A recording from a webinar I took part in is now available. I enjoyed sharing my views on this subject.

You can watch below or the link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BrDch9sjeM&t=1401s

Early years work can be joyous and fulfilling, but it can also be demanding. Speakers in this webinar explore a variety of topics relating to wellbeing in the early years while recognising the wider social context.

Recent data from the Department for Education suggests only 2% of the people who work in early years education in England are male. This episode of the Froebel Trust podcast asks - why does early childhood education continue to have one of the most gender imbalanced workforces? And what would Froebel, inventor of kindergarten, have made of this? Presenter Colin Kelly and his panel of guests consider how nursery school and early years setting leaders could support more men to work in early education.

Inspired by the Japanese PECHA KUCHA (“chit chat”) format, five inspirational humans speak for just six minutes each in front of 20 images that capture a new or powerful idea about play and children’s rights. Includes: Lynn McNair OBE (Ditch the curriculum), Shaddai Tembo (Champion anti-racist play), Theresa Casey (Value disability), Elizabeth Cripps (Defend children’s futures), Donna Green (Slow down). Presented by Froebelian Futures.

The PhD Journey: Dr. Nicola Hay discusses the experience of doing a PhD at UWS with two recent graduates: Dr. Shaddai Tembo and Dr. Daniel McKay.

I’m incredibly pleased to be the host of the TTS Talking Early Years podcast season 3…

This chapter examines the role of gender and LGBTQ+ inclusive practice to understand how we, as educators, might raise children un-limited from the gendered and heteronormative beliefs which negatively impact their identities. This chapter is written in three parts. Initially, we provide an overview of the field across the past century and consider how gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion is received today within both public and scholarly arenas. Secondly, we turn to practice and consider strategies for inclusion based on our own experiences with young children. Finally, we look forward to an agenda for the future, considering what kind of change might be needed to maintain, and heighten, a focus on gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Podcast with Shaddai Tembo

I’m pleased to see that the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board’s Gender Commission has published its report and recommendations.

I’m pleased to have been able to contribute toward Challenging Gender Stereotypes in the Early Years, by Susie Heywood and Barbara Adzajlic. I have a few pages on the role of men in the early years (MITEY) and the need to shift the narrative toward one of more men of all kinds in the early years (MMOAKITEY).

I co-wrote a blog post for BERA with Mona Sakr as a follow-up to our recent event on Ethnicity and the early years workforce in maintained nursery schools across England. See a snippet below, read in full here, or download as a pdf. here.

I co-wrote an article with Fifi Benham on heteronormativity in early childhood. This is a lay introduction intended to translate what is typically seen as a more abstract concept into more accessible terms. A glossary is also included toward the end. Two more article will follow in the coming months.

I wrote a short piece on my doctoral thesis as part of BERA’s “Competing discourses in early childhood education and care” series. See full text and below and a link to the original article here. In my doctoral research I focus on alternative outdoor early childhood provision in Scotland. I foreground a sociomaterial approach to understand how young children’s subjectivit

I’m pleased to have contributed toward a brilliant book on anti-racism for Aisha Thomas (pictured with me above). I wrote a decent-length section on racism in the early years, and provided some steps to follow to support more equitable practice with young children.

I delivered a webinar on the role of gender in the early years for Best Practice Network. You can watch the full video above.

A new research project, funded by the Froebel Trust, set to begin in the summer of 2022; prefaced by a new journal article on collaborative writing about race with/on early childhood.

Hi all,

I recently delivered a presentation with Fifi Benham for the Birth to 5 Matters Festival on Supporting LGBTQ+ inclusive practice with Fifi Benham.

You can view this presentation here., enjoy :)

Shaddai

I contributed my views for an article in The Press and Journal about the appropriate age for children to support with household tasks. You can view the full article here. An extract below:

Shaddai Tembo is a lecturer in early education and childhood practice at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).

He said: “Children should be encouraged to support with activities around the house from a young age, as the research shows that it can be a meaningful way to encourage personal and social responsibility.

This presentation was presented for the European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry 2022 by myself and Simon Bateson in advance of a forthcoming paper of the same title.

In this conversational blog, Shaddai Tembo, Dr Sharon Colilles, Vicky Hutchin and Aaron Bradbury discuss with Donna Gaywood practical ways to support children to develop a positive sense of self and feel that they belong in their early years setting. They tackle how to talk about race and racism openly, how practitioners can give space to children from mixed ethnic backgrounds to develop a positive sense of self, ways to support children to feel that they belong and how to provide positive spaces for children to develop their own gender identity.

This is a short research presentation on my journal article. It was presented to the Early Childhood Forum in October 2021.