally services for two-year-olds are being delivered by a largely under-professionalised workforce- where practitioners pay, qualifications and working conditions do not reflect the reported significance of the age group they are working with. The findings of this study may support the design and delivery of current services for this age group, enabling them to adapt their environment and programme design to best meet the needs of two-year-olds. However, the findings reveal larger issues, particularly the fragmented and under-funded landscape of services for toddlers. Therefore, it is recommended that this is addressed as a matter of priority and that appropriate policy guidance and practitioner training is developed to support the developmental needs of two-year-olds in Northern Ireland.

Social communication with adults and peers supports children to play a shared, active, and reflective role in negotiating meaning and making sense of their own social experiences. Through these conversations, children begin to adopt narrative structures, heuristics and rules which help them to organise and explain the social world, but these shortcuts also prompt biases in how children process social information and make judgments about how to engage with others. One of these biases, called the 'Fundamental Attribution Error' (Jones & Harris, 1967), also referred to as 'correspondence bias' or 'attribution bias' is the tendency to make dispositional judgments while overlooking situational factors in considering others' perspectives and explaining behaviour. It emerges between 4 and 6 years of age in western cultures (Seiver, Gopnik, & Goodman, 2013) and is a precursor to stereotyping. This bias has spurred vast research exploring underlying mechanisms and approaches to intervention which are largely focused on promoting situational explanations of others' perspectives. In addition to these structured intervention approaches, some researchers have raised the wider issue of the role educators and caregivers can play in reflecting on and challenging broader social norms that frame children's dispositional judgments. I partnered with six early years teachers to investigate how teacher-led classroom dialogue around stories could challenge children's normative frames of social understanding, promote children's context-sensitive perspective taking, and lessen dispositional judgments. I also homed in on the role of teachers' reflective practice in supporting children to think and negotiate meaning together in ways that reduce attribution bias. Findings demonstrate how 'normative frames' (i.e. expectations about how people tend to behave in specific circumstances and ideas about what kinds of behaviour are socially valued) guided children's dispositional judgments of characters. Findings also show how, through processes of positioning within the group and with support from teachers, children questioned and shifted their normative frames over the course of the discussions, which was associated with greater context-sensitive perspective taking and fewer decontextualized dispositional judgments. In their reflections, teachers demonstrated how they took ownership of their own professional development within the project, however they also reported that receiving ongoing personalised feedback and support from me during and after the discussions helped them to find new ways to extend the children's thinking further. In this thesis, I have proposed a conceptual framework which outlines the mechanisms by which children's normative frames and perspective taking might link together to promote or inhibit attributional bias in the context of classroom dialogue around stories. This framework posits that relational reasoning and attributionally-biased reasoning are not mutually exclusive but counterbalanced, as if on a weighing scale. Further, these two types of reasoning are upheld by a central pillar of shared social reasoning, involving an interconnected process of normative framing and perspective taking. In this model, the type of reasoning that becomes more dominant for children largely depends on guided participation with adults and peers, especially within the context of conversation about social life. Further, small group dialogue around stories is conceptualised as a lever that teachers can use to challenge children's normative frames and promote greater context-sensitive perspective taking in order to tip the scale toward relational reasoning and reduce the pull of attributional bias. On the whole, this project extends Educational Design Research and Design Ethnography, providing a model for how educational specialists, researchers, or advisors can support teachers to play a more active and reflective role in children's developing social reasoning.

Background: There is concern that children as young as pre-school are experiencing increasing levels of stress, anxiety and inattention, calling for precedence on the need for early intervention and prevention approaches. Adult-based mindfulness programmes have been adapted to be delivered to children in schools, which have so far demonstrated a range of positive outcomes across emotional well-being and learning. Whilst research has focused on the effectiveness of school-based mindfulness interventions, less is known about their delivery to young children, and the implementation factors which are important for their success, particularly in early years (EYs) settings. Methods/participants: A systematic literature review (SLR) explored how school-based mindfulness programmes have been delivered and used to support young children aged 3-9 years old. A year-long action research (AR) project conducted with an EYs setting (Nursery and Reception), explored how mindfulness can be delivered to children in the EYs, and practitioners' perceptions of the impact, facilitators and challenges for implementation. Analysis/findings: The SLR revealed that most mindfulness programmes use weekly, manualised programmes, delivered by external trainers. There is vast heterogeneity amongst the types of attitudinal principles and mindfulness components used. The AR study revealed various facilitating factors in the implementation of mindfulness including: practitioners' ownership of mindfulness; developing an effective programme format; reflecting on practice; working collaboratively and enabling a supportive community. Barriers included issues related to the school system and programme delivery. EYs practitioners identified benefits for the children, staff and setting. Conclusion/implications: Further research is required to explore the long-term sustainability of current mindfulness programmes designed for young children. Findings from the empirical paper indicate that it is feasible for educational psychologists (EPs) to support EYs practitioners to develop sustainable mindfulness practices in their setting, through an AR approach. Clear dissemination strategies for sharing these findings with EPs and EYs staff are proposed.

This study examined the meaning and role of play in Ghanaian early years settings, focusing on the beliefs of stakeholders, the expression of play in the Ghanaian early years curriculum and classroom practices. Framed within a sociocultural theory of play, this study followed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, which involved the initial collection of quantitative data followed by a qualitative data. In the initial quantitative phase, a survey scale, referred to as the Early Years Play and Learning Perception Scale (EYPLPS), was developed and used to collect data from 292 stakeholders (147 parents, 105 teachers and 40 head teachers). A preliminary comparison of the mean differences among the stakeholders using ANOVA indicated that the teachers and head teachers perceived play as a form of learning more favourably than the parents. This difference was further explored using cluster analysis to determine whether the stakeholders' education status might be a factor in explaining the group means differences. The cluster analyses revealed five distinct clusters characterized by participants' status and level of education - highly educated parents, teachers and head teachers; moderate educated teachers and low educated parents. The five clusters were compared on the play-learning belief score using ANOVA. The results revealed that the scale score was statistically significantly lower for low-educated parents compared to high-educated teachers, high-educated head teachers and high-educated parents, indicating low-educated parents were less likely to associate play and learning than these other groups. There was, however, no statistical significant difference between the scale scores of low-educated parents and moderate-educated teachers. The results suggest the significance accorded play depends on the stakeholder's level of education, with stakeholders reporting higher levels of education endorsing play as an opportunity for learning and acquiring social skills as well as academic skills. With the EYPLPS scores providing the basis for sample selection, four early years settings were selected as cases for in-depth qualitative inquiry using interviews, observations, photographs and analysis of curriculum. An analysis of the curriculum revealed that the curriculum does not emphasise play-based learning. It does, however, support the idea of children learning by doing. Therefore, the curriculum promotes activities that involve children's participation as an effective approach to teaching and learning. Interviews revealed that play first of all resonated with fun and happiness in stakeholders' perceptions. The majority of those interviewed perceived play as a way of maintaining children's interest in lessons, and as a break from learning. Classroom practices that emphasise teacher-directed academic activities and the stakeholders' unanimous appreciation of the use of rhyme and song in classrooms illustrate this point. Rhymes and songs were used at the beginning of lessons and also as an interlude when children appeared tired and bored during lessons. Other examples of how stakeholders perceived play included play as storytelling, a way of keeping children occupied, as a recess activity and as a form of learning. The findings are discussed from a sociocultural perspective, drawing a picture of the cultural meanings attributed to the model of childhood, play and learning in Ghana.

Much has been written about challenges facing early years practitioners in a time of rapid policy implementation affecting the children's workforce, and the introduction of graduate professional accreditation (NCTL, 2013) for those tasked with leading quality developments in the early years sector. Tensions have emerged across the children's workforce particularly in the fields of health and social care, concerning the implications for safeguarding and child protection (Munro, 2011; Lumsden, 2012). Whilst research illuminates workforce challenges, as policy is imposed on professional practice, little is known about the actual experiences of safeguarding and child protection from the perspectives of those practitioners with Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) who are new to the sector. This small-scale research project sought to examine the safeguarding and child protection experiences of 'change of career' Graduate Entry (GE) EYTS trainees in their first year of employment in an early years setting. The study took an empirical phenomenological approach (Schütz, 1962) to reveal the lived experiences of Early Years Teachers (EYTs) in the context of their settings. It revealed that notions of safeguarding and child protection were conceptualised as interrelated but different elements of practice that affected confidence as EYTs experienced situations over time. This was related to emotions that inhabited and affected behaviours as EYTs experienced tensions between statutory policy, procedural requirements, partnership working and what they considered to be appropriate practice for working with young children. The conclusions suggested the need for further policy developments in safeguarding and child protection in the early years sector, so that EYTs might not be compromised in their practice. New ways of educating GE EYTs in safeguarding and child protection were identified to better enable contextualisation of their learning and to develop personal and emotional agency in order for them to confidently navigate this complex aspect of professional practice.

My thesis presents a comparison of English and Turkish Early Years/Kindergarten teachers’ understandings and practices of outdoor activities. Comparative research provides a wider understanding of the two different cultures’ current circumstances in outdoor activities. Such research provides in-depth understanding of educational aspects in different cultures, and produces enhancement opportunities for educational pedagogies (Alexander, 2001). I had been conscious of possible differences in cultural perception of childhood and its temporal effects on historical developments as well as on the way children play and engage in outdoor activities and this informed my approach. This thesis was based on ethnographic research involving two sets of observations and interviews exploring English and Turkish teachers’ perceptions and practices of outdoor activities. The observations and interviews were held both before and after an intervention that I introduced. This intervention used social media to allow teachers to exchange photographs and comments about their outdoor learning practices and share ideas across the two countries. Four main themes emerged from the research: professional learning in the early years, barriers, freedom and pedagogic roles. The interaction that allowed them to see different practices had a notable impact on the teachers; enhancing their approach to outdoor activities and contributing to their professional development. Therefore, this research reveals the importance of cross-cultural research as well as the practicality of the new model: The Online Interactive Professional Learning Model based on the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT).

This study examines parental experience of 'participation' within Early Years (EY) settings in Northern Ireland. With these services designed to ensure improved short and long term outcomes for the child (HM Treasury, 1998) and society, parents have been designated by policy as the primary agents of such outcomes (DHSSPS, 2009; DE, 2012a) as a consequence of their EYS involvement. With a stated acknowledgement of the lack of 'robust assessment' of service user involvement in this context to date (Perry, 2016), this study aims to bridge that gap by exploring and analysing experiences of parent 'participation' across three cohorts in this specific region of UK: Northern Ireland. Driven by regional economic, social and educational policies focussed on the regeneration of NI following a prolonged period of political unrest and deprivation (NIE, 2016b), Early Years education is promoted as a guarantor of such regeneration with parent involvement a key component. These parent cohorts are derived from NI EY services in the public, private and voluntary sectors. This study consists of two phases: i) the identification of the key legislative and policy drivers of parent participation to inform the formulation of key themes for discussion with study recruits and ii) the collection and analysis of recruit experiences based on the themes identified. Analysis of these findings indicates that parents experience involvement rather than participation in EY services. This is not a concern for parents and there was a consistent report of a lack of interest in becoming involved in this way. The primary driver of parental involvement is self-identified need, either their own or that of their child, with negligible interest in involvement as a means to securing educational input for their child. There is mixed evidence of ideation on direct parent involvement in EY services as essential. These findings call into question the current policy-driven paradigm of parent participation and its political support.

Dynamic assessment represents an opportunity for educational psychologists to utilise a play-based approach for assessing the functional behaviour of children who struggle to perform in formal testing situations (Tzuriel, 2000; Hill, 2015). A systematic literature review aims to evaluate available empirical research on the use of dynamic assessment approaches within the early years to provide a clearer view of the evidence for their use and to support educational psychologists' development of such approaches within their professional practice. The review of this evidence indicated mixed results for the usefulness of dynamic assessment in the early years phase and warranted closer inspection of the use of dynamic assessment by educational psychologists. In the empirical project, a purposive convenience sample was used. Two practising educational psychologists were interviewed using semi structured interview schedules and observed delivering dynamic assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis and a content analysis was used to analyse the videoed observations. The findings of this empirical project highlight the type and level of mediation required for dynamic assessment of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage; how educational psychologists evaluate the usefulness of dynamic assessment for assessing and identifying the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage; and the implications of dynamic assessment for intervention for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Implications are discussed for promoting the use of dynamic assessment among educational psychologists as a useful tool for assessment of children in the early years age phase.

This two phase study explored perspectives of play according to children and parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners, in a city in South West England. In an addition to the considerable research base concerning play, this study investigated the frequently overlooked cultural dimension of play and how this affects the education of Somali heritage children in England. The broader contentious concern of play’s role in Early Years and Primary education was also explored. A mixed methods pragmatic approach was employed in this study. In Phase One, a photograph sorting activity based on the Activity Apperception Story Procedure by Howard (2002), was used to enable the participation of young children and participants for whom English is not their first language. Established via this activity were definitions of play and work according to children and parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners. Exploratory Data Analysis was applied to examine this data. In Phase Two, a focus group design was used, with discussions drawing on cross-cultural conceptions of play (Gaskins, Haight & Lancy, 2007; Göncü, Tuermer, Jain & Johnson, 1999). This enabled the exploration of how parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners perceive play’s relationship to children’s development and learning, with consideration for their own experiences of childhood. Focus group data was analysed using thematic analysis, supported by the Cultural Historical Activity Theory framework. The findings of this study highlight shared and individual definitions of play, competing benefits of play and the cross-cultural importance of play being intrinsically motivated. Implications for practice centre on the need to recognise play as part of unique cultural milieus at a practitioner, school, educational psychology service and policy level.

Developing critical thinking in early childhood is vital especially in Western culture since it improves an individual’s skills in creative thinking and enhances a person’s sense of responsibility. This is the fundamental contention of this thesis. These skills assist in developing and implementing a state of mind of not accepting negative situations and instead directs the individual towards trying to resolve and improve it. These issues have not yet been fully explored in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel. The development and application of notions of personal responsibility, critical thinking, and kindergarten-age children’s involvement in learning has yet to emerge as a reality in this community. This is needed because existing theory and practice involving these aspects of learning within the Palestinian system is problematic. Moreover, the development of a new approach to teaching and parenting of kindergarten-age children that fosters critical thinking and personal responsibility may not be a reality that is immediately achievable, but it is a possibility. This study aims to investigate how educational leaders can help kindergarten children aged 3-5 years to develop critical thinking and personal responsibility skills. The research focuses on Arab (Palestinian) children in Israel as these skills are not traditionally taught in the home or in educational settings in this culture. The literature shows that there is a marked disparity between the educational achievements of Arab and Jewish children in Israel, making the implications of this study salient not only to practitioners, but also to policymakers and educational institutions. In order to examine these goals, a case study involving qualitative research approaches of a kindergarten classroom has been conducted. The context of this study is an important and complex set of factors determining and shaping the content and form of the thesis and of the research that is embodied in the text. This study has been conducted in a kindergarten belonging to an Arab Municipality located in Northern Israel that was established in 2010 and is situated in a rural area in the north of the country. Lesson plans following the National Curriculum for Kindergarten Education were infused with teaching activities designed to facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills. The findings of the project showed that the presence of a strong educational leader had a positive impact on facilitating kindergarten children’s development of personal responsibility and critical thinking skills. This was especially the case if the leader played an active role in facilitating a learning environment at home and in school in which children were acknowledged and given greater autonomy and access to opportunities in which they could engage openly with parents and peers. This study calls attention to the need to further explore educational leadership in the context of early childhood education, as its implications for childhood development, particularly regarding critical thinking and personal responsibility, have not been sufficiently examined. This study claims to open possibilities for doing this in at least the Palestinian Kindergarten communities in Israel and perhaps beyond.

Background: The first five years of life, called the early years is a period of rapid and vital physical, behavioural, emotional and social development. Physical activity (PA) is one of the behaviours which develop during the early years, and high levels of PA during the early years have been shown to be related to multiple health outcomes. The importance of PA of young children (children during the early years) has been highlighted by a number of national governments. In order to better inform future interventions and public health policies, a greater understanding of the correlates and determinants of young children s PA is vital. Previous research has been limited through measurement inconsistencies, and few studies have been conducted within multi-ethnic communities, where many young children in the United Kingdom are born. Thesis Aims: 1) to systematically review published research in order to establish currently known correlates and determinants of PA in the early years and identify gaps within the literature. 2) Calculate an accelerometer wear-time criteria to reliably measure young children s habitual PA. 3) Investigate the validity and test re-test reliability of a new parental proxy reported PA questionnaire. 4) Investigate the levels and correlates of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in toddlers (1-3 year olds) from a predominately bi-ethnic and bi-linguistic population. Methods: Aim 1) nine electronic databases were searched to identify previous research which investigated associations between an exposure/variable, and a quantitative measure of PA. Correlates/determinants of total PA (TPA), MVPA and light-intensity PA (LPA) were reported using an ecologic model. Aim 2) to calculate a wear-time criteria for young children a simple stepped process was used whereby statistical tests were run to determine the minimum length of wear for one day, if there were any differences between weekdays and weekend days, and the presence of reactivity. Intra-class correlation models and the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula were used to calculate wear-time reliability. Aim 3) this study was undertaken by 196 parents completing a proxy report questionnaire on their child s PA and sedentary behaviour after seven days of their young child (mean age 3.2 ,SD: 0.8 years) wearing an accelerometer. A total of 156 (79.6%) questionnaires were completed in English and 40 (20.4%) were completed in transliterated Urdu. Of the 196 parents, 109 parents completed the EY-PAQ a second time seven days apart from the first EY-PAQ completion; this was to assess test re-test reliability of MVPA and sedentary time. Validity analysis used all data and data falling with specific proportion boundaries for MVPA (2%-41%) and sedentary time (30%-94%). Reliability was assessed using intra-class correlations (ICC) and validity by Bland Altman plots and rank correlation coefficients. Aim 4) this study was undertaken by conducting a cross-sectional analysis using 24 month olds and their mothers data collected as part of the Born in Bradford (BiB) birth cohort sub-sample study called BiB1000. The outcome variable was daily minutes of MVPA measured by the EY-PAQ. Numerous independent variables covering the layers of an ecological model were selected. Univariate linear regression models accounting for sex, age, language and season were conducted to examine the differences between White British and South Asian children s daily minutes of MVPA and each of the EY-PAQ s domains, and the proportion of time spent in MVPA within each of the EY-PAQ s domains. A series of univariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine and identify correlates of MVPA (for the whole sample, and separately for White British and South Asian children). Significant variables found in univariate analyses were then included in hierarchical multivariable regression models (based upon the ecological model), in order to examine the percentage of variance accounted for in daily minutes of MVPA. Results: Aim 1) The systematic review identified a large volume of published research. All studies took place in high income countries and few studies (6%) were of high quality. A small number of correlates and determinants of TPA were identified. The only correlate of MVPA was sex and no determinants of MVPA or LPA were found. PA correlates/ determinants were relatively consistent between objective and subjective PA measures and few studies investigated correlates of toddlers or between children with White and South Asian ethnicity. Aim 2) No differences in accelerometer-determined time in TPA, MVPA or sedentary time were observed between weekdays and weekend days within this sample of young children. Similarly, there was no evidence of reactivity to accelerometer use. For young children living in Bradford, an accelerometer wear-time of a minimum of six hours on any three days was shown to provide reliable estimates of accelerometer-determined time in TPA, MVPA, and sedentary time. Aim 3) The test re-test reliability of the EY-PAQ was moderate for sedentary time and fair for MVPA. The EY-PAQ had poor agreement with accelerometry with both sedentary time and MVPA before the application of boundaries. Post application of boundaries the EY-PAQ still had poor agreement with accelerometer-determined sedentary time but good agreement for MVPA. Limits of agreement were wide for all variables and language and ethnicity did not confound results. Aim 4) Bradford toddlers were found to be very active and no difference was observed between proxy-reported time spent in MVPA between White British and South Asian children. However, White British toddlers were found to have spent significantly more time in reported MVPA while walking for transport compared to South Asian toddlers; while South Asian toddlers reportedly spent significantly more time of MVPA in the home compared to White British toddlers. Correlate models were only statistically significant when multi-layers of the ecological model were included; and correlates differed for South Asian and White British children. Conclusions: There is a need for more high-quality studies exploring correlates/determinants across all layers of the ecologic model, and research investigating MVPA correlates/determinants of toddlers and between ethnicities is sparse. The work reported within this thesis has produced a reliable wear-time criterion for use to estimate accelerometer-determined PA and sedentary time in young children living in a bi-ethnic community. This criterion can now be used in future accelerometer studies (validation, observational and intervention) and the stepped-process offers researchers a method to derive sample-specific wear time criteria. The EY-PAQ is a promising habitual population-level measure of young children s MVPA from a bi-ethnic community. In situations when objective methods are not possible for measurement of young children s MVPA, the EY-PAQ may be a suitable alternative. Levels of toddlers MVPA did not differ by ethnicity but the contexts and correlates did. Therefore, future interventions should seek to maintain and maximise high levels of toddlers MVPA and tailor interventions by ethnicity. The research conducted within this thesis will inform the development of surveillance systems, interventions and public health polices to improve young children s PA levels, particularly children living in a bi-ethnic community.

Practitioners working with children under three are often marginalised; both in terms of group settings and in terms of being a focus of research (see Manning-Morton, 2006; McDowell-Clark and Baylis, 2012). This research prioritizes the practitioner’s voice by exploring the subject area of personal theory. In this thesis, personal theory is conceptualised as a composite of understandings and experiences including policy, organisational procedures, Early Years literature, training and Continuing Professional Development as well as personal and professional experiences, beliefs, and values. As Stephen and Brown (2004) indicate, particular constructions of care, learning, and children shape what is considered desirable educational practice. Drawing on Aristotle’s intellectual virtue of phronesis, this research’s aim is to understand how practitioners’ personal and professional experiences and understandings contribute to practitioners’ construction of personal theory. Research questions focus on: 1) understanding which relationships are particularly influential, 2) understanding which experiences are particularly influential and 3) identifying key features of practitioners’ personal theories. Case study methodology frames the research design. The research demonstrates that although personal theory is tacit, linking to specific instances of practice enables practitioners to articulate personal constructions of care, learning and children. Findings relate to six key characteristics of practitioners’ personal theories: practice as an ‘Ethic of Care’, practice as pedagogy, practice as ‘subsitute mothering’, practice as distinctive for children aged birth to three years, practice as rooted in experience and practice as emotional activity. Joan Tronto’s (1993, 2013) ‘Ethic of Care’ affords further consideration of personal theory; particularly the contradiction between personal theory that shapes engagements with young children as an ‘Ethic of Care’ and that which shapes engagements as ‘substitute mothering’. The thesis’ discussion highlights how the articulation and discussion of personal theory enables a richer construction of Early Years professionalism and professional identity within Birth to Three settings.

This thesis aims to further our understanding of the emergent phenomenon of Theatre for Early Years (TEY) in Scotland. It interrogates a series of artistic practices – traditional, postdramatic, participatory – with the aim of proposing a possible dramaturgy of arts for the very young. Practice typically precedes theory in new fields of performance. TEY currently lacks a coherent theoretical framework or dramaturgy, instead drawing on interdisciplinary strands of psychology, pedagogy and existing dramaturgical practices from older forms of theatre for children. This study explores artists' embodied knowledge as a repository of skill, while also recognising external factors that impact on creative production, from belief systems to training, the search for funding and the struggle for recognition. Using Grounded Theory as a method to analyse interviews with 26 leading Scottish practitioners, this project undertakes a qualitative investigation of current practice in the devising and production of performing arts for very young audiences. The thesis also considers debates around legitimation and human rights for the very young, as well as cognitive models of infant development from psychology. The process points towards a Grounded Theory which proposes that Scottish Early Years artists undergo an attitudinal shift towards a belief that children should access high-quality cultural experiences on the same basis as adults. Secondly, it suggests that these artists believe they possess a unique skill-set worthy of recognition. The theory points towards an associated dramaturgy centring on equality, and the generalisability of both is then assessed via an innovatory Practice-as-Research case study converting a TEY production into a digital app. While the project is geographically limited to Scotland, its findings may have international applicability. This study could contribute to a wider praxis of arts for the very young beyond theatre, giving practitioners across the cultural sphere the opportunity to engage with the proposed dramaturgy.

This inquiry was prompted by a desire to understand ‘partnership working’ (DfE, 2012, p.3) with the diverse parental body of a British International School Pre-Nursery based in Bangkok. It was hypothesised that this necessitated the co-construction of a shared understanding between home and school about a child’s learning. Nonetheless, the manner in which this could be achieved was unclear. Consequently, an explorative case study was instigated to gain a greater understanding of home-school interactions within this context. Influenced by Early Years policy and literature, as well as concepts of dialogue and interculturalism, it was hypothesised that involving parents within the redevelopment of a reporting and assessment tool may support the co-construction of a shared understanding about the child as a learner. Accordingly, a series of parental meetings were organised to elicit parental views. The parental meetings were illuminating and prompted the adaptation of a range of tools and artefacts to scaffold parents into a greater understanding of Pre-Nursery pedagogy and to engage them in a learning dialogue with school. At the completion of the study, evidence indicated that the development of a shared understanding between home and school had been achieved. This suggested that integrating conceptions of scaffolding and co-construction within home-school communication enhanced the potential for partnership working. Nonetheless, the complexities of engaging with the diverse parental body found within international education were also highlighted. In addition, the inquiry highlighted the difficulties of sustaining and extending practice innovations. It was concluded that further research may be necessary to fully understand partnership working within this context and to develop the consistent whole school approach deemed necessary to support its implementation.

The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence is framed, without visible theory, in language embedding the value of children’s experiences. In association with a policy encouraging practitioners to develop healthy home/school links, early childhood practitioners develop pedagogical practices in support of this curricular language of experience. One aspect coming into focus is children’s experiences in general rather than only those which take place within institutional walls. One way children introduce their out-of-school experiences into classrooms is by voluntarily bringing treasured objects from home to early childhood setting doors. By jointly engaging with John Dewey’s view that worthwhile educational experiences are developed through interactions and continuities, the pedagogic practices of twelve early childhood practitioners and the view that each child-initiated object episode could be viewed as part of a child’s experience this research aims to better understand practitioners’ development of educational experiences through their responses to the objects forty children voluntarily brought to school. In support of this aim three research questions focused on 1) what objects children brought? 2) what practitioners said and did with the objects? and 3) what practice similarities and differences were visible across two consecutive age groups: 3-5 year olds in a nursery (preschool) and 5-7 year olds in a composite Primary 1/2 class (formal schooling)? During an eight month period in 2009 data were collected by classroom observations, collection of photographic images and practitioner interviews in a government-funded, denominational, early childhood setting in a Scottish village school. Data were analysed for the physical and social properties of children’s objects, practitioner’s pedagogic practices when engaging with the brought-in objects and similarities and differences in object-related classroom behaviours as epitomised in the relationships in each classroom. The findings were that practitioners made use of three main pedagogical practices when engaging with children’s brought-in objects: transforming objects into educational resources, shaping in-school object experiences and building a range of relationships around these objects. While the broad patterns of practice used in both classrooms were similar the details of practice showed underlying framings of children and their futures were different in each classroom. It is argued that what Dewey’s views offer, in the context of these findings, is a theoretical framing of experience that opens new possibilities for practitioner’s individual and group reflections on their current practices and collaborative practice development. His is one of the languages of experience available as practitioners and policy makers around the world grapple with educational questions.

Interactive play in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides crucial opportunities for young children to develop a range of skills which are important for social development. Play Bank provides structured opportunities based on ‘Resilient Peer Treatment’ (Fantuzzo et al. 1996; 2005) for children to engage in peer-mediated play sessions, and has been found to increase the play interaction of shy and withdrawn preschool children in an initial small-scale study by the current author. This research seeks to extend the evidence base for Play Bank in UK schools by examining perceptions of change in young children’s peer interaction and social competence, as well as school staff’s views of the facilitators and barriers to carrying out the intervention. One primary school was identified within the researcher’s current Local Authority and five target children were identified on the basis of teacher observations and EYFS profile scores. The views of 18 peers, two teaching staff and five parents were sought. A multiple embedded case study design was employed, using mixed methods of data collection at three time intervals. The quantitative methods comprised teacher and parent measures of children’s play-based social competence, whole class sociometric nominations and structured observations of children’s free play. Qualitative data were gathered in a semi structured group interview with the two teaching staff. Quantitative data were summarised using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were transcribed and a thematic analysis applied. The findings indicated that children who participated in Play Bank sessions displayed increased peer interaction and play-based social competence over the course of time. The study extends understanding regarding implementation issues for Play Bank and provides further evidence for the effects of Play Bank on young children’s peer interaction and social competence.

This thesis explores the pedagogical practices signified by the pedagogical term ‘project;’ which have traditionally been associated with enquiry based progressive ways of working with young children aimed at facilitating levels of both child and teacher autonomy (Hadow, 1931, Plowden 1967, Rinaldi, 2006). There is an early focus upon historical project constructions bounded by the Hadow reports starting in 1921 to a key Estyn document of 1999, the year of Welsh devolution. This diachronic lens tracks the trajectory of understanding associated with ‘projects’ through an analysis of documentary evidence and is later drawn upon in the empirical study. A central aim is to make visible the perceived role of the practitioner and associated pedagogical practices utilised within ‘projects’ at different points in history; in so doing it also aims to illuminate the unstable and context laden nature of pedagogical terminology in circulation. The core of the study is the empirical focus – an embedded case study (Yin, 2009) which explored contemporary project interpretations within one Welsh local authority, as a ‘new’ (DCELLS, 2008a) and ‘radical’ (Maynard et al., 2012) early years curriculum, the Foundation Phase was introduced. Participants were located within the same ecological frame, sharing minimal dissimilarity: bounded within a specific geographical location (a five mile radius); a particular curriculum (the Foundation Phase) and at an explicit point in history. A central aim was to consider understandings of the role of the adult and associated pedagogical practices within contemporary project constructions and in so doing to further consider interpretations of the new Foundation Phase Curriculum, in which particular constructions were situated. The study was underpinned by a constructionist position with the research process viewed as dialogic and subjective in nature (Steer, 1991). Teachers were observed; exemplar documentary evidence collected and follow-up interviews used in a collaborative cycle of ‘meaning making.’ Bernsteinian notions of pedagogy and framing were utilised as analytical tools aimed at exploring how projects were interpreted, whilst Foucauldian notions of discourses were utilised to explain why projects may have been viewed in particular ways. Pedagogical practices associated with three broad project categories were made visible through analysis. Findings indicate that there were noteworthy differences particularly in relation to the varying levels of autonomy offered to the child and the associated positions adopted by the teacher. Whilst teachers used a range of progressive language such as ‘child initiated, ’ the practices noted were often constraining and resonated with a discourse of regulatory modernity (Moss, 2007) as participants succumbed to the ‘regulatory gaze’ (Osbourne, 2006). Since participants were identified because of their contextual similarities, differences in ‘project’ interpretations were deemed to be illustrative of the complex nature of the meaning making process and it is subsequently theorised that pedagogical terms are both context and value laden. This research may be significant within the Welsh context where the 'Foundation Phase' attempts to balance teacher and child agency but at the same time still retains a focus upon pre-specified outcomes. These findings may subsequently have implications for the policy to practice trajectory.

This research explores parent-teacher consultations in a range of early years settings. Data were collected from eighteen audio-recorded parent-teacher consultations from six different settings and from follow up interviews with parents and teachers. The data related to the consultations and participants’ direct experience of these and revealed the practices of power within these consultations. Using a Foucauldian approach to analysis, the exercise of power and its impact on the parent-teacher relationship was explored. The analysis revealed the ways in which surveillance, normalising judgements and the ‘examination’ of all involved in the reporting process to parents, constitutes an exercise of power. Within the consultation parents, teachers and children are positioned as subjects who are homogenised and judged accordingly. Conversely, the presentation of observations and assessment information leads to the individualisation of children, allowing classifications and comparisons to be made in relation to a particular set of ‘truths’ about what it is to be a child, a parent and a teacher. Throughout the consultations parents and teachers assert and defend their positions and in doing so, attempts at resistance are evident. The findings of the research open up new possibilities for challenging existing modes of practice in parent-teacher consultations. These include implications for initial teacher education and CPD programmes, in order to develop awareness of the way in which power is exercised through parent-teacher interactions and the effects it can have. The need for policy makers to take greater account of the exercise of power when developing policies in relation to partnership with parents, and indeed in evaluating the impact of existing policy is also identified.

Assumptions are made by policy makers, service planners and providers that their aspirations for early childhood are shared by professionals, parents and children. Policy makers consistently use words such as holistic, integration, partnership and collaboration to describe the ways they wish early years practitioners to engage with children and families. In order to explore these assumptions and expectations this thesis utilises data from early years settings themselves (focus groups/interviews with parents and staff and child based activities) to critically examine the connections between participants’ ideas of childhood, Scottish Government policies and staff roles/responsibilities. It specifically utilises the experiences of staff, parents and children in selected early years settings in Scotland to critique the Scottish Government’s key policy document, the Early Years Framework (2008). In this thesis I identify four main themes from the data. These relate to early childhood experience: • in the home and the impact of work on family life • in the community and a child’s ability to participate • living independent lives with peers and the ability to take risks • in the inner life of the child and the impact of commercialism on her self image. I conclude that there was a measure of shared aspiration for young children between participants in my research and the Framework document in relation to the importance of building family and community based experiences. However, there were also wide differences in expectations relating to existing capacities of families and communities to support young children. In particular there was a lack of recognition in the Framework of the considerable pressures experienced by families and communities from wider economic and social forces driven by a neo-liberal marketised economy. This finding enabled the illumination of gaps and mismatches between policy objectives relating to family and community strength and the lived experiences of children, families and communities in Scotland. I identify in the thesis how such mismatches impact significantly on the ways in which services are organised and the ways in which practitioners understand their roles and responsibilities. Current professional responses are based in an assumed power and authority emanating from a restricted sense of professional identity. As such, they may act in a detrimental way on the development of collaborative, strengths based relationships between staff and parents and children. The thesis contributes to knowledge in this field by exposing, for the first time, the policy, practice and experience divides relating to creating strength and resilience in young children and their families in Scotland, and in discussing the implications for theoretical and policy based understandings of the relationships between the four themes identified above and professional responses.

The research study considers insights and challenges to listening to young children’s voices in a pre-school in England. The study was motivated by the political and social agendas which assert the fundamental involvement of young children as active decision-makers in all aspects of their lives (for example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the Children Act 2004). The researcher aimed for participatory research with the children and staff to explore effective ways in which young children’s communications might be supported through the co-creation of their early years curriculum. The intention was to focus on ‘tools’ and techniques that might support children’s voices which were gaining attention in the academic literature (for example, the Mosaic Approach introduced by Alison Clark and Peter Moss). As a recent early years practitioner at the pre-school, the researcher offers a frank view of the potential complexities of implementing such participatory research. The researcher took an innovative, flexible and highly reflective stance to adapting the research approach in response to the challenges to establishing participation that emerged, using a postmodern framework to assist meaning-making. A substantive finding was that although the ‘tools’ and techniques opened a significant space for beginning to listen to children’s voices, it was the constructions of the underpinning relationships that offered the most potential (and the greatest challenge) for genuinely participating with and hearing children. The study concluded a focus on the latter is paramount for children to be accorded their rights as active decision-makers.

Observations of young children are conducted in an educational setting by practitioners to plan and assess activities based on the individual development and needs of the child. Challenges include: recording, how to be an observer rather than a participant, and connecting developmental theory to observable behaviour.Several projects have simulated children in their learning environments, aimed mainly at pre-service teachers, but these have neither been for young children where the activity is play-based nor where the adult is supportive of the child's interests. Some simulations have used 3D graphics to represent a child via a role-playing adult but there have been few attempts to use autonomous characters.A novel real-time interactive 3D graphical simulation—Observation—was developed, providing a physical sandbox for users to: add autonomous characters (representing children), add objects, and customise the play-based environment. The definitions of the characters were informed by the findings from early childhood research. The simulation was evaluated using two complementary serious game frameworks and its utility was evaluated by professionals within the field of early childhood education comprising university students and educators, and local education authority advisors. An explorative, mixed methods approach was taken, triangulating across: a pilot study and a main study; different research instruments (simulation activity plus questionnaire, focus groups, interviews); and a range of participants. The simulation has utility because: it is an interesting way to explore the behaviours of young children, the theoretical understanding behind children's play can be deepened, and observational skills can be developed. The simulation has wide appeal because the perceived utility of the simulation is not influenced by: professional experience, number of real-life observations of young children, or time spent playing video games. Age is considered to be the most important omission from the abstract character in the simulation.

What is the nature and purpose of Family Learning? The discourses relating to how a strong home-school relationship affects attitudes to Lifelong Learning and the impact of paternal involvement in young children's development have been well researched and document clear links and positive, enduring benefits for families and professionals. In spite, or perhaps because of this focus, the means by which these connections are achieved and maintained remains less well explored. The issues that need addressing now are more tangible challenges, such as: what does good practice look like, who decides which notions are consolidated, when and why? Coupled with questions such as how do we get more fathers more involved and what will enable these relationships to flourish, this research reports on the initial findings from a small-scale exploratory inquiry, conducted as part of a professional doctorate, which considers a possible approach to these issues. It is an illuminative case study, located within an interpretive research paradigm, based on ontological assumptions of empowerment and emancipation for participants. A sociocultural epistemology informs and frames the work. The study sets out to explore the value and potential of Family Learning as a means of focused intervention in response to the questions raised, whilst also examining and increasing awareness of the issues involved, as seen by participants, to facilitate the expression of paternal agency and voice within the research process. The data collection, conducted over a period of six months, focuses on an existing Fathers’ Group, as they participate in a Family Learning project. It seeks to establish the nature and purpose of this type of provision, by clarifying the processes, outcomes and determinants of involvement through the eyes of the fathers, as they define and ultimately come to terms with their own identity and roles, in relation to their young children's development. The research centres on two workshops supported by several participant-led focus meetings. Two semi-structured staff interviews offer insight into the role that both professional and personal cultural and historical understandings of Family Learning play in the process, whilst the data analysis illuminates and describes the relationships between parents and practitioners, policy and pedagogy. The research observations could be used to inform approaches to both the establishment and the development of individual, personalised family frameworks for Lifelong Learning. The findings may also contribute towards a fresh perspective and offer creative approaches for professionals, in which pedagogical practice is not pre-determined but constantly evolving, on an equal and collaborative basis, between professionals and participants. This study offers a critical examination of grassroots Family Learning in practice. It is firmly embedded within and responsive to the needs of its local community. It aims to provide independent evidence to reinforce and extend the current knowledge base and ultimately, to maintain, strengthen and expand the connections between Family and Lifelong Learning.

This research project aims to explore the role of the Key Person in Early Years preschool and nursery settings. The Key Person role is specified in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance, and aims to provide an adult figure with which the children can form a positive and productive learning relationship. The present study originated from previous research conducted in the same authority which looked at the experiences of children in day care settings (Day, 2010). Day (2010) identified children’s attachment needs in day care settings as being an avenue for further research, and it was from this that the present study developed. The current study seeks to understand the role of the Key Person in terms of how relationships are formed with children in Early Years settings, and what those relationships look like on a daily basis. This is an important line of enquiry, as an understanding of Early Years, adult-child relationships can help inform effective future practice for Early Years staff, as well as enable outside professionals (such as Educational Psychologists) to design more effective means of early intervention for the children who may need additional support. The theoretical foundations for this research lie in attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), following the language used by the Government Guidance on the role of the Key Person. Attachment theory is used here as a basis for understanding early adult-child relationships, and the review of the literature looks at research that has explored the impact of children’s attendance in day care settings. The project is divided into two linked research papers. In the first paper, the role of the Key Person is explored through surveying and interviewing a sample of Early Years staff. In doing this, the following research objectives were addressed: • To examine the approaches that Key Persons use to form relationships with the children in their care. • To explore Key Persons’ perceptions of their role within the setting and the challenges they face. • To examine the awareness and impact of the current government guidance on Key Person practice. • To examine how settings organise and evaluate the Key Person role. In the second paper, the relationships between the Key Persons and the children they care for are explored through a series of case studies. This was in order to address the following research objectives: • To explore the relationships between particular children with adults in Early Years settings through intensive case studies. • To examine the Key Person-child relationship by comparing Key Person-child interactions with interactions with other adults in the setting. • To compare cases of Key Person-child relationships between children who have identified social or emotional needs and those who do not. The findings from paper one indicated that Key Persons do not generally seem to use the Government Guidance as a primary influence on the way they build positive relationships with their Key Children. Key Persons seemed to base their practice on experiential knowledge. Furthermore, the organisation of the role in most settings seemed to indicate a more administrative focus than a focus on building specific relationships. Paper two showed that Key Persons generally had more interactions with their Key Children than other adults had with the same children. Differences were found in the types of interactions children experienced with different adults. Relationships were reported to be close with both groups of children, with Key Persons reporting more conflict with the children identified with social or emotional needs. It is hoped that the findings of the two linked papers will inform EP practice in relation to Early Years settings, particularly in terms of developing early intervention. From professional experience, there seems to be a large amount of diversity in the way EP services work with preschool-aged children and the professionals who support them. Perhaps further uses for the findings in this research could be to inform future collaborative working, as well as areas to which EPs can contribute their body of research knowledge. The following document presents each study separately as individual papers, each with appendices which contain additional information on methods and data analysis. The papers are followed by the literature review, university Ethics form and the bibliography for the entire study.

The aim of this study was to ensure that the Sefton Educational Psychology and Portage Service (SEPPS) maintained a high quality service to very young children, their families and settings while responding to the national changes in Children’s Services prompted by Every Child Matters (ECM) (DfES, 2003) and changes in team structure and personnel at a local level. The methodology used was based on the appreciative inquiry (AI) 4-D cycle described by Coghlan, Preskill and Catsambas, (2003) and consisted of four phases which were implemented over a period of eighteen months: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. During the Discovery phase of the project, three educational psychologists (EPs) provided rich narratives illustrating what drives them to work with very young children, families and settings and the contribution that they think EPs make to this area of work. Individual EP’s views of their own skills were corroborated by interviews with parents and analysis of all seven parental stories confirmed that the service that they received met the EPs’ expectations of best practice. In Phase Two, (Discovery/Dream) a workshop was held with representatives of the EP team’s other early years stakeholders to introduce them to AI and to elicit their perceptions of best practice in partnership working. The findings from the inquiry were then used to inform the work of the team during the period from April 2009 to February 2010 (Design/Destiny). Progress was tracked both formally and informally. At the end of the Destiny phase, the stakeholders involved in Phase Two of the project were interviewed to gather evidence on whether they had been able to apply AI in their own work and whether they had noticed any differences in the early years’ work of EPs since attending the initial workshop. The data collected by the author and other members of the EP team (who acted as co-researchers) included interview transcripts, worksheets, flipcharts, reflection/evaluation sheets and minutes of meetings. Each of these elements was analysed individually and collectively by the author according to the principles of thematic analysis, as described by Attride-Stirling (2001), Carter (2004) and Braun and Clarke (2006).At the end of the project, some of the stakeholders interviewed reported that the AI workshop had transformed their way of working from a deficit model to a strengths based model. There was also evidence that attendance at the workshop had changed participants’ perceptions of the role of the EP, facilitating improved channels of communication and the development of a shared vision. Each member of the early years EP team was mentioned in at least one positive story, indicating that high standards of service delivery were maintained during a period of considerable change. The extent to which AI contributed to this process and the challenges presented by this methodology are also discussed.

Recent studies have shown that there may be evidence that children with reading difficulties have particular compensatory spatial ability, although the exact spatial ability has not been identified. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine closely two spatial abilities, spatial visualisation (mental rotation from memory) and visual realism (three-dimensional drawing and construction ability) in students with reading problems and students with no problems. The aim was also to explore the question of whether students with spatial ability and reading problems were encouraged to use these strengths either in or out of school and whether such abilities could be identified in the early years environment. Equally, the question of motivational failure related to possible unrecognised potential, particularly in the area of non-verbal/spatial ability was also examined. This study used longitudinal case studies with five children and their mothers over a period of ten years. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using a grounded theory approach. Researcher observations as the teacher of the five children in their primary years provided additional evidence of their reading and spatial abilities at an early age. In addition, the study uses a Further Education College survey that examines spatial ability and reading problems in 133 post-16 year olds that provides the quantitative element of the study providing evidence about students with spatial abilities and their career choices. The data analysis revealed that the five case studies had largely overcome their reading problems due to early intervention strategies for reading together with encouragement and support outside school for their spatial abilities. Additionally, they have pursued careers, which for the most part, uses their spatial skills. The data analysis of the College survey showed that the link between spatial ability and reading problems was less secure, although there were a number of students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) who had high spatial abilities and this proved to be important from the point of view of identifying strengths alongside weakness in literacy, particularly in the early years at school. Early identification and acknowledgement of spatial ability as a perceived strength and used to support learning, as opposed to identification of reading problems, a perceived deficit, proved to be a key finding of the research.

Educators have discovered that adolescents commonly hold misconceptions in science which interfere with future learning and are difficult to eradicate. However, although early informal learning experiences have been suggested as the source of these ideas, the process by which young children develop both sound knowledge and misconceptions in science has not been elucidated. This research, which is exploratory in nature, is a study of the development of just one concept in young children in the hope that some apparently contradictory evidence can be reconciled. The empirical enquiry was conducted in two parts: 1. A cross-sectional design was employed with thirty children at each age of four, six, and eight. Semi-structured individual interviews probed children's knowledge of food-related factual items and their understanding that people depend upon plants either directly or indirectly for their food.2. A qualitative enquiry was engaged to discover the experiences of young children, both inside and outside school, which might contribute to their knowledge about the origin of food. Children’s responses indicate an increase in factual knowledge with age. Although this can be linked primarily to their practical experiences, video film and adult explanation rather than books played their part as well. The children themselves frequently mentioned family-based experiences as the source of their knowledge. There was no significant correlation between factual knowledge and understanding, indicating the possible existence of an intervening process linking the two. On many occasions the younger children made statements which could inadvertently mislead the questioner to underestimate the extent of their knowledge. However, early signs of a scientific misconception which is known to cause problems for adolescent learners were found. This was not the result of faulty information provided by adults and could easily be overlooked. Insight from recent developments in cognitive science can help both to explain these findings and also in the design of improved pedagogic strategies.

This longitudinal study investigates the factors at home and school that influence children's attainment and progress in writing at Key Stage 1. Sixty children between the ages of four and seven years in four Reading primaiy schools were tracked and data was collected in the term before they started school, at school entry, on a termly basis once in school and at the end of Key Stage 1. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation schedules, checklists and standardised assessments were used. Associations between measures and continuity over time were assessed using multiple regression analysis. Pre-school independent variables that were found to be significantly associated with writing proficiency at school entry included mother's educational level, family size, parental assessment of writing and a measure of home writing. Child characteristics, skills and competencies were measured at school entry and those found to be significantly associated with writing at outcome included season of birth, WPPSI-R vocabulary score, pre-reading skills and proficiency in writing their own name. The only pre-school variable that maintained its significant relationship to writing at outcome was home writing. Teacher assessments of pupil attitudes to writing were consistently found to be significantly associated with writing at outcome. Data from the termly writing samples indicated that only the handwriting assessment predicted general writing ability at seven years of age. Eight pupils were observed writing at two points in time and the records are discussed in terms of processes and products. Issues such as quality and quantity of writing generated are considered in relation to the development of component skills (e.g. handwriting, spelling, vocabulary), within the context of the curriculum and role of the teacher. The results confirm the complexity of learning to write for children at Key Stage I and developmental considerations are discussed in relation to policy and practice issues.

It is argued in Chapters 1 to 4 that in cognitive psychology in general, and in the disciplines of language acquisition and cognitive development in particular, there is substantial benefit to be derived from distinguishing between two representational systems, one system being deployed in long-established or highly-practiced functions, and the second deployed in novel tasks, or where difficulties interrupt the first system. It is also argued that the proper subject of cognitive development is the second of these systems. Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned in different ways with the origins of language in the individual, in particular with the question of what innate knowledge of language might be justified. It is concluded that many questions regarding innate knowledge remain open, and that a source in human evolution for knowledge of language is no more likely than sources in individual or social development. In Chapter 7 it is argued that representational drawing emerges late in the 4th year of life, and some new techniques are described for studying early representational drawing. Following these treatments of external systems of representation, Chapter 8 offers a general developmental theory of forms of representation, extending Piaget's insight that mental representation is co-extensive with thought, and that the main axis of cognitive development is the content of thought and representation. Chapters 9 to 12 apply this theory to the representation of belief and desire, and of extrinsic and intrinsic qualities of objects, by 11/2 to 4 year-old children. Chapter 13 introduces a new method for analyzing the free classification task, a task sometimes used to assess children's ability to think about intrinsic qualities, and applies this method to various data sets. Chapter 14 applies these insights and results to the problem of characterizing concepts and concept development and favourably discusses the idea that more precise knowledge of this aspect of development may help to explain certain features of early language acquisition.