Guest Post: Perspectives of the Early Years Praxeologist

Dr Valerie Daniel, Headteacher of Washwood Heath Nursery School and contributing author to the new book Early Childhood Theories Today, shares her thoughts on the impact and influence of Early Years pioneers and theories on today’s Early Years praxeologists.

*The following guest post represents the author’s personal view and does not necessarily represent the view of the Birmingham Early Years Networks (BEYN) as a whole. Any issues or questions arising from the content of this post should, therefore, be directed to the author and not BEYN.

Interested in writing a guest post for the BEYN blog? Visit the Write for Us page for more info.


The Early Years sector is plagued with an image problem. Mention ‘early education’ or ‘childcare’ and most people immediately think ‘the poor relation of the education sector’ lacking in subject matter, skills, and the pedagogical approaches of our colleagues who work in ‘real’ education in our primary and secondary schools.

There are too many times that I personally have been dismissed as irrelevant after disclosing that I work in early education. Too many times that I have been told that I have got the skills and qualifications to be a ‘real’ headteacher so why am I settling for being ‘just’ a headteacher in a nursery school. The implications being that I am either looking for an ‘easier’ job or I can’t function as a ‘real’ headteacher. I always laugh at the idea that working in the Early Years is viewed as ‘easy’ work, devoid of academic and professional skills and knowledge. 

A complex, convoluted and confusing system

Sadly, the position in the Early Years is not helped by the lack of a coherent and cohesive government strategy by successive governments who have been more focused on increasing employment through flexible childcare arrangements that support parental needs, rather than education that primarily meets the needs of the child. This has resulted in a complex, convoluted and confusing system that often contradicts itself. (I am absolutely enjoying the alliterative assonance that is emerging so I am going to stick with it.)

In deep contrast to the chaos of a complex, convoluted, confusing system that contradicts itself, is the comfort and conditioning of Early Years theory that is rich in content and coherence and congealed in constructivism. (I am currently blowing on my nails and shining them on my shoulder, that’s how impressed I am with myself!)

Fun and joke aside, the theories of great Early Years’ pioneers are the port in the storm for those of us who are privileged to work with the youngest members of our society. We constantly take inspiration from these great thinkers and philosophers and apply their theories to our educational practices.

A political and ideological struggle

The struggle over curriculum theory and practice in Early Years Education (EYE) is deeply political and centred around different ideologies, theories and approaches and who controls the narrative. Critical questions about EYE typically come from the concepts of learning through play, with a focus on process rather than outcome versus disciplinary forms of knowledge which are constructed towards specific outcomes like school readiness and longer term economic and socio-political goals.

Early Years theories are values-based and they provide a valuable structure for thinking about child development, growth, and socialisation. The philosophies of Early Years theorists provide conceptual understandings of aspects of childhood development that otherwise would be difficult to comprehend and articulate, especially in holding our ground in the face of criticism that perceives constructivism as laissez-faire.

Thinking deeply about our practice and linking this to theoretical perspectives that inform practice enables us as Early Years educators to be informed in how our practice evolves, which leads to the concept of praxis.

Praxis is defined as when reflection and action come together in a transformative process of understanding and change. Praxeology is essentially the study of human action or conduct and observation of children is the core of our work with young children. Observation that informs action.

Children as active participants in their own learning

As Early Years praxeologists, we believe in constructivism.

Constructivism argues that knowledge is actively constructed and co-constructed rather than simply absorbed by learners. Constructivist theorists view children as capable of constructing their own knowledge and learning from their own experiences.

Dewey, for example, could not see how children could be divorced from their life experiences and he concluded that learning is most effective through social interaction, when children are engaged and influenced by their communities and their varied social and cultural environments. According to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) for Australia, theoretical “approaches to children’s learning and development can be categorised in five main ways:

  • Developmental theories 

  • Socio-cultural theories 

  • Socio-behaviourist theories 

  • Critical theories 

  • Post-structuralist theories” (Nolan & Raban, 2015)

All of these theories have implications for practice based in child-centred, constructivist, child-led curricular development which is grounded in experiential learning and nourished in relationship-driven learning environments, where adults co-construct knowledge alongside children.

Each child is unique

How children play may have changed in lots of ways over past generations but the development of their thinking and understanding gained through play and exploration has not changed. Experiential play and interaction helps to give meaning to children, so that they can make sense of the world that they inhabit.

As Early Years praxeologists, we promote effective play-based learning as we are clear that if we are too structured and narrow in how we develop our curriculum, we will instead promote a developmentally inappropriate approach to teaching and learning that will demotivate rather than inspire the children in our care.

Our practice is driven by reflection and critical appraisal of our practice alongside theoretical perspectives, in order to gain a deep understanding of the complexity and messiness of working in the Early Years Education sector. The work of the theorists that influence our practice provide ways of knowing that affect our thinking, our actions and our ability to articulate and respond effectively in our day to day practice. As praxeologists, we are able to understand, explain, and plan for next steps based on prevailing theories that resonate with our ethos of constructivism.

Our Early Years pioneers and theorists were acutely aware of both consistency and variability in child development (DEEWR 2010, p.2). Our role as praxeologists is to understand that each child is unique and then plan to facilitate their personal developmental needs. This ethos determines that the nucleus of our curriculum development is steeped in philosophy that is ‘rich in content and coherence and congealed in constructivism’:

  • The image of the child as powerfully capable and able to co-construct their knowledge.

  • Play-based discovery, exploration and inquiry drive learning and development.

  • The provision of a developmentally appropriate, child-centred curriculum.

  • The identification of children’s interests and needs allowing for the curriculum to be planned in emergent and responsive ways.

  • The belief that propelling children into formal instruction before they are developmentally ready does more damage than good.

  • A balance of child-initiated and adult-led teaching and learning.

  • The provision of opportunities and activities for both indoor and outdoor discovery learning.

  • The importance of the environment within the context of learning.

  • Inclusion of the wider community.

  • Creative, open-ended resources, malleable resources and combining resources to deepen learning.

Our curriculum framework is then decisively based in theories that focus on collaborative learning between adults and children and high-order functions of questioning, reflection, positing ideas, research and problem-solving. All the disciplines necessary for a productive learning disposition and children who are ready for further education.

The question is, is further education ready for these children?


If these ideas resonate with your practice or you would like to find out more about Early Years pioneers and theories, the book to read is Early Childhood Theories Today by Aaron Bradbury, @AaronEarlyYears and Ruth Swailes, @SwailesRuth.

I am one of ten authors who contributed chapters to this book. I wrote the chapter on Loris Malaguzzi and the Reggio Emelia approach. My Twitter handle is @Valerie_JKD.

The book will be available on Amazon. Be sure to check out the book launch on Friday 1st July from 12:00 noon until 5:30 pm, it will be a brilliant event and an excellent opportunity for CPD on Early Years Theories.


We are delighted to be able to offer two places to attend the book launch, funded by the Birmingham Early Years Networks. 

If you would like one of the places, then please complete this form by Friday 20th May at 4pm and we will select two names at random.

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