CREC Learning Circle

Website Hero - Learning Circle.png — CREC Learning Circle

Our community of practice has met regularly since 2003 for presentations or discussions on early childhood issues, and includes students, policy makers, local authority leaders and visiting academics.

Thursday 11th September - Online

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better by interacting regularly. Over recent years CREC's Directors have supported many students to successful completion of MA , and PhD degrees.

The Centre is working to establish, regionally and nationally, a research community of scholars who are committed to children and family services.

The CREC Learning Circle has met regularly since 2003 for presentations or discussions on early childhood issues, and includes students, policy makers, local authority leaders and visiting academics.

From this learning community will come the future leaders, tutors and thinkers for this key area of social, educational, health and economic policy.

The schedule for 2025/26 can be seen below . They will predominantly consist of virtual meetings and opportunities for face-to-face networking/PhD peer-to-peer discussions at CREC in Birmingham.

Joining links and initial information for will be shared with registered members early September. Where possible, recordings of online sessions will be made available for a limited time to members after each session, for those who couldn't attend or would like to revisit.

Join our Facebook group by requesting to join on the group page and answering all of the questions (please note, if you do not answer the questions we are unable to admit you to the group).

2025/2026 Schedule:

Thursday 11th September - Online via Zoom, 4.30pm-5.30pm

Exploring the themes from four pieces of Arts Council England funded research into arts and creativity in the early years, focused on the creative lives of young children, families and arts professionals.

Presenter

Stefanie Williams, Arts Council England, United Kingdom

This presentation explores findings from four Arts Council England-commissioned research projects. These projects explore cultural and creative provision for 0-5-year-olds in two geographical areas (CREC, 2024; NESTA, 2024), professional development needs in the early years (Book Trust, 2025), and current creative practices with 0-3-year-olds (Magic Acorns, forthcoming). The Durham Commission (ACE, 2019) recommends creativity and teaching for creativity should be recognised and supported in the early years. Alongside this, ACE’s Let’s Create (2020) prioritises accessible, high-quality arts opportunities for 0-5-year-olds. This context underpins the research, providing a framework for the recommendations. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (1977; 1994) provides the theoretical structure, examining how children’s engagement with arts and culture unfolds within families, communities, and broader social, political, and funding systems. Analysis of themes is undertaken through a qualitative interpretive paradigm (Mukherji and Albon, 2018). Six phases of thematic analysis of the data (Bruan and Clarke, 2022) were used to determine key themes. Data included desk-based mapping, surveys, interviews and workshops with families, parents, arts organisations, and cultural sector professionals. A Theory of Change (Arts Council England, 2024) foregrounding equity, inclusion, and diversity guided participant recruitment. Ethical procedures included informed consent, anonymity, and right to withdraw. Findings highlight how young children access arts within their communities, the specialised expertise of early years arts practitioners, and the extent to which Arts Council funding reaches families with very young children. Recommendations address embedding creativity in early childhood, aligning with ACE’s strategic aims, and show how exemplary arts provision can be replicated more widely.

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Sep 11, 2025 04:30 PM London. Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AEYiSI6pS2eM-gBO2bOVzA