200 pages
226mm x 145mm
ISBN-10: 1 85856 328 3
ISBN-13: 978 185856 328 2
June 2005

Fifteen original research projects are described by experienced early childhood professionals. Their research focuses on early childhood services and settings, gender and disability issues in provision and play, and on how adults influence children's learning. Each account identifies methodological issues and suggests further reading.
The contributors work in a variety of settings in and outside the UK, and coverage includes

• playgroups in the 21st Century


• practitioners' responses to legislative change


• the involvement of qualified teachers in voluntary pre-school


• transferring from a Montessori nursery to a state reception class


• men in the early childhood workforce


• gender discourses in children's homes


• gender through the eyes of girls


• including young children with disabilities


• working with under threes


• children's drawings


• children's reading choices


• adults' perceptions of play


• children's acquisition of thinking skills


• reflective practice in early years work

The book is written for students researching in the expanding field of early childhood education and care, and for the wide range of practitioners seeking to underpin their practice with current research.

Dr Kath Hirst and Dr Cathy Nutbrown teach at University of Sheffield's School of Education. Dr Nutbrown is the editor of Research Studies in Childhood Education, also published by Trentham.