Nursery World - To the point - Much in evidence

Policy makers need to engage more deeply with what research is telling us about young children's development

Nobody is arguing about the goal. Parents, politicians, practitioners and academics all agree that we want our children to be happy, healthy, and prepared for rewarding and successful futures. But agreement breaks down about the best ways to reach that ideal, and it's a sad state of affairs when insults fly and people feel they need to take to the streets to make their point. When views become rigid, it's time to stop and ask: how do we know what we know?

To understand practice and its effects we can study theory and research, read popular books and articles, and reflect on our experience. As early years experience is not in policy makers' CVs, we might expect them to pay close attention to evidence. But while the current Government says it wants to base policy decisions on evidence, it sometimes seems that an attitude of 'it was good enough for me, so it's what children need today' holds more sway.

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