School of Education Research Staff Profile

Dr Tim Waller

Name	Dr Tim Waller
Title	Reader in Early Years Education
Research group	Cluster coordinator: Childhood Research Cluster
Tel	01902 32 3264
E-mail	T.Waller@wlv.ac.uk

Developmental work and research activity

Tim is a reader in early years education in the School of Education and coordinator of the Childhood Research Cluster. He was formerly Director of Postgraduate Studies in the Department of Childhood Studies at Swansea University. Previously he taught in nursery, infant and primary schools in London and has also worked in the USA. His research interests include outdoor learning, children’s perspectives, pedagogy, ICT and social justice.

Tim has been investigating the use of digital technologies by young children for over ten years and completed his doctoral thesis on scaffolding young children’s learning and ICT. Since September 2003 he has been coordinating a research project designed to investigate children’s perspectives outdoor play. He has also helped to establish the Men in Childcare Network in Wales. Tim is currently Director of a longitudinal project on the role and impact of Early Years Professionals funded by the CWDC. He is a joint Coordinator of the Outdoor Play and Learning Special Interest Group and member of the Children’s Participation Special Interest Group in EECERA (European Early Childhood Education Research Association) and a member of the Early Years Special Interest Group in BERA (British Educational Research Association).

Key and recent publications and materials developed

Waller T (Ed) (2009). An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach (2nd Edition). London: Sage.
Waller T (2009). ‘Outdoor Play and Learning’. In, T. Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach (2nd Edition). London: Sage
Waller T (2009). ‘Modern Childhood: contemporary theories and children’s lives’. In, T. Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach (2nd Edition). London: Sage.
Waller T (2009). ‘International Perspectives’. In, T. Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach (2nd Edition). London: Sage.
Waller T & Swann, R. (2009). ‘Children’s Learning’. In, T. Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach (2nd Edition). London: Sage.
Waller T (2008). ‘ICT and Literacy’. In, J. Marsh and E. Hallett (eds), Desirable Literacies: Approaches to Language and Literacy in the Early Years (2nd Edition). London: Sage.
Waller T (2007). “ ‘The Trampoline Tree and The Swamp Monster with 18 Heads’: outdoor Play in the Foundation Stage and Foundation Phase”. Education 3-13, 35 (4): 395-409.
Waller T (2007). “ICT and Social Justice: Educational technology, global capital and digital divides”. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 5 (1) (May 2007) ISSN 1740-2743.
Clark M & Waller, T (eds) (2007). Early Childhood Education and Care: policy and practice. London: Sage.
Clark M & Waller, T (2007). ‘Early Childhood Education and Care across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland’. In, M.M. Clark and T. Waller (eds) Early Childhood Education and Care: policy and practice. London: Sage.
Clark M & Waller T (2007). ‘Introduction’. In, M.M. Clark and T. Waller (eds) Early Childhood Education and Care: policy and practice. London: Sage.
Waller T (2006) ‘Be careful – don’t come too close to my Octopus Tree’: Recording and evaluating young children’s perspectives of outdoor learning. Children, Youth and Environments 16 (2): 75-104.
Waller T (2006) Early Literacy and ICT, In M Hayes (ed) ICT in the Early Years of Education. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Waller T (ed) (2005) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach, London: Sage.
Waller T (2005) Modern Childhood: contemporary theories and children’s lives. In T.Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach. London: Sage.
Waller T (2005) International Perspectives, In T Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach. London: Sage.
Waller T and Swann, R. (2005) Children’s Learning, In T. Waller (ed) An Introduction to Early Childhood: a multi-disciplinary approach. London: Sage.
Waller T, Cole M and Hill D (2004) “Race” and Education, In D Hill and M Cole (eds) Schooling and Equality: Fact, Concept and Policy (2^nd Edition). London: Routledge Falmer.
Waller T (2000) Computer Meets Classroom: Children and Teachers Win? International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice, 1(3): 337-361.
Klerfelt A and Waller T (2000) Young children and computers: a comparative study of ICT experiences in Sweden and the UK, Selected Conference Papers. European Conference on Education Research (ECER), 20-23 September, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Waller T, Cole M and Hill D. (1999) “Race” and Education, In D. Hill and M. Cole (eds) Schooling and Equality: Empirical and Conceptual Issues. London: Kogan Press.

Forthcoming publications

Waller, T., Whitmarsh, J. and Clarke, K. (Eds) (2010). Making Sense of Theory and Practice in Early Childhood: the Power of Ideas. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Harcourt, D, Perry, B. and Waller, T. (Eds) (2010). Young children’s perspectives: Ethics, theory and research. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer.
Waller, T. (2010). ‘Digital play in the classroom: A twenty-first century pedagogy?’ In, S. Rogers (ed) Rethinking Play and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education: Concepts, Contexts and Cultures. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer.
Waller, T. and Bitou, A. (2009) ‘Research with children: three challenges for participatory research in early childhood’. European Early Childhood Education Research Association Journal July 2009. (Accepted – forthcoming)

Submitted articles

Waller, T. (2009) ‘Twenty-first century play: ‘digitally at home’ but digitally absent in the early years classroom?’ Submitted to Knowledge Management & E Learning: An International Journal - Special Issue on E-learning and Knowledge Management in the Early Years, August 2009.

Recent conference papers

Waller, T. (2009) ‘Let’s throw that big stick in the river’: an exploration of gender in the construction of shared narratives around outdoor spaces.
Paper presented at the EECERA Annual Conference 2009 as part of an
Outdoor Play and Learning SIG Symposium on Gender and Outdoor Play, Strasbourg, France 26-29 August (Accepted).
Waller, T. (2009) “Digital play in the classroom: a twenty-first century pedagogy?”
Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference (AERA), San Diego, USA, 13-17 April 2009 (Accepted).
Waller, T. (2008) “In search of the possible: learning to learn in outdoor spaces –constructing pedagogy in the early years.” Paper presented at the 18th EECERA Annual Conference, Stavanger, Norway, 3-6 September 2008 (Accepted).
Waller T (2007) ‘The swamp monster with 18 heads’. Young children’s narratives and outdoor spaces: in search of the possible. European Early Childhood Education Research Association Annual Conference (EECERA), Prague, Czech Republic, 29 August – 1 September 2007.
Waller T (2006) Young children, learning and outdoor spaces: in search of the possible. British Educational Research Association Annual Conference (BERA), University of Warwick, 6-9 September.
Waller T (2006) Young Children, Learning and Outdoor Spaces: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Power. European Early Childhood Education Research Association Annual Conference (EECERA), University of Reykjavik, Iceland
30 August – 2 September 2006.
Waller T (2005) ‘This is the way we go to the park!’ Recording and evaluating young children’s knowledge and perspectives of geography. British Educational Research Association Annual Conference (BERA), University of Glamorgan, Wales, 14-17 September.
Waller T (2005) Outdoor learning and well-being: Recording and evaluating children’s perspectives. European Early Childhood Education Research Association Annual Conference (EECERA), University of Dublin, 31 August- September.
Waller T (2005) Outdoor learning and well being: recording and evaluating young children’s perspectives. Paper presented at the Fifth Warwick International Early Years Conference, 20-23 March 2005.

Current development and research projects

Project: Outdoor Learning and Children’s Well Being. View project overview (PDF - 57kb - opens in new window)
Project: Longitudinal study of the role and impact of Early Years Professionals. The study is a three year national evaluation investigating the impact that Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) is having on the Early Years Professional (EYP) role and the ways in which EYPS influences provision in early years settings. The aim is to explore how and to what extent EYPS is influencing the quality of practice in settings and improving outcomes for children. It also aims to explore the impact of EYPS on EYPs’ careers and professional development. The project is Co-Directed by Professor Mark Hadfield and research is conducted by members of the Centre for Development and Applied Research in Education (CeDARE) in the School of Education at the University of Wolverhampton.

Report from 18^th Annual European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECRA) Conference, Stavanger, Norway 3-6 September 2008.

Reconsidering the Basics in Early Childhood Education

This conference was attended by over 600 participants from all over Europe and many other countries including USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The opening day of the Conference is normally reserved for Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings and registration.

However, this year the organisers had also arranged for those interested to visit early years settings in the Stavanger region. I was fortunate to be part of a small group escorted to a setting for 1-5 year old children on an island in a suburb of Stavanger. I was particularly interested in this setting because it had an ‘Outdoor Group’ which spent 3 days a week totally outside (usually in the forest, mountains or on the beach), whatever the weather. This group was only available for 20 children in one school year and from the age of 3, but was always oversubscribed. On the occasion of our visit the group returned at the end of the session from a 5km hike to explore the hill at the centre of the island.

The setting was also notable because 7 out of the 15 staff were men (although this was seen as exceptional even in Norway). The curriculum was influenced by Reggio Emilia but, unlike many of the Swedish settings I have visited in the past, children over 3 were encouraged to choose a particular adult led activity (art, music, dance, maths, story, etc) for a set period every day. I am a member of the Children’s Perspective SIG and the group meeting took place in the morning before the visit to the setting.

This is a very active SIG in terms of writing and publishing and the group has agreed to produce an edited book entitled: Young children’s perspectives: Ethics, theory and research. The book will be in two parts. Part one will examine ethics, methodologies and theoretical frameworks that guide high quality practice in research with young children. Part two will provide examples of high quality research with young children and be accompanied by a commentary by the researchers. SIG members and others working in the field will be invited to submit abstracts and intention is that potential chapters are presented in draft form in SIG organised symposia at the 2009 Conference in Strasbourg, France. I have agreed to be one of the editors of this book along with Bob Perry, Charles Sturt University, Australia and Deborah Harcourt, Bond University, Australia.

As usual the conference was addressed by a number of high profile key note speakers.

John Bennett (Formerly OECD, Paris) gave the first key note outlining current public policy and early childhood systems in Europe. Berit Bae (Oslo University) on ‘Children’s Right to Participate – Pitfalls and Possibilities’ and Hellevi Lenz Taguchi (Stockholm University) on ‘Justice in Early Childhood Education? Justice for Whom and What?’ were particularly thought provoking.

I gave a paper around outdoor learning entitled ‘In search of the possible: learning to learn in outdoor spaces-constructing pedagogy in the early years’. Many of the sessions that I attended had an outdoor learning or children’s participation theme. There has been a growing interest in outdoor learning within this conference over the past few years to such an extent that a new Outdoor Play and Learning SIG was established at this conference with an inaugural meeting attended by over 25 colleagues. I have agreed to be one of the convenors of this SIG.