During the COVID-19 pandemic, questions abounded about how best to support children during the 'new normal' where homes, often instead of schools, were identified as the usual sites of learning. Educational research has explored the impact of COVID-19 on schools, education and learning, and childhood studies research has shown the impact on…

This paper explores an emerging methodological approach called doppelganger as method. This method uses the idea of a doppelganger or double to explore the social world. It is specifically used to examine datafication, or the increase in the production and use of data and its impact on education. Doppelganger as method begins by locating doubles,…

This paper shares methodological insights from our research which sought to centre children in the production of knowledge during the 2020 global pandemic to consider how this can inform research with children beyond the crisis. Drawing on our longitudinal participatory arts-based research with 30 children aged 9-12 during 2020-22, the paper…

There is a rapidly expanding and proliferating number of commercial early childhood platforms, competing for market share in what has become a crowded marketplace. Early childhood platforms provide a wide range of functions including an all-in-one digital ecosystem offering a learning management system; social media communication between…

Signs of Safety is a strengths-based approach to work with children and families where there are concerns about abuse or neglect. Signs of Safety is widely used in the UK and internationally, and there is a growing range of empirical research exploring its use within statutory children's social work. However, there is little research exploring…

The knowledge of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families, is essential for informing educational transition planning and decision-making. However, often their views are marginalised through formalised processes and assessments which underestimate children's capabilities and prioritise professional knowledge. We…

It can be observed that changing attitude towards the environment and fellow human beings manifests itself as a socially unsustainable relationship, which in different ways and at different levels manifests itself in social exclusion. Social exclusion is increasingly emerging as a phenomenon that is complex in nature and its solutions must be…

Background and aims: A high rate of children in mental health services have poor language skills, but little evidence exists on how mental health support is delivered to and received by children with language needs. This study looked at parental experiences, asking parents of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) about…

The number of preterm births is increasing globally and in England, yet professional knowledge about the short- and long-term developmental consequences and the psycho-social effect on parents is limited amongst the early years workforce. Using a social-ecological systems theory approach, this paper reports on a mixed-methods study that aimed to…

Educational outcomes of Looked After Children in England are lower compared to their non-Looked After peers, contributing to the reproduction of social inequality. The dominant research and policy discourse locates responsibility for this within the care system, including the attitudes and behaviour of staff. The Bourdieusian concepts of capital,…

The two case studies reported in this clinical exchange describe the way in which iPads can foster children's motivation to engage in communication and literacy-related activities such as story-sharing and story-creation. A detailed description of a particular iPad app (Our Story) is provided, along with observations of the implementation of this…

Within developed countries child poverty is a social problem with significant negative effects. With a backdrop of austerity, the UK's first child poverty strategy was released in 2011. Pervaded by neo-liberal ideology this strategy identifies preschool services as key to remediating the negative effects of child poverty on children and families…

This article has emerged from a research and development project, The Baby Room, which was designed to examine how babies are cared for in daycare settings. Within the project, a form of professional development was created which designated a central space for dialogic encounter, primarily to enable the baby room practitioners who participated in…

Faced with growing numbers of pupils with special needs, as well as those whose first language is not English, head teachers are increasingly faced with the challenge of employing Newly Qualified Teachers who require not only a different type of skills and knowledge base but the necessary personal qualities to effectively respond to the…

Interviews with 14-19 year olds in England and Wales are analysed to explore young people's perceptions of the experience of school and of alternative settings for learning such as further education colleges or work-based learning. Many experience school as oppressive, suggesting a defeasance of their rights as human beings. The paper posits that…