Maureen Brookson is a Tutor and Lecturer for the Early Years Professional Status course for graduates working with children from birth to 5 years under the guidance of the Children’s Workforce Development Council. She is the Course Leader for the full time one year programme for graduates with little or no experience of working with this age group. She is also a Lecturer on the MA in Early Childhood Studies.

Prior to UEA she was a Senior Lecturer and Programme Manager at a college of further and higher education for 14 years with responsibility for BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education courses.

Her passion is for the creative and expressive arts in early childhood, particularly music and dance, and she has undertaken a number of research projects with children from birth to 5 years in areas of social deprivation in Norfolk. She has disseminated her research nationally and internationally and has trained early years’ educators across East Anglia, in London and Canada. Whilst living in Ottawa, she founded a nursery school and kindergarten based on the creative arts, which continues to flourish today. More recently her work has been influenced by the creative arts programmes of infant/toddler and pre school centres in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, a world renowned programme based on the philosophy of Loris Malaguzzi.

Maureen’s work derives much from the work of Froebel, an inspirational educator who was born in Germany in the 18^th century and whose work has had a profound influence on nursery education ever since. He said ‘Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul’. He coined the word ‘kindergarten’ based on his love of nature and its importance in early childhood. His work has influenced many educational thinkers, with its emphasis on the importance of free flow play and his philosophy continues to inform research today.