In this guest post, authors outline the themes of their upcoming BECERA presentation on supporting Reception Class teachers’ confidence in working ethically in their Early Years classrooms.

In this post, Eleanor Milligan and Lois Ferguson share details on the Little Minds, a research project that investigates how mindfulness can support early years speech, language and communication development.

In this post Elizabeth Carruthers and Maulfy Worthington argue the importance of listening and noticing children’s ways of communicating their mathematical thinking.

Nina Taylor’s small study reflected on the use of a listening tool to ascertain whether engaging children as co-participants in listening activities offers insights into what is meaningful in their lives.

In this post, Kay Davey explores the ethical implications of discussing the impact of political ideology and how mood boards were used in her research as a method to empower and respect participants’ views.

In this post Jenny Shaw explains why she researched attachment relationships and shares how they were impacted by the pandemic from the perspectives of educators.

Can adults encourage higher-order thinking and pleasure in two-year-old children simultaneously? This question lies at the heart of Francesca Brown-Cornwall’s intriguing research study that seeks to illustrate the links between cognitive processes, pleasure and practical strategies for early childhood educators.

Hafsah Zakariyya explains why and when she first became interested in exploring Imposter Syndrome and reveals some common themes her research of it within early years professional communities has identified.

In this small-scale qualitative research study Dr Nathan Archer sought to understand the work of Montessori leaders in low-income areas of England in 2023.

Kate Dudley’s doctoral research examines how early years practitioners can ethically engage with children’s expressions of mental gender and the significance of this for early years development.

Sarah Dixon Jones and Vikki Wynn explain how empowering practitioners to have increased autonomy in the development of their own approach to project work has led to positive shift in their confidence, enhanced practice and defining set of principles settings could apply to own practice.

The team at the Inspiring Foundations (IF) explain how their initial aim of supporting the childminders in their professional development evolved into a collaborative learning experience for all participants.

Joanna Ainsworth shares how through the use of sociometric survey and ethnography in her study of nonverbal communication in peer to peer interactions, she learns about children’s participation, relationships and sense of belonging.

In this post Clair Sammons talks about the importance of children's voice in transition, how it links with her research project into children's perspectives of starting school and the implications for practice.

In this post Carmela Garcia explores potential impact of sociodramatic play and discussion when exploring social issues with young children.

In her pre-conference post Carly Ellicott explains why it is so important for the young carers to be identified as early as possible and how her current work aims to help inform service design and delivery to support them better in the future.

Nicola Wallis, a practitioner researcher at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge explains why museums play an important role in supporting young children’s agency and nurturing democracy.

The benefits of getting children involved in physical activity are wide ranging and well documented. But a recent project in Wales suggests that there are also positive outcomes for the parents who get involved. By Dr Jane Dorrian

In her pre-conference entry, Jude Brown explained how learning to be ‘in the moment’ to connect with her children has led to current doctoral research aiming to capture this embodied lived experience and exploring how it may shape our relationships and connections with young children.