Curriculum Making

in the Early Years

Curriculum Making in the Early Years explores how equity and responsiveness can be integrated into a dynamic process of curriculum making that values play, playfulness and diversity.

We start from the premise that all children should have access to - and time for - freely chosen play to build complexity in their learning and social relationships.

Educational inequalities in the early years

We value the capabilities, knowledge and skills that all children build through informal learning experiences at home. Taking a positive focus on children’s interests, communicative practices and diverse life experiences provides an alternative to narrowly-framed education outcomes.

The resources on this site will enable early years educators to...

Identify children’s interests to inform curriculum planning - understanding children as knowledgeable experts in their own lives.
Consider curriculum planning and decision-making that incorporate children’s interests, knowledges and diverse home practices.
Promote equality and diversity through inclusive and culturally responsive practices to support children’s progress and achievements.

The resources and materials are grounded in theory, international empirical research, and collaborative action research.

Meet the team

Dr Liz Chesworth (Principal Investigator)

Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, University of Sheffield

Critical perspectives of play and curriculum in early childhood education

Liz’s research focuses upon play and curriculum in early childhood education. Her research problematises the instrumental discourse that informs many curriculum frameworks and investigates approaches to curriculum decision-making that are responsive to children’s diverse experiences, interests and inquiries. Liz is interested in methodologies to enable children’s participation in research. She has drawn upon children’s perspectives to explore issues of power, agency and choice within classroom peer cultures.

Creativity and digital literacy in early childhood

Liz is interested in creative pedagogies for early childhood education and the possibilities that new technologies afford for the development of new pedagogies and learning environments.

Professor Elizabeth Wood (Co-Investigator)

Professor of Education, University of Sheffield

My research focuses mainly on early childhood and primary education, with specific interests in play and pedagogy; curriculum and assessment in ECE; teachers’ professionalism and professional knowledge; policy analysis and critique.

My work on play has international reach and influence, and I am Visiting Professor at the University of Auckland, and Australian Catholic University Melbourne.

With colleagues in Australian Catholic University and Monash University, I am currently researching the ways in which children are blending digital and traditional play, and the implications for curriculum and pedagogy.

I was a Co-Investigator (with Dr Liz Chesworth, Principal Investigator) on a project funded by the Froebel Trust on understanding the relationships between children’s interests, play and pedagogy in a multi-diverse early childhood setting. Another project, also with colleagues in Australian Catholic University and Monash University, focuses on how early childhood practitioners develop leadership of practice.

I have worked with a range of European organisations and I have provided policy and practice guidance to governments (England, Switzerland, Ireland) on play, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. My work has influenced the development of Aistear, the early childhood framework in Ireland, and I have worked with the National Union of Teachers on developing guidance for play.

With thanks to Beth Nutbrown (Research Assistant) and Emma Horton (website development)

This site is part of a knowledge exchange project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account at the University of Sheffield

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