Kerry Holman highlights the importance of recognising, and celebrating, the exceptional work and creativity shaping the future of early childhood education, especially undergraduate research.

Last month the Early Childhood sector came together for the inaugural Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network (ECSDN) Awards Ceremony. A truly inspirational event that celebrated and recognised the exceptional work taking place across settings, institutions, and professional roles in the wider Early Childhood sector. More than just an awards night, it highlighted the expertise, creativity, and contribution of those in the Early Childhood sector.

Among those recognised was a Canterbury Christ Church University Early Childhood Studies graduate Jessica Kirby, nominated for Researcher of the Year for her dissertation exploring the impact of drawing on pre-school children’s emotion regulation.

The nomination celebrated her achievement, and demonstrated what becomes possible when undergraduate research prioritises appropriate methodologies and children’s voices are taken seriously within Early Childhood degrees.

The research stood out for its use of a mosaic approach, creating meaning with children through drawing, conversation, storytelling, observation, and role play to explore how they experienced emotions in relation to starting school. Rather than positioning children as research subjects to be assessed, the study treated them as active contributors, capable of offering meaningful insight into their own emotional worlds. In doing so, it challenged assumptions about whose knowledge counts in conversations about school readiness.

Public debates about school readiness often narrow the focus to behaviours and skills that help children comply with school routines. While academic expectations and classroom realities are important, this framing risks overlooking the personal, social, and emotional development that underpins children’s capacity to thrive.

Jessica’s work shows that when children’s voices are centred, school readiness looks less like a checklist and more like a process of transition that children actively navigate.

This shifts the conversation in a way that strengthens rather than undermines, existing practice. It rebalances our understanding, reminding us that emotional regulation, security, and agency are not ‘extras’ but are foundational to learning. It also demonstrates the value of co-constructed research with children, where knowledge is built with them rather than extracted from them.

At Canterbury Christ Church University, this work reflects how Early Childhood Studies understands both children and students as capable, thoughtful contributors. As the newly validated Early Childhood Studies degree prepares to welcome its 2026 intake, enabling undergraduate research that is ethically grounded, methodologically appropriate, and sector-relevant remains a standard practice.

As the ECSDN Awards become an annual event, they offer a growing opportunity for students, practitioners, settings, institutions, and academics to make visible the quality and complexity of work across the Early Childhood sector. If we want national conversations about school readiness and other current discussions along with the value of children’s voices to evolve, we need to take the potential of undergraduate research seriously and listen more carefully to children themselves. When we do both, the debate becomes richer, more honest, and far more reflective of Early Childhood practice at its best.

Kerry Holman is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, in the School of Social Work, Education and Teacher Education.