Online Conference: Involving, Informing and Inspiring

Dr Karen Vincent is an Independent Researcher, Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies and Primary Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her experience as a teacher in a variety of school settings with a particular interest in the earliest years of learning, has led to her practice based pedagogical research interests.

Polly Bolshaw is a Senior Lecturer in Early Years at Canterbury Christ Church University. Previously she worked as an Early Years Professional in a Sure Start Children’s Centre. Research interests include the experiences of young children outdoors and research methods for undergraduate students. She is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate at The Open University about babies’ perspectives of the outdoors.

Janice Marriott is the Head of TuffKid nursery which is part of Kisharon Langdon organisation. TuffKid is an orthodox Jewish nursery with one third of the children having complex needs. Janice is a Hearing Therapist and has her MA in integrated provision for children and families in early years. Tuffkid has been on its Froebelian journey for 10 years and Janice takes pride in ensuring that Froebel's occupational provisions are accessible to all the children in her setting, regardless of needs and abilities.

Sue is co-founder of Ready Generations research charity which brings people of all generations together. She is an early years teacher, researcher and community activist.

Sue’s passion is to find ways to understand and improve relational connection in order to support health, wellbeing and life-long learning across the life course. She believes the concept of reciprocal communities is key as well as encouraging a strong individual sense of identity and belonging. She is committed to developing gathering spaces that enable rich conversations and an awareness that human needs are complex and contextual realities are diverse.

Kay has worked with people of all ages in her roles as Early Years Professional, Teacher, Youth Leader and Police Officer over the past four decades. Throughout this time, Kay has endeavoured to develop inclusive, authentic and motivational educational activities which meet personal interests and build upon current skills. She is currently an Assistant Professor within the School of Communities and Education at the University of Northumbria (Newcastle).

Kay’s doctoral research, completed at the University of Sheffield, involved Early Years Practitioners as co-researchers. Together, Kay and her co-researchers investigated the inclusion of older adults in the lives of young children in an urban Forest School Environment. In doing so they explored interactions, knowledge exchange and the benefits of such activity. Kay's international research into intergenerational practice continues.

Kay and colleagues recently completed The Froebel Trust project entitled, ‘The impact of involving grand-friends in children’s lives within a Froebelian-inspired intergenerational nursery’.

Lynn J McNair is a distinguished scholar and thought leader in early childhood education and care. With a profound dedication to advancing knowledge and fostering intellectual discourse Lynn has made significant contributions to the academic community through her research, teaching, and public endeavours.

Lynn holds a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, where she serves as a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and Froebel. Her research interest encompasses a wide range of topic including early childhood; Froebelian pedagogy, pedagogy as a critical and political practice/ pedagogical culture of questioning; practitioner inquiry; and young children’s transitions. Throughout her career Lynn has authored numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, exploring children’s storytelling, pedagogical documentation, Froebel and social justice. The seminal work of ‘The Power of Froebel in Early Childhood Education’ represents a culmination of years of research and it is making a significant impact in the field.

Dr Bridgette Redder from Aotearoa is a senior lecturer at Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand. Bridgette is programme leader of the postgraduate diploma in infant and toddler learning and development, and also the postgraduate diploma in Leadership. Her research areas of interest include the early years, moral answerability, dialogic pedagogy, transitions, the use of visualities in pedagogical practice, and teacher education. Bridgette deeply values the insights and understandings that can be seen when a dialogic lens is employed with teaching and research.

Dr Leah O’Toole is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University, Ireland. Leah is the Programme Coordinator of the BA in Early Childhood Teaching and Learning in Maynooth University, and teaches across modules on topics including psychology, reflective practice, transitions and connections with families and communities.

Located in the broad fields of psychology, early childhood and primary education, her research interests include bioecological theory, relational pedagogy, the role of parents, families and communities in education, constructions of children/childhood and accessing the voices of our youngest citizens from birth. Leah is particularly interested in participative approaches to research, and she has authored a range of books, book chapters and journal articles. For example, she is co-editor of the Routledge International Handbook of Relational Pedagogy, due to be published in June 2026 with contributions from writers from all over the world. Beyond academia, her work has impacted on practice and policy in early childhood and primary education.

For example, Leah recently led a team that consulted with babies, toddlers and young children to inform the updating of the Irish National Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, Aistear. Its findings strongly influenced the new Aistear, published in 2024. This work has also influenced policy on young children’s participation at Irish and European Commission levels. The defining theme of her work across this range of interests is the crucial nature of relationships for learning and development.

Dr Sian Sarwar is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies and Programme Director for the BA (Hons) Primary Education Studies programme at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her research interests lie within curriculum and pedagogy, particularly in relation to curriculum development, enactment and accommodating and facilitating the participation rights of young children within their education.

Sian’s PhD generated a conceptual framework, providing a theoretical infrastructure to facilitate participative rights and enable children/young people to influence their experiences of music. With participation as the framework’s core concept, the intention is for this conceptual framework to be applied in contexts beyond that from which it was generated.

The focus of Sian’s research outputs include: exploring free play in a woodland setting; making use of school grounds beyond the school day; museum education; young children’s participation in education; and informal learning. Current research within Ty Froebel focuses on Curriculum for Wales, exploring the capacity of Froebel’s principles and practices to support its enactment.

Kate is a Reader in Public Policy with a focus on education and social policy, identity and inequalities. Her research expertise lies in three areas; social and education policy; equalities; and social justice. She is particularly interested in the intersection of these areas in early years settings, further and higher education.

Kate has served as co-chair for the Gender and Education Association and is chair of the Education and Research committee of the Froebel Trust. She has led research teams in a number of projects examining inequalities in the early years, with a focus on the role of policy in exacerbating these issues. Her work examines the role of family and education in social mobility amongst secondary and higher education students. She has published widely in these areas.

Becci Goulding is an experienced Flying Start Advisory Teacher for Cardiff Flying Start, bringing over twenty years of Early Years expertise to her role. She began her career by completing a BTEC in Early Childhood Education, followed by three years working in a school setting. Driven by a growing passion for Early Years, Becci went on to complete a BA in Primary Education with a specialism in Early Years.

Becci then spent two decades at Cardiff’s first integrated children’s centre, working closely with children, families and practitioners. During this time, she undertook a secondment to the NonMaintained Education Advisory Team, strengthening her commitment to highquality, collaborative Early Years practice.

In her current role with Cardiff Flying Start, Becci champions nurturing, developmentally informed early education and is passionate about the vital role early care and education play in children’s wellbeing and longterm success. She has completed the Froebel Elements training and has a strong interest in the Froebelian Principles.

Becci also leads a dedicated working group within the Flying Start Advisory Team, focused on embedding and promoting Froebelian Principles across Cardiff’s Flying Start childcare settings.

Alex Powell is a dedicated Senior Advisory Teacher for Cardiff Flying Start, a Welsh Government programme focused on supporting children and families in the most deprived areas of Wales. With a deep passion for Early Years education, Alex works closely with professionals to inspire and elevate practice through high-quality, relevant training and hands-on support in settings—ensuring the best possible outcomes for every child.

Her career began in primary education after completing a BSc in Early Years Development and Education, but her commitment to the Early Years has only grown stronger. Over recent years, Alex has completed all six Froebel short courses, embedding this approach into her work. She is now driven to share Froebelian principles with the settings she supports, while continuing to deepen her own understanding of this child-centred approach.

Nicola Kemp works as Director of Insight and Impact for The Froebel Trust and is a Visiting Reader in Education for Sustainable Futures at Canterbury Christ Church University. With an academic background in rural and environmental geography, her research interests include children’s connection with nature, outdoor learning and sustainability education.

Dr Sue Robson is an independent researcher and writer in the field of Early Childhood Care and Education. She has worked with and for young children for 45 years, including in Higher Education as Honorary Research Fellow, and as Principal Lecturer and Subject Leader for Early Childhood Studies at Roehampton. Sue has worked as a teacher in nurseries and primary schools, including as Deputy Headteacher of a Nursery and Infant School and co-leader of a large nursery.

She is a former Trustee of the Froebel Trust, and Committee Member for Research and Education. She is also a National Teaching Fellow and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests are particularly in the field of young children’s thinking, especially self-regulation and metacognition, and creative thinking, as well as young children’s play, well-being and autonomy. Much of her work has focused on the development of ways of researching with children.

Sue is also interested in practice development, and has had long involvement with practitioner support and development in local authorities in England. She contributed as a Member of a Working Group to Birth to Five Matters, and has worked as part of a team looking at the value of Work Discussion groups for early childhood practitioners. Sue has collaborated on a range of international projects, including working with practitioners and researchers in Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Uganda, the United States and Wales. Most recently she has been working on a Systematic Review of interventions to support young children’s self-regulation, particularly children in disadvantaged communities, and on an international project looking at children’s perspectives about their play experiences in settings, and supporting practitioner development in implementing guided play.

Sue has written and published widely in a range of journals, as well as books including Developing Thinking and Understanding and The International Handbook of Young Children’s Thinking and Understanding, both for Routledge, and Young Children’s Creative Thinking, and Self-Regulation in the Early Years, both for Sage.

Charmaine Agius Ferrante, Ph.D, Assistant professor in Education, Children and Young People, Northumbria University. She was Head of Education for Programmes in the School of Communities and Education. She is Senior teaching Fellow HEA and the Programme Lead for MA & BA Childhood and Early Years Studies.

She is also a consultant Developmental Educationist and has advised policy around inclusive education in Malta where she was involved in supporting the development and provision of inclusive practice. She is a visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. Her research interests are the politics, policy and practices of inclusive education with respect to the education of disabled children and young people. Her research themes include developmental education, early intervention, early years teaching and learning, creating spaces and places for all children, sexuality and relationships in young disabled people, the relationship between disability theory and the local and global disability movements together with the possible connections between inclusive education and disability studies.

She is a committed advocate for inclusive education, assisting parents, individuals, schools and communities to work towards building inclusive communities of Practice. Charmaine has engaged with the programme and with the team in her role of then Head of Education, in the design, development, the writing and the quality assurance procedures. Her previous experience providing teaching and learning support, combined with her experience in participatory research informed her contribution to the development and delivery of the programme.

Dr Jo Albin-Clark is a lecturer and researcher in early childhood education at Edge Hill University, UK. Her research interests include documentation practices along with methodological collaboration and research-creation through feminist materialisms, posthuman and hauntological theories. Throughout her work, embodied senses of resistance and subversion to dominant discourses have been a central thread. 

Liz Ludden is co-founder of the charity Ready Generations. As a highly experienced early years educator she also leads the outstanding Dukes and Duchesses Nursery in her home city of Liverpool. Liz works directly with a number of universities to advance practitioner led research projects across the sector both nationally and internationally. She is currently leading a nursery school improvement programme, Connect2Learn, in the Gunjur region of The Gambia.

Professor E. Jayne White leads early years scholarship at the University of Canterbury. She brings dialogic philosophy, pedagogy and methodology together to explore critical and creative ways of making meaning with our youngest learners. She is interested in “what could be” when diverse lenses are brought to bear on how young children are, or could be, seen. Her emphasis is on advancing positive outcomes for infants, toddlers and young children – so that their contributions are taken seriously in matters that concern them. She works closely with children, families and teachers towards this goal.

Jayne brings an extensive background – spanning over 40 years - as teacher, researcher, philosopher, author, editor, and scholar to this platform. She has authored over 100 books and articles, with significant research translations in policy and practice. Coupled with her prestigious role as Editor-in-chief of Springer’s International Journal of Early Childhood, Jayne leads an international network of researcher who promulgate cutting-edge research that makes a difference for infants, toddlers and young children – wherever they may be across the globe. As co-founder and Fellow of Association for Visual Pedagogies - she has co-initiated and led a visual movement in educational thought and practice. Combined with her Fellowship role in Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, she brings visual philosophy to bear on contemporary educational scholarship.