This week’s post has been written by Karen Matthews, an early years practitioner who has recently completed an MA in Early Childhood Education. Karen is sharing a thought-provoking reflection on how we teach children to share. Imagine this, you have been fitting together different shaped magnets to create a model; you have been at this …
Author: Contemplating Childhoods
We are Polly Bolshaw and Jo Josephidou. We both lecture at universities in the UK in the discipline of early childhood.
Play, talk, read, write, repeat
Did you see the new Literacy Trust report ‘Mental wellbeing, reading and writing’that came out this week? The research that underpins it looked to explore any links ‘between mental wellbeing and reading and writing enjoyment and attitudes’ (p. 25). It referenced other studies such as the Millennium Cohort Study which has found parallels between reading …
Sugar and spice…rats and snails
Do you remember the nursery rhyme ‘What are little boys made of?’I’m pretty sure that it won’t be recited in early years settings today but I do remember it was a common rhyme in my own childhood. It demonstrates how deeply ingrained the desire to differentiate between the sexes, or genders, is. I was …
Let’s hear it for the mums! The impact of a mother’s education on outcomes for her children.
It’s the beginning of a new academic year and the first years are arriving on campuses across the UK ready to continue their academic journey – and hopefully have a bit of fun, make some new friends and be inspired and challenged. There’s always one group of students my heart goes out to; those who …
Do children have the right to be themselves or only the right to conform?
A thought provoking post this week from Ian Durrant who is a senior lecturer in a Faculty of Education.
Welcome and Welcome Back!
Welcome back to Contemplating Childhoods...
Summer break
We can hardly believe 'Contemplating Childhoods' has been going for almost a year now. It has certainly been a discipline to make sure that we have our 500 words ready for 8 am each Friday morning. Thank you to all our loyal readers and those of you who have taken the time to comment on …
Reflecting on children’s transitions
This week’s post has been written by Karen Matthews, a current MA in Early Childhood Education student and early years practitioner. Karen is sharing her reflection on transitions within early childhood.
Summer celebrations
A slightly different tone to the blog this week as we thought we would let you know some of the exciting events that have been happening in our professional lives.
Children in Hospitals: 1948 to 2018
The changes to children’s hospital experiences between 1948 and 2018 highlight the key role of conducting research (as Robertson and Robertson did) for identifying the need to change practice.
Contemplating Childhoods 