Author: Christina McMellon
Organisation:Safe, Inclusive, Participative Pedagogies (SIPP): Early Childhood Education in Challenging Settings

Early childhood education has increasingly been recognised as a societal priority. We know from research that children can be seriously disadvantaged when they – and their communities – face such factors as discrimination, violence, and poverty. We also know the value that focusing on early childhood and early childhood education can bring to addressing such disadvantages. We can support young children themselves, their parents and other kin and early years practitioners, resulting in improved respect for young children’s human rights, improved gender equality and inclusion, and better outcomes for both individuals and communities.
UKRI GCRF Safe, Inclusive, Participative Pedagogies (SIPP): Early Childhood Education in Challenging Settings was a partnership research project undertaken with partners in Brazil, Eswatini, Palestine, South Africa, and Scotland. We recognised the urgent need to conduct action research to understand these factors. We worked with communities, local and national partners to promote change for young children before school age. Our work included scanning early childhood policies at national and more local levels, building relationships with key community and national actors, and working with communities to develop their priorities for early childhood education and how to address them. Throughout, we were committed to the participation of children and their families in the research, exploring creative methodologies to involve them. In the end, we developed an economic case for safe, inclusive and participative early childhood pedagogy. As we progressed with the project through the COVID-19 pandemic, we found this agenda only more important for the communities involved than when we started.
This blog introduced some of the main communities that the project worked with and explored our progress and our plans. .
“The support of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) is gratefully acknowledged.”