Reclaiming Quality @ The NEU Early Years' Conference

Join Chris Merrick and RobinDuckett and the NEU for an inspirational day discussing all things early years at Hamilton House, WC1H 9BD. The day will be packed with CPD, networking, organising and activism.

Early years expert Ruth Swailes will be the keynote speaker and the NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede will open the day’s proceedings.

We’ll be hosting a workshop on Reclaiming Quality as part of the programme.

The notion of ‘quality’ is referenced regularly as if we then don’t need to question it. On the contrary, questioning is essential – what do we mean by quality?

Our difficulty goes back at least to the forming of the National Curriculum / Foundation Stage documents in the early ‘90s. And before that, as early childhood educators did not sufficiently articulate principles (we often simply said ‘we start where the children are at.’) The conversation around ‘Quality in Diversity’ was an excellent attempt at defining quality in the current UK context, but it was overshadowed and lost under the tide of the Foundation Stage expectations and ‘desirable outcomes.’

Since then, despite the best efforts of the broad spectrum of early childhood advocates, ‘quality’, ‘learning’ and ‘curriculum’ in the UK has been progressively dominated and defined by measurement-mentality. Measuring and instruction rather than informed environments for rounded human enquiry and learning.

So – how should we understand, reclaim and articulate quality? What should ‘quality education’ look like? What are core tenets? What is it Not?

The conference welcomes both NEU members and non-members.

Read more: NEU Early Years' Conference

Apply for your free space here. 

'The National Education Union stands up for the future of education. It brings together the voices of half a million teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders working in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK, to form the largest education union in Europe.'