At LuCiD, we are committed to sharing our research with early years professionals and exploring how our findings can support practice in nursery settings.
On 5 September, our colleagues at Lancaster University were delighted to welcome a group of local nursery practitioners to the Infant and Child Development Lab. The visit offered practitioners the chance to tour the labs, learn about ongoing studies, and engage in discussions about child development.
Dr Ellie Johns and Dr Kate Messenger presented their work on executive function, attention, visual working memory, and language development. Ellie explored strategies for supporting children who may face challenges with executive function in the nursery, while Kate highlighted how children develop an understanding of complex sentences, such as moving from “the tiger scratched the king” to “the king is being scratched by the tiger.”
Dr Marina Bazhydai organised the event and demonstrated her study using one of the lab’s eyetrackers. Dr Xiaoyun Chen showcased her research on children’s curiosity, and PhD student Betül Teskin presented her work with prenatal and neonatal babies. The day concluded with a round table discussion with Marina, Prof Gert Westermann, and Dr Mathilde Prenevost, which provided valuable insights into how research can support early years practice.
Hosting the nursery practitioners was a wonderful opportunity for LuCiD to strengthen the connection between cutting-edge research and early years practice. We look forward to future collaborations that continue to support the development of high-quality early education.
Author
LuCiD
The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD) is a five year research collaboration working with partners from across the world to transform our understanding of how children learn to communicate with language.