Professor Julie Fisher on ‘Starting from the Child?’

Professor Julie Fisher is an independent Early Years Adviser and Visiting Professor of Early Childhood Education at Oxford Brookes University. She held the post of Early Years Adviser in Oxfordshire for 11 years, before which she was lecturer in early childhood education at the University of Reading.

She has taught children from 3 to 12 years and has been headteacher of two urban, multi-cultural schools. To underpin her consultancy work, Julie draws on her own research projects which engage her in constant contact with practitioners and children in both schools and settings.

She is author of numerous articles on early childhood education as well as her books ‘Starting from the Child?’ (2024: 5th edition); ‘The Foundations of Learning’ (2002); ‘Moving On to Key Stage One’ (2020: 2nd edition) and her best-selling book ‘Interacting or Interfering?’ (2016). Julie has achieved a doctorate for her research into ‘the changing role of early childhood educators’. She is also a recipient of the Nursery World Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to early childhood education.

In this extended Christmas special episode, Professor Fisher delves into the evolving landscape of early childhood education. She explores the challenges faced by practitioners in balancing external pressures with child-centred approaches, offering practical insights on creating environments that foster genuine learning and development.

In this episode you’ll:

• Discover the origins of “Starting from the Child?” and why the question mark has returned to its title
• Explore the distinction between the adult’s curriculum and the child’s curriculum, and how they intersect
• Learn about the complex role of the adult in early years settings and strategies for being “the right adult at the right time”
• Understand the importance of children’s agency and how to create environments that encourage questioning and deep-level learning
• Gain insights on engaging senior leadership in understanding and supporting play-based approaches in early years

Watch this episode to gain valuable perspectives on nurturing children’s innate curiosity and learning potential while navigating the complexities of modern early years education.

Prof Fisher is an independent consultant.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-fisher-80ab801b

Find all of Prof Julie Fisher’s books here: https://amzn.to/45wL7eZ

She has also created a number of training courses for Early Education, which you can find here: https://early-education.org.uk/learning/bespoke-training-consultancy/julie-fisher/