The European Union Education and Training Monitor (2016) recognises the economic and social benefits of quality Early Childhood Education and Care, echoing the OECD’s (2012) strategy and its policy drivers to improve quality. There is broad international agreement that the practitioners working with young children should be recognised with appropriate payment, training, development and opportunity to improve outcomes for children. As the EU report states:

Reforming early childhood and primary education involves action on staff, curriculum and evaluation. The professionalization of educational staff in ECEC can drive more systematic professional development and positively impact the well-being and development of children. (EU, 2016:6)

The drive for a quality workforce is also underpinned by empirical evidence which showed that practitioners and teaching professionals who are at the forefront of working with children are key to the delivery of quality care and education provision (Cable and Miller, 2011; Sylva et al. 2010) yet, despite the research consensus and global initiatives to improve quality in early years practice and provision, there remain tensions between advocacy efforts and the reality in practice with increasingly diverse and growing populations, economic constraints, and the external pressures of marketisation, globalisation and keeping up with technology (EU, 2016). Taking ‘action’ appears to be problematic with limited improvements on inequities across Europe in relation to gender (Peeters, 2015), qualifications (Nutbrown, 2012) and an ongoing debate around professionalism in the early years and what this constitutes (Roberts-Holmes, 2013). Against this wider backdrop there are initiatives at international, national and local levels which are making small but incremental and important contributions to addressing these issues. Whilst some may be small in scale they build on recognised strengths of the early years community in their willingness to engage in professional learning opportunities for the benefit of children (Moss, 2014; Pugh, 2010). Fullan (2004) identifies this as a “moral purpose” that drives improvement and may be one factor in individual organisations working to create professional development opportunities with the aim that they can be rolled out and more widely accessed.

This proposal reports on one such initiative that is based on a study of a group of early years professionals that presents valuable lessons to share about how a small scale local professional learning programme can positively influence a wider community of EY professionals with impact on practice.

The overall aim of the study was to undertake an evaluative exploratory research of one East London Teaching School’s early years teaching programme and participants’ experience of professional learning. The objectives were:

• To evaluate participants’ perceived impact of the outstanding early years teaching programme on their professional learning, development and practice
• To understand the factors that enable or inhibit participants’ learning and development
• To identify participants’ perceptions and exemplars of pedagogy and professional learning that constitute quality early years teaching

The study addressed the following questions:

1. What are participants’ perceived constructs of pedagogy, professional learning, and leadership that characterise high quality early years practice?
2. What are the perceived direct and indirect impact of the programme on early years leadership and pedagogical practice, and in what ways can such impact be evidenced?
3. What can be learned from participants’ experiences on the programme to inform future professional learning and development?
4. To what extent is the programme effective in attaining its outcomes and is scalable across settings?

Cable, C and Miller, L. (2011). “A New Professionalism”. In Professionalization, Leadership and Management in the Early Years, edited by Miller, L., and Cable, C. 147-162. London: Sage European Union Education and Training Monitor (2016) http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/school/early-childhood_en [http://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/og_image/logo_en_23.png] > Early childhood education and care – European Commission > ec.europa.eu Fullan, M. and Ballew, A. (2004). Leading in a culture of change personal action guide and work book. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Gray, D. E. (2014) Doing Research in the Real World. (3rd ed.). London: Sage. Moss, P. (2014) Transformative Change and Real Utopias in Early Childhood Education London: Routledge. Nutbrown, C. (2012). Foundations of quality. The independent review of early education and childcare qualifications. Final report . June 2012. DfE OECD (2012), Starting Strong III - A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care, Paris: OECD. http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/startingstrongiiiaqualitytoolboxforearlychildhoodeducationandcare.htm#1 Peeters, J. (2015) Gender balance in ECEC: why is there so little progress? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, Vol.23, no.3, 302-314 Pugh, G. (2010) Improving outcomes for young children: can we narrow the gap?, Early Years, 30:1, 5-14, DOI: 10.1080/09575140903107696 Roberts-Holmes, G. (2013) The English Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) and the ‘split’ Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system European Early Childhood Education Research Journal Vol. 21 , No. 3, 2013 Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B., (Eds.) (2010). Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project. London: Routledge.