Following the recent call for proposals, we are delighted to announce the first award for a Research Commission to run in 2019. Competing Discourses of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): Tensions, Impacts and Democratic Alternatives across the UK’s four jurisdictions will be led by Dr. Guy Roberts-Holmes (UCL, Institute of Education), Dr. Jan Georgeson (University of Plymouth) and Dr. Verity Campbell-Barr (University of Plymouth). This Commission will comprise of ten core members –  6 established academics from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 4 Early Career Researchers; one from each of the four countries to work alongside established academics. 

The objectives of this Research Commission are to critically analyse and question the deep influence of GERM’s (Global Education Reform Movement, Sahlberg, 2011) impacts upon the four different early childhood education and care policy jurisdictions of Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. During the course of the commission’s work, they will hold four one day seminars with established academics, early career academics, and local practitioners within each of the four countries.