Being and belonging – early years conference

Paul Bradshaw is Director of ScotCen Social Research, an independent, not-for-profit research institute and the Scottish arm of NatCen Social Research. In a career spanning 20 years, Paul has worked on a wide range of studies across many policy areas, though his primary focus has been research on children and families. Most notable is his […]

Our approach to early education and childcare is of both symbolic and practical significance. It is suggestive of the type of nation to which we aspire, and delivers the foundation for how that can be achieved. In this presentation, we reflect on where we are at, where we are headed and – in light of […]

Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology, at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of over 120 journal articles and several books including the bestselling and critically acclaimed “The Scientist in the Crib”, “The Philosophical Baby” and “The Gardener and the Carpenter”. She is a Guggenheim fellow, fellow of the Cognitive Science Society […]

The idea of universal early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is embedded in Nordic educational policies, and ECEC is considered a national responsibility. Children have the right to attend full-day ECEC programmes and, thus, virtually all children attend ECEC from their early years. The presentation will focus on the principles and values presented in […]

September 2021 marked the introduction of 30 funded hours of early learning and care provision for all Scottish 3-, 4- and eligible 2-year-olds. Despite the pandemic’s impact, Scotland’s central and local governments, in partnership with the ELC sector, admirably managed to maintain the momentum behind this major policy innovation. Four years earlier England introduced 30 […]

As a leader in the field of early learning and childhood development, Professor Peter Moss will critically reflect on the day’s discussions and, from his extensive experience and observations contained within his book “Contesting Early Childhood…and Opening for Change”, will look at the failures in the current early years system in Scotland and paint a […]