Dr Viki Veale

About Research

Email: viki.veale@stmarys.ac.uk
Tel: 020 8240 4139

Biography

Viki Veale is a senior lecturer in Early Years and Primary Education. She leads a broad range of modules focusing on professional confidence, political engagement, research activity and an understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Viki is committed to promoting professional development. She is an external examiner and a school governor. Through these roles, she quality assures provision in schools and other providers. She is a trustee of TACTYC, where she promotes the development of the Early Years workforce and supports research activity through conferencing and co-ordination of reflection papers, and of Mindfulness where she supports awareness of emotional literacy and co-regulation through the development of programmes for schools, parents and professionals working with children and young people.

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Research

Research profile

Viki's primary research focus is the development of the Early Years workforce. Key areas of interest include:

• The lived experiences of teachers in maintained early years settings
• The impact of policy on professional confidence
• Leadership in Primary school settings
• Relational pedagogy
• Child-led learning
• The impact of Adverse Childhood experiences

Publications:

• How Austerity is Destroying the Systems Designed to Support Children in England. 
• The Major Conditions Strategy: A Ten-Year Failure for Mental Health. 
• A Preconception Care Strategy. 
• A Plan for Play. 
• The role of the Family in Early Years Education. 
• The Health and Wellbeing of Children in the Early Years. Teachers, students, and teaching: towards an ecological system.
• The Physical Health of Children and Young People. 
• The Mental Health of Children and Young People.

Conference presentations and key note lectures

• Working in Early Years: Ways to Wellbeing. Edge Hill University: Holistic Week (November 2023)
• Right from the Start: Supporting the retention of qualified teachers in maintained Early Years Settings. BELMAS Annual Conference: Troubling Educational Leadership Through Authentic Engagement (July, 2023)
• Right from the Start: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Qualified Teachers in Maintained Early Years Settings. TACTYC: Webinar Series (June 2023)
• Mental Health: Shared Concerns, Shared Vision. University of Worcester: Children’s Alliance Annual Conference (June 2023)
• Making Meaning through Metaphorical Carnivalesque: Exploring the core competency framework through an early childhood lens. (With Karen Vincent: Canterbury Christchurch University). IPDA Annual conference. (November, 2022)
• ‘Taking back control’- agency, accountability and finding a way to work with the core competencies framework as early years lecturers. (With Karen Vincent: Canterbury Christchurch University). TACTYC Annual conference. (October, 2022)
• Changing the Story: Using I poems to navigate the ethical complexity of emotional narratives
  St Mary's University: Social Inclusion and Diversity Research Cluster (July 2021)
• COVID Keeps: Reflections on lessons learned through the pandemic about how to enhance teaching and learning in ITT. St Mary's University: Festival of Teaching and Learning (July 2021)
• COVID Keeps: Reactions, Reflections and Rethinking Teaching in HE.Advance HE: Annual Teaching and Learning Conference (June 2021)
• Technology and Tests: Understanding the threats to play based learning and what we can do about them.Edge Hill University: Keynote lecture (March 2019)
• The changing face of play ̶an exploration of the importance of outdoor play in the digital age. Aberystwyth University: A Child's world- New Shoes, New Direction conference (July 2018)
• The Importance of outdoor Provision in the Digital age. Early Years TV: Interview (June 2017)
• The Importance of outdoor Provision in the Digital age. TACTYC: Annual Conference (June 2017).

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