This colloquium argues that writings on leadership in the early years commonly assume a service ethos. The aim of nurseries and other early childhood settings is to provide a service for children and their parents, and the task of leadership is seen to be to find effective ways of defining and realizing this aim. But increasingly, and especially…

This article considers the contribution of memoir as a method for understanding complex early childhood issues. It recounts the author's first visit to Tanzania, a low-income country with a chequered history of independence from colonial rule. The article uses memories from that initial visit to reflect on the changing interpretations of colonial…

Young children are particularly vulnerable to war and armed conflict. Although the long-term priority is always to try to unravel and reduce violence and conflict, in the short term some interventions may reduce suffering. In this article the authors report on recent evidence on psychosocial interventions designed to mitigate the impact of armed…

In this article, the authors report on the experiences of the Early Years Review Group, one of a number of education groups contracted to carry out systematic reviews for the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating (EPPI) Centre in the United Kingdom. The Early Years Review Group has carried out three systematic reviews: one…

This article reviews early education and care policies in the United Kingdom since 1997, when a Labour Government came to power, and sets them in the wider context of international changes. It argues that the Labour Government has, by intention and by default, supported the development of private sector, and especially corporate sector childcare.…