Significant psychological and theoretical insights feature in this book, which is a revision of an earlier edition, writtenby an accomplished scholar and academic. The study astutely applies a perspective that draws on a deep analysis of early childhood learning and development.

The integration of theory and practice displays an informed knowledge, offering a modern-day interpretation based intermittently on examples from Aistear, the Irish curriculum framework for early years children. Hayes, however, starkly omits reference to the distant past, with most references excluding published sources before the year 2000.

Hardly any focus is given to theorists from the progressive tradition, giving only scant acknowledgement of the works of Montessori, Piaget or Dewey. Strikingly there is no mention of Friedrich Froebel despite the repetitive and critical signalling by Hayes of children’s exploration and thinking in playful contexts.

Hayes presents seven chapters. Chapter 1 sets out the agenda for later chapters and gives an account of practice in early years settings. Chapter 2 reviews the significance of certain career-changing values. Chapter 3 examines the nature of such beliefs and principles, inviting a consideration of, for example, ideas around ‘quality practice’ and targeted learning. Chapters 4 and 5 look at how curriculum frameworks have been developed. Play and pedagogy are central to Chapter 6, and Chapter 7 gives a summary and assessment of the book’s raison d’être, highlighting the importance of providing children with quality early years practice and care from the start.

What springs to mind when reading the book is that it presents a thought-provoking depiction of contemporary understandings of childhood education and encourages readers to begin a dialogue, giving meaning to their own beliefs and experiences. I cannot help but think, though, that connections are being made here to a specific area of educational psychology and neuroscience, constructed within the confines of the ivory tower of academia.

But the writing style is highly erudite and, while digestible to many, does need readers to fall within an informed grouping, namely psychologists, final-year undergraduates, postgraduates, senior policy-makers, lecturers and others from a similar background.

The inclusion of Hayes’ findings and theory is something we would associate with Routledge, and the publisher makes no bones about producing work from the intellectual elite, such as Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre. Yet the book’s special brand of idealism about what ‘good practice’ calls for is, in my view, undermined by the presentation of what seems like an educational utopia.

The outcome is that the true realities of current professional concerns are underplayed: low pay, poor morale, a decline in child health. Hayes chooses to sideline these ills and instead heralds the early child educator’s supremacy and avant-garde appeal. The author explains that she provides a lens through which to consider young children and their educators.

Hayes humbly initiates the start of a conversation, allowing the active reader to achieve what high-quality early years practice ought to be. It is also true that Hayes gives a degree of attention to some of the tensions affecting children and their teachers.

Overall, Hayes provides a fascinating abundance of upbeat text and analysis. Despite the temptation to see everything through rose-tinted glasses, the book is to be recommended and unquestionably contributes to the ongoing theoretical debate about early years education.

Early Years Practice: Getting it Right from the Start

By Nóirín Hayes

Routledge

December 2023, pp166, £27.99

ISBN: 978-1-03240-546-9