Early years and early childhood is a vibrant area of educational practice. The field is continually developing and is faced with contemporary advances, challenges and debates in terms of theories, research and practice. This collection, compiled by Iram Siraj-Blatchford, one of the most influential researchers in early years education, and Aziza Mayo, an emerging expert, provides an authoritative overview of early years education.

Volume One: Foundational and Contemporary Thought on Young Children, Home and Society looks at the works of the foundational thinkers in early years development. It then sets out the current theories about the pathways and mechanisms of children's cognitive and socio-emotional development in the early years and how the home, community and institutional contexts impact on this development.

Volume Two: Implications for Early Childhood Curriculum and Pedagogy investigates international research in a range of topics such as effective home (and 'natural') learning environments and community and other settings in the early years. Furthermore, the volume looks at cultural diversity within and between societies, play and playful pedagogies and peer tutoring.

Volume Three: Early Childhood Programmes, Social Mobility and Social Justice puts forward research on international perspectives on unequal childhoods and how these inequalities can affect early childhood education. It also examines strategies and programmes to increase the effectiveness of early childhood settings and how to sustain this development.

Volume Four: Current Debates in Early Childhood Education Research considers effective practices of researching early years education by looking at examples of longitudinal studies and randomized controlled trials. It suggests instruments to monitor and evaluate early childhood education and effective application of mixed quantitative and qualitative research towards policy changes.