Early years practitioners are increasingly being asked to undertake a variety of personal and professional development activities and this book helps them to do so by reflecting critically on what they do.
Michael Reed is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Early Childhood, within the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester. He teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to child development, practice based research and leadership. He is a qualified teacher and hold advanced qualifications in Educational Inquiry, Educational Psychology and Special Education. He was a member of course development and writing teams at the Open University and an experienced author. He has a particular interest in practice based inquiry and research evaluating ways to improve quality in practice. He has co-edited a number of books including
Reflective Practice in the Early Years (2010),
Quality Improvement and Change in the Early Years (2012) and
Work Based Research in the Early Years (2012), all published by SAGE.
Natalie Canning
is a Lecturer in Education - Early Years at The Open University. Her background is in playwork and social work, particularly in supporting children to explore personal, social and emotional issues through play. She has published a number of articles relating to professional development and the early years and has presented at national and European conferences. Her main research is in the area of children's empowerment in play and she is currently involved in research on developing children as autonomous learners. She has taught across a variety of Early Childhood undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.