Event
International Centre for Early Years Education seminar series
When
Wednesday 26 November 2025 - Friday 31 July 2026
Cost
Free
Where
Online study
Organiser
Early Years Education
Join us for our International Centre for Early Years Education seminar series between November 2025 and July 2026.
Some of our 2026 seminar details are yet to be confirmed. Please follow the link below to register your interest in our 2026 events and we’ll be in touch once the dates are confirmed and booking opens.
Inclusive Education in Germany- Critical Reflections
Thursday 23 April 2026, 2-3pm, Online via Microsoft Teams
Inclusive Education and Parents’ Experiences – Reconstructions and Transnational Comparisons
Prof. Andreas Köpfer (University of Education, Freiburg/Germany)
Prof. Anja Hackbarth (University of Bielefeld/Germany)
Prof. Márcia Denise Pletsch (University of Rio de Janeiro/ Brazil)
This research seminar focuses on a transnational comparison of parents’ experiences on inclusive education. Using a comparative case study approach we analyse interviews from different countries (Germany, Georgia, Brazil) – drawing on Bohnsack’s documentary method of text interpretation. As a theoretical lens, we are referring to ableism, specified as ability expectations within educational systems and – directed at the children, and thus also at their parents. We will present the key findings of the case study comparison, which highlight the ambivalent role expectations placed on parents in the context of inclusive education. We will present various reconstructed examples from the research data and conclude by welcoming everyone to join in the discussion – which might then also apply to the situation of parents in the UK.
Please register your interest to receive further information.
Reception Class Teacher Network (RCTN)
Tuesday 12 May 2026, 4.30pm (tea & coffee from 4pm), Room tbc, Lakeside Building, Edge Hill University
Join a welcoming, collaborative hub designed to help you:
- Grow your practice – explore play-based learning, pedagogy, and early years research.
- Connect and share – exchange ideas, challenges, and successes with fellow reception teachers.
- Stay inspired – hear from expert guest speakers each half-term.
- Join for free – no cost, just great ideas, conversation, and community.
All reception class teachers welcome.
Reception Class Teacher Network (RCTN)
Tuesday 9 June 2026, 4.30pm (tea & coffee from 4pm), Room tbc, Lakeside Building, Edge Hill University
Join a welcoming, collaborative hub designed to help you:
- Grow your practice – explore play-based learning, pedagogy, and early years research.
- Connect and share – exchange ideas, challenges, and successes with fellow reception teachers.
- Stay inspired – hear from expert guest speakers each half-term.
- Join for free – no cost, just great ideas, conversation, and community.
All reception class teachers welcome.
Partnership Networking Event
Hosted by ICEYE
May 2026 – more details to follow, please register your interest to receive further information.
Special Interest Group Network
May 2026 – more details to follow, please register your interest to receive further information.
ICEYE Conference
July 2026 – more details to follow, please register your interest to receive further information.
Reception Class Teacher Network (RCTN)
Tuesday 10 March 2026, 4.30pm (tea & coffee from 4pm), Room tbc, Lakeside Building, Edge Hill University
Join a welcoming, collaborative hub designed to help you:
- Grow your practice – explore play-based learning, pedagogy, and early years research.
- Connect and share – exchange ideas, challenges, and successes with fellow reception teachers.
- Stay inspired – hear from expert guest speakers each half-term.
- Join for free – no cost, just great ideas, conversation, and community.
All reception class teachers welcome.
Reception Class Teacher Network (RCTN)
Tuesday 27 January 2026, 4.30pm (tea & coffee from 4pm), Room 0.24, Lakeside Building, Edge Hill University
Join a welcoming, collaborative hub designed to help you:
- Grow your practice – explore play-based learning, pedagogy, and early years research.
- Connect and share – exchange ideas, challenges, and successes with fellow reception teachers.
- Stay inspired – hear from expert guest speakers each half-term.
- Join for free – no cost, just great ideas, conversation, and community.
All reception class teachers welcome.
Solutions to Perinatal Loneliness and Getting Started on Research Impact (online research seminar)
Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe, University of York
Tuesday 13 January 2026, 12pm-1pm, Online via Microsoft Teams
Join us for an inspiring online seminar where Ruth Naughton-Doe from the Mental Health Social Research Centre at the University of York will share detailed pathways to impact and transferable examples that can be adapted to your own research areas. Whether you’re working in health, social care, education, or beyond, Ruth’s approach offers practical strategies for embedding community engagement into impactful research.
Drawing from her NIHR Three Schools Mental Health Fellowship, Ruth will explore how collaboration with people with lived experience and frontline professionals can lead to creative, tangible outcomes — from digital zines for LGBTQ+ parents to walking groups that tackle perinatal loneliness. She’ll also discuss her latest project: a walking group intervention for perinatal Muslim women, launched in April 2025.
This session is ideal for researchers looking to make a difference through inclusive, community-led approaches to impact.
Reception Class Teacher Network (RCTN)
Tuesday 18 November 2025, 4.30pm (tea & coffee from 4pm), Room 0.24, Lakeside Building, Edge Hill University
Join a welcoming, collaborative hub designed to help you:
- Grow your practice – explore play-based learning, pedagogy, and early years research.
- Connect and share – exchange ideas, challenges, and successes with fellow reception teachers.
- Stay inspired – hear from expert guest speakers each half-term.
- Join for free – no cost, just great ideas, conversation, and community
All reception class teachers welcome.
Researching with parents and families: a networking invitation
26 November 2025, 11am – 12pm, Online via Microsoft Teams.
Are you involved in research that engages parents and families? Join us for an inclusive networking event designed to spark new connections, share insights, and foster meaningful collaboration beyond traditional academic circles.
Whether your focus is family mental health, the pivotal first 1001 days, or the evolving landscape of literacy – including health and digital literacies – this is a space to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and inspire innovation.
Why join us?
- Expand your network beyond familiar circles
- Share learning and best practices
- Discover collaborative opportunities across diverse research themes
This event is hosted jointly by ICEYE and iCARE. Open to all with interest or involvement.
What is a Research Circle?
A Research Circle is a collaborative approach where school settings, educators, families and Early Years Education academics from Edge Hill University work together as equal partners. We work side by side to share experiences, explore questions and create useful, real-world outcomes that meet the needs of those involved.
- The Research Circle model is guided by the principles of:
- Ethical collaboration
- Mutual exchange of experiences, ideas and expertise
- Democracy and equality
- Social Justice
Research Circle projects
Our projects have previously included:
- Communication, Language and Literacy
- Good Level of Development ELGs
- Autism Specialist Provision
- Shaping new play spaces for EYFS within an international context (funded by BSK)
Our current projects include:
- Attendance in schools
- Exploring outdoor nature-based literacy learning with families of under-fives (funded by UKLA)
How to get involved
For more information on any of these projects, or to discuss collaborating with us please email Dr Karen Boardman.
Who is this event for?
Enquiries
If you have any questions about this seminar series please do not hesitate to email us at [email protected]