09:45 - Introduction to Pikler

An overview of the Pikler approach, presented by Dilyana Karadzhova, member of the Pikler UK Management Committee.

11:45 - Q&A

Questions from the audience for Charlotte and Caroline.

13:15 - Julia Manning-Morton

Holding the Baby: Embodied Interactions in work with 0–3-year-olds.

This session will present my research into physical interactions between educators and babies and young children in early years settings. The research showed that educators and young children are in constant communication using physical cues and touch in subtle ways, and I identified a continuum of touch that impacts children’s experience, and which relates to educators’ intentions, their reading of children’s cues and are influenced by the more-than-human world.

Therefore, far from the ‘disappearing body’ we see in policy and pedagogical frameworks in the UK, this research highlights physical interactions and caregiving practices as fundamental to the wellbeing of 0–3-year-olds and suggests that practice that is supportive of children’s well-being depends on the ability of practitioners to combine personal responsiveness with a professional perspective. So, the research also considered how the development of respectful caregiving physical interactions might be supported and facilitated in professional development.

There will be approximately 15 minutes for a Q&A.

14:20 - Helen Sutherland

Helen Sutherland is an Associate Professor of Education at Kingston University and is currently the Course Leader for the PGCE Birth to Five with Early Years Teacher Status.  She teaches on a wide range of educational programmes as well as having extensive experience of working on Knowledge Exchange projects. These include a range of funded EU projects, working with universities, schools and Early Years settings in England, Norway, Sweden and Spain.  

Helen was the Principal Investigator for The Toddler Wellbeing Project (ToWe) working with universities, schools and early years settings in England, Norway, and Spain to develop early years practitioners’ and teachers’ skills, knowledge and understanding in supporting disadvantaged toddlers’ wellbeing.  The use of reflection underpinned the development of a range of tools and strategies working collaboratively with the early years practitioners and teachers in their implementation.   

Helen will talk about the ToWe Project and its ongoing development.

There will be approximately 15 minutes for a Q&A.

15:25 - Dawn Jones

Listening to young children’s voices: Reflections and impact on policy, practice and a sustainable future.

United Kingdom perspective

Dawn’s research considers how reflection upon the voices of reception children has enabled and demonstrated the importance of careful listening to what they have to say. From such respectful relationships, the ability of pedagogues to hear and thus respond well has highlighted the grave need for time within educational practice.

The work is based and builds upon a project entitled “What I really think about sitting straight, golden time and reward charts”: Gathering 4-year-olds views on behaviourist pedagogy in reception. The theoretical framework draws upon the 'pedagogy of listening' which is embedded within the Reggio Emilia approach (Rinaldi, 2006) while also embodying Clark's (2020) 'slow pedagogy', specifically reflective thinking with and through the mosaic approach, along with a qualitative interpretation of children’s personal and collective narratives. 

The voice of the child(ren) has been the driving force, their ideas and opinions lead the discussions and enable the exploration and identification of key themes that matter to them. Through the critical examination of what children have to say, the research questions and challenges current thinking into the organisation of educational spaces, whilst also understanding and questioning how children already see the environment and the vast array of materials within it as active participants within their shared worlds.

The researchers took the child’s reflections, carefully considering what it was they said. Whilst this was a privilege it was also a great responsibility. Careful and respectful representation of their voice was an on-going process. The collective narratives of the child(ren) were the focal point for interpretation and supported the research team to be informed of the child’s thoughts and viewpoints on ‘what it is like to be in this space’ (Clarke, 2017, P.10).   

Keywords: Reflective pedagogy, child’s voice, time

There will be approximately 15 minutes for a Q&A.

16:15 - Closing

A summing up and conclusion to the day’s proceedings from the Conference Chair.