You may not think of yourself as a researcher, but being an early years educator gives you quite a lot of knowledge about research. Working in an early years setting means using observations and analysing different types of data to understand children's progress in order to support their learning journey. Reflective practitioners observe and evaluate their own practice. Assess, plan, do, review, which you may have used to plan special needs support, is an action research cycle.
Early years educators who are well versed in researchful practice (i.e., ‘research-informed and research-active teaching’, (Giampapa and Lee 2022)) are able to base their decisions on evidence which relates directly to their own cohort of children, alongside evidence from external research.
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