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What does quality really mean in the baby room? In this blog post, we dive into the evolving conversation about early childhood provision in England.

Our global evidence review, linked here, included a total of 12 items from the UK (10 in England, and 2 that included Scotland) out of the 185 articles we reviewed. In spite of this small contribution, the ideas emerging from this body of literature add exciting sparks to our conversations of quality provision for children under two years old.

Clarifying the ‘why’ of the baby room

The articles coming from England highlighted the need for a clear, shared purpose for the baby room. There are multiple agendas competing for attention in this space, including getting parents back into the workforce, championing children’s development from the earliest possible age, supporting the wellbeing of babies and families on a holistic level, and much more. Elfer and Page (2015) and McDowall Clark and Baylis (2012) explore how a murky sense of the ‘why’ of the baby room translates to a lack of a clear vision of quality in practice. To understand what quality looks like and how to achieve it, we must know the purpose of the baby room.

Valuing and empowering baby room educators

Tied to this need for a sense of shared purpose is the importance of empowering baby room educators. McDowall Clark and Baylis (2012) consider the potential for empowering baby room educators as ‘thoughtful agents’ who feel confident to critically reflect on purpose and quality- and to define quality for themselves. Goouch and Powell (2013), who led ‘The Baby Room Project’ in 2010, focused their research on the key importance of supporting the baby room workforce to feel valued in the baby room.

Expanding ideas of quality

Finally, the literature from England and Scotland offers exciting ways to expand what quality looks like with our youngest children. Josephidou, Kemp, and Durrant (2021) dive into the importance of outdoor provision with babies, an area often left unexplored in policy and practice, while Gath et al (2024) and White et al (2020) explore settling in and transitions. These articles draw attention to elements of practice that can contribute greatly to how babies experience their care and education, but may normally be left out of conversations about quality.

These are exciting entry points to discover more about quality in the baby room of England. We are putting on six free professional learning conferences for baby room educators starting in March where we’ll hear from hundreds of baby room educators about their experiences with quality in English baby rooms. This will be a significant contribution to the conversation here at home, and we can’t wait to share what we find.

Over to you!

• How do these emerging ideas about quality in England resonate with or challenge your practice?
• What else is important to think about when it comes to quality in English baby rooms?

References

Elfer, P. and Page, J. (2015) ‘Pedagogy with babies: perspectives of eight nursery managers’, Early child development and care, 185(11–12), pp. 1762–1782. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1028399.

Gath, M.E. et al. (2024) ‘Infants’ emotional and social experiences during and after the transition to early childhood education and care’, Journal of early childhood research : ECR, 22(1), pp. 88–105. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X231195706.

Goouch, K. and Powell, S. (2013) The baby room principles, policy and practice. Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill Education.

Josephidou, J., Kemp, N. and Durrant, I. (2021) ‘Outdoor provision for babies and toddlers: exploring the practice/policy/research nexus in English ECEC settings’, European early childhood education research journal, 29(6), pp. 925–941. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021.1985555.

McDowall Clark, R. and Baylis, S. (2012) ‘“Wasted down there”: policy and practice with the under-threes’, Early years (London, England), 32(2), pp. 229–242. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2011.652939.

White, E.J. et al. (2020) ‘Expectations and emotions concerning infant transitions to ECEC: international dialogues with parents and teachers’, European early childhood education research journal, 28(3), pp. 363–374. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2020.1755495.