With a strong focus on practice this is a guide for anyone becoming Early Years Teacher or Educator.

Part One: Foundations for Early Years Practice
Chapter 1: The reflective early years professional
Chapter 2: Understanding children
Chapter 3: Early years provision in practice
Chapter 4: Early years education and learning
Part Two: Early Years Education
Chapter 5: Playful learning
Chapter 6: Early language and literacy
Chapter 7: Creative children
Chapter 8: Children exploring
Part Three: Joined-up Early Years Practice
Chapter 9: Partnership practice with parents and families
Chapter 10: Inclusive early years practice
Chapter 11: Researching early years practice
Chapter 12: Leading early years practice

Dr Elaine Hallet has been involved in educating children, practitioners, educators, teachers and students over a career of thirty-six years and during this time has developed an understanding of how to nurture, scaffold and support children's and adults' learning and professional practice through meaningful contexts. She has worked as an early years teacher, advisory teacher and leader in a range of schools and nurseries, as a lecturer and leader with students in further and higher education, teaching on a range of early years initial training, post-qualifying, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral programmes and sector-endorsed professional awards in early years and integrated centre leadership.

Elaine's research includes, foundation degree graduates' continuing professional development through work-based reflective learning, the development of professional identity, the role of graduate early years leaders in the leadership of learning. She is committed to continuing professional learning for development of professional practice and to supporting practitioners, educators and teachers on their reflective learning journeys of knowledge, understanding and discovery.  

 Elaine has recently retired from her role as Lecturer in Early Childhood at the Institute of Education: University College London. With a background in early years education and practice, Elaine is an established author, with a special interest in the education of young children and, practitioners, educators and teachers' reflective continuing professional learning.