The Voice of Early Childhood – Détails, épisodes et analyse

There has never been a more urgent time to reflect on how we, as a profession, present ourselves to the world. The early childhood community is rich in knowledge, experience and deep commitment to children's learning and wellbeing. Yet, we continue to wrestle with misunderstanding, mistrust and misrepresentation—externally and, at times, internally. This podcast episode and article draw attention to the language we use in early childhood education—how it defines us, how it connects (or disconnects) us from the wider world, and how it influences perceptions of what we do. Language shapes reality. The words we choose matter.

Read the article here:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/reframing-early-childhood-how-language-impacts-our-professional-identity/

This episode is sponsored by Childcare Marketing:

Our team of passionate childcare marketing and childcare professionals have the experience to take your childcare business and its online presence to the next level. Starting with a bespoke childcare website design, we then focus on strategic marketing activity aligned to your goals and objectives. Whether is revenue, recruitment or reputation, our goal is to help you grow and sustain your business.

To find out more visit: childcaremarketing.co.uk

Our 2026 conference info & tickets:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2026/

Listen to more:

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like more from Jan:

·       What is an early years curriculum? - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/what-is-an-early-years-curriculum/

·       Data in early childhood - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/data-in-early-childhood/

·       It's not really about dinosaurs… - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-curriculum/

Get in touch and share your voice:

Do you have thoughts, questions or feedback? Get in touch here! – https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/contact/

Episode break down:

00:00 – Welcome and introduction
03:30 – Why language matters in early childhood education
06:25 – Who defines professional language?
09:05 – Rethinking the word 'play'
13:25 – Emotional attachment to terminology
16:15 – Using the right language to elevate our practice
19:15 – Building confidence to talk about curriculum and learning
22:45 – Science, history, and geography in the early years
27:05 – Breaking down the education–care divide
30:15 – Recognising all roles in the profession
32:35 – How do you value different voices in your setting or network?
33:45 – Addressing disadvantage and the role of early education
37:25 – A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work
41:35 – Recognising and responding to different forms of cultural capital
44:45 – The importance of knowing children and families deeply
47:05 – What do we mean by curriculum?
49:35 – Using GLD data to ask better questions
53:05 – Language, learning goals, and conversations with families
55:15 – Rethinking 'academic' and 'intellectual'
58:00 – Final reflections and key messages

For more episodes and articles visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

This article and podcast episode with Dr Dan Wuori, author of The Daycare Myth, challenge outdated perceptions of early childhood education, highlighting the need for policy reform, professional respect, and fair pay. Drawing on decades of experience, Dr Wuori calls for a reimagining of early learning as essential, complex, and deserving of greater societal value.

Read the article here:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/the-daycare-myth-shifting-the-narrative-on-early-childhood-education/

This episode is in partnership with Male Childcare and Teaching Jobs.

Male Childcare and Teaching Jobs advocate for greater male participation in education and caregiving roles, offering support and guidance to enhance gender inclusion in nurseries and schools.

To find out more visit: https://malechildcareandteachingjobs.co.uk/

Listen to more:

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like to hear more at https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/articles/men-in-early-childhood/

Our 2026 conference info & tickets:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2026/

Get in touch and share your voice:

Do you have thoughts, questions or feedback? Get in touch here! – https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/contact/

Episode break down:

00:00 – Welcome!
02:00 – The Daycare Myth
07:00 – How the profession is viewed
14:00 – A journey into the profession
21:45 – Encouraging more men into the profession
26:00 – Inconsistency for young children
29:00 – A stagnant level of men in early childhood
31:00 – The joy of working in early childhood
33:00 – We need to do a better job working with policy makers
35:00 – Further information

For more episodes and articles visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

In this re-released episode and article David Meechan critically explores the reception baseline assessment (RBA), questioning its purpose, reliability and impact on children, teachers and families. Drawing on his research and personal experience, he highlights practical ways educators and leaders can navigate the RBA while advocating for assessment approaches that truly reflect and support child-centred learning in the early weeks of school. 

Read the article here:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/whats-the-problem-with-the-reception-baseline-assessment/

Our 2026 conference info & tickets:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2026/

Get in touch and share your voice:

Do you have thoughts, questions or feedback? Get in touch here! – https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/contact/

Episode breakdown: 

• 03:30 - How David's work started on the RBA
• 05:50 - Requesting his son's withdrawal from the assessment 
• 07:55 - Inconsistencies of withdrawal from the assessment
• 09:30 - Moral issues with assessment and testing
• 11:30 - Research into the baseline assessment
• 14:40 - Signing away a child's data footprint
• 15:57 - The datafication of early years
• 19:00 - Are the children's best interests at heart? 
• 20:40 - Taking teachers out of classrooms
• 21:58 - Key findings from David's baseline research
• 23:50 - Treating children as a means to an end
• 27:35 - Making the most of the reception baseline assessment
• 29:00 - A holistic approach to the baseline assessment
• 30:40 - Reliability of the baseline assessment
• 32:00 - Reducing lived experiences to abstract numbers
• 34:15 - Positives taken from the baseline assessment 
• 36:00 - Giving value to assessment
• 40:00 - Tips for teachers conducting the baseline assessment

Hear and read more on The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/

In this series on the science behind outdoor play Angelica talks to Gemma Goldenberg who is researching how indoor and outdoor environments affect children's stress, attention and self-regulated behaviour.

In this episode, part 4 of the series, Gemma shares her results around children's behaviour and attention during and after outdoor and indoor sessions. Gemma and Angelica discuss the findings in more depth, beyond the general trends, which raises implications for wider educational research as well as pedagogy in classrooms around 'controlling' children's behaviour, looking at averages in data and listening to children's preferences when it comes to their own individual learning. 

Episode breakdown:

01:10 - What we already know about impacts of the outdoors on attention
03:30 - Individual differences and preferences
04:45 - Controlling measures in the research study
06:00 - How do we measure behaviour and attention?
14:32 - Implications for 'good listening'
17:20 - Did you find what you expected to find in the research?
18:30 - What use is identifying the average and looking at general data/trends?
21:00 - Implications for educational research
23:00 - Preference impacts learning: Listening to children's preferences matters!
26:40 - What do teachers need to control and when can they release control?

Listen to the full 4-part series and read Gemma's articles on:

The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

This episode is sponsored by Learniture - Experts in the design of educational furniture for settings and schools who recognise that learning environments can positively impact achievement.

To find out more about Learniture, visit www.learniture.co.uk

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/. 

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

Tricia Mohamed's episode on:

The skill of observation -www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/the-skill-of-observation

Let's flip practice on its head - instead of a 'language rich environment', how about we have an environment which doesn't rely on language? Angelica has a conversation with Marlis Juerging-Coles who gives us a different perspective on language, and really challenges common practices. Take a look below at all of the thought-provoking points addressed in this episode...

Episode breakdown: 

01:27 - Three common factors in supporting language
02:55 - Language is our social currency
05:05 - Should we use the child's first language in settings?
12:54 - Tokenism and cultural differences
17:00 - An environment that doesn't rely on language
20:17 - No child has chosen to be at your setting
25:50 - Does it matter if children don't use English?
28:40 - Achieving deep level learning
32:27 - Creating an environment which doesn't rely on language
36:30 - Don't be too quick to make changes...
39:00 - Involving children in constructing their environment
43:00 - Getting to know and respecting families' preferences
48:40 - Reflection and asking questions is not a negative
51:37 - What would you say to Ofsted?

Read Marlis' article and find out more on The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/. 

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

David Wright's episode on:

Early childhood centres as places of influence, restoration and hope -

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-childhood-centres-as-places-of-influence-restoration-and-hope/ 

On this first episode of 2024 Angelica talks to Dr Jo Albin-Clark and Dr Nathan Archer on the topic of advocacy and activism in early childhood. Jo and Nathan share the work they do with educators on day to day acts of activism and ethical subversions in practice. A number of topics are brought into this episode, including early childhood pioneers, both past and present, as well as democracy, citizenship and identity.

Episode breakdown: 

02:12 - The history of advocacy and activism in early childhood 
04:10 - What does advocacy look like today?
06:00 - Advocacy as an everyday occurrence
07:00 - Resistance practices
08:42 - Bringing together theory, practice and academia
09:46 - Challenging pioneering theorists
13:58 - The word pioneer: Reconfiguring this term
15:27 - Critical awareness around policy as a bedrock for advocacy
16:57 - The importance of collectivising
18:25 - The barriers to collectivising
19:34 - The risks involved in advocacy and activism
22:50 - Acknowledging acts of advocacy
28:44 - The power of storytelling/sharing around day to day practice
32:10 - Examples of advocacy in practice
36:20 - The recipe for advocacy in early childhood
38:15 - Recognising and celebrating play alongside families and children
42:03 - Educators' professional identities
44:12 - Citizenship and sustainability
46:48 - Engaging in dialogue with wider society 
49:50 - A polarised society

Find out more on The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/

In this series on the science behind outdoor play Angelica talks to Gemma Goldenberg who is researching how indoor and outdoor environments affect children's stress, attention and self-regulated behaviour.

In this episode, part 3 of the series, Gemma shares with us the first set of results from her research around noise levels indoors vs outdoors and the levels of stress children experience from noisy environments.

Gemma and Angelica discuss:

01:26 - Not enough information around why noise levels matter
02:14 - Tuning into speech is not fully developed until age 14
05:15 - Measuring noise levels in classrooms
06:20 - Sound proofing classrooms and improving their acoustic quality
14:32 - Are outdoor classrooms really quieter than indoors?
22:36 - The impact of noise levels on children's stress levels
25:24 - External influences on the findings
29:20 - Statistical significant findings and impact on practice and policy
30:00 - Further data from this study and Gemma's research journey

In part 4 Gemma will share with us further results of her research:
- How being outdoors affected children's attention
- How being outdoors affected children's behaviour

Listen to the full series and read Gemma's articles on:

The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/. 

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

Jan Dubiel's episode on: It's not really about dinosaurs - www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-curriculum

On this episode Angelica talks to Ruth Swailes, Early Years Advisor and Curriculum Developer, and Jan Dubiel, Early Years Advisor with a specialism in pedagogy, assessment and curriculum development.

The idea of a curriculum in early years is still an uncomfortable one for many early years practitioners. In this episode, Jan Dubiel and Ruth Swailes unpick what an early years curriculum is, what considerations go into the construction of an early years curriculum, the recording and updating of it, and the challenges which exist in practice and around the concept of curricula.

Episode breakdown: 

01:30 - The notion of a curriculum being scary and an intimidating term
03:49 - The difference between curriculum and pedagogy
04:45 - What we want children to learn vs what children learn
06:49 - Curriculum from an early years lens
09:55 - Is 'the child' the curriculum? Is child development part of curricula?
14:30 - The role of dispositions and attitudes, and learning behaviours
18:20 - Coverage and depth of curriculum - deep level and surface level learning
19:30 - Development Matters is not a curriculum
22:30 - Educators' ownership of the curriculum
23:20 - The need for training and experience in implementing curricula
25:00 - Constructing your curriculum is a valuable process
29:28 - Does the curriculum need to be fluid or is it about flexible pedagogy?
40:00 - Curriculum sequencing and recording
40:25 - The curriculum hasn't met your children - you have
44:45 - Educator autonomy, confidence and knowledge
46:12 - Wellbeing at the heart of curricula
48:25 - Assertiveness for educators: Advocating for early years

Find out more on The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/. 

In this series on the science behind outdoor play Angelica talks to Gemma Goldenberg who is researching how indoor and outdoor environments affect children's stress, attention and self-regulated behaviour.

In this episode, part 2 of the series, Gemma discusses the challenges faced throughout the data collection and how the children and educators reacted to her research during the implementation of the methods.

Gemma and Angelica discuss:

02:00 - A recap of the research methods
03:55 - Challenges around wearable devices
05:33 - Making children feel more comfortable during research
11:10 - Researcher positionality and self reflection
11:54 - Researching with children and educators, not on them
14:10 - The practicalities of researching in classrooms
15:51 - Instant impact on practice
17:25 - What's to come in the next episode

In part 3 Gemma will share with us the results of her research:
-    Whether children are noisier and more stressed indoors or outside
-    How being outdoors affected children's attention
-    How being outdoors affected children's behaviour

Listen to the full series and read Gemma's articles on:

The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

For 10% off our conference tickets visit: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-conference-2024/. 

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

Matt Bawler's episode on: Growth mindset in early childhood - www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/growth-mindset-in-early-childhood/ 

Maureen Hunt's episode on: Self-efficacy in young children - www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/self-efficacy-in-young-children/ 

This episode details:

On this episode Angelica talks to Dr Jacqueline Harding, International Child Development Specialist, Research Fellow at Middlesex University, Chair of Bright Start Foundation.

Jacqueline and Angelica discuss: 

01:13 - What do we mean by 'play'? 
02:48 - Play is far from JUST fun...
04:35 - Play as a buffer against stress
05:27 - The power of the smile: Social interactions and connection
09:00 - Mirroring and sustained shared thinking: What happens in the brain during this?
11:25 - Neuroplasticity, celebrating our lives and promoting positivity 
13:18 - Creativity and imagination as vital skills for now and the future
19:54 - Play poverty and its long term effects
22:35 - The state of flow and the brain
29:00 - Brain and body working in harmony
30:43 - Adults focusing on their own needs to be able to give more to children
33:50 - Reflective questioning and unpicking research
35:11 - Becoming experts via observations
39:15 - Building resilience through play
40:35 - Advocacy, protecting play and research informed practice
43:00 - What activities help brain growth? - Laughter as an under-researched area

Read Jacqueline's article and find out more on The Voice of Early Childhood website: www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com