Online Conference: Involving, Informing and Inspiring

Dr Lucy Parker - Lucy is Deputy Headteacher at Ludwick Nursery School, in Hertfordshire. She is a trustee for the Froebel Trust and Co Chair of the Education Research Committee. She is the author of two of the Trusts pamphlets and also a Travelling Tutor.

Dr Karen Vincent is an Independent Researcher, Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has taught in all phases of education during her career. Karen's research interests are rooted in narrative pedagogies in early childhood education. Her doctoral study examined the values and beliefs of early childhood initial teacher educators.

She is currently involved in a participatory research project with nurseries in Kent to explore pedagogical interactions in the outdoors. Karen co-wrote, ‘Supporting Early Literacies through Play’ with Dr Kate Smith. She is a Trustee and Secretary for TACTYC (Together and Committed to Young Children) as well as Vice Chair and Secretary of IPDA England (International Professional Development Association). She has Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

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’.

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.

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.

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 Alison Moore is a Professional Practice Placement Manager at University College Cork, in Ireland. Alison’s roots lie within early years, and she has over 40 years’ experience in the sector. Before moving to Cork in 2019, she led a group of Children’s Centres in Birmingham, England, managing multidisciplinary teams and delivering support to children under 5 and their families, including early years care and education, family support and health services. Alison’s doctoral thesis, awarded by Birmingham City University as part of a combined programme at the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), explored parent and practitioner perspectives on how an open-listening climate in early years settings can facilitate child voice (Moore, 2022).

Alison’s interest in implementing a Froebelian Approach into her own practice was ignited as a co-researcher on the Nurture through nature: fostering early childhood students’ understanding of outdoor learning spaces, project, funded by the Froebel Trust, alongside her colleague and co-researcher, Marcella Towler. She went on to graduate with the Frobel Trust after successfully completing a Froebel Professional Development Course at the University of Roehampton.

Marcella Towler is a Lecturer on the Early Years and Childhood Studies and the Masters of Education Programmes in University College Cork. She was co-researcher on the Froebel Trust funded Nurture through Nature Research Project which explored students’ developing understandings of outdoor learning spaces.

Marcella has presented papers at the International Froebel Society Conferences in Boston, Dublin, Maynooth and Erfurt, EECERA Glasgow and OMEP National and World Conferences. Marcella’s PhD research is exploring how discourses of play are portrayed on early childhood education websites. Her positionality within the research and interpretation of the findings will be influenced by a Froebelian perspective.

Marcella’s research interests and publications relate to Froebelian education, outdoor pedagogy and early childhood curricula and practice in Ireland and Lesotho.

Marcella is a member of the Board of Directors for Action Lesotho, an Irish NGO and is a curriculum mentor for their Childhood Education and Well-Being Programme.

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.

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.