Annie is a Senior Lecturer and teaches on part time work-based and full time undergraduate courses which focus on early childhood education and care.

Annie's research and teaching build on her professional experiences in a wide range of early childhood education and care contexts. This includes working in a variety of part- and full- daycare private and voluntary early years settings; in a service supporting children with complex special educational needs and disabilities; and in advisory and training roles for a local authority.

She has a particular interest in child development particularly the development of relationships in early childhood settings and the discourses which shape those relationships. She is an advocate of working in partnership with parents as well as the professional development of those working in early years settings. In most recent years her gaze has turned towards the influence of racism and racialisation in early childhood education and care, as well as writing of her own experiences of being a Black woman in a white space.

Annie's teaching approach is one of co-construction with an aim to make HE accessible to every student she teaches and to provide a similarly engaging and transformative experience to that she experienced at the University of Brighton. 

Current Teaching activity:

Undergraduate Part-Time Work-based Courses

• Part-Time Work-based Early Childhood Practice Route Leader
• KY502 – The positive Learning Environment
• KY602 – Foundations for the Future
• KV615 – Practitioners as Researchers
• Personal Academic Tutor – Year 3
• KY600 – The Professional Enquiry (teaching and Dissertation Supervisor)

Undergraduate Full-Time BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care

• KY410 – Philosophy of Education and Early Childhood
• KY510 – Child Development: Play for Learning in Early Childhood
• KY414 – Families and Communities in Early Childhood Contexts
• KV620 – Reflection on Learning
• Personal Academic Tutor – Year 1, 2 & 3
• Dissertation Supervisor

Annie’s first undergraduate research focussed on the perspectives of parents and professionals on the role of play for pre-school children with social communication disorders and Autistic Spectrum disorder.

Her MA research interest was practitioner’s perceptions of early relationships in early childhood settings particularly the discourse surrounding love vs. care and the effect of this on practice.

However more recently she has become interested in race and racialisation in early childhood contexts as well as autobiographical and reflective writing on her own experiences of being a Black woman.

Previous research projects:

2010 - 2011 To develop and pilot an appropriate methodology to examine parents’ engagement with children's centres in Hastings, funded by the Ore Valley Forum and the Children’s Centres, Hastings.

2012 - 2013 The Children's Map – Reggio inspired creative 'pop-up-shop' project with Hastings Children’s Centres in partnership with Becci Kenning (Art-in-Transit) to create a 'map' of memories of play in Hastings and St Leonards. 

2014 - Masters research exploring early years practitioners’ perceptions of the place of love and care in their professional role when working with children under five.

Having had over 30 years in the Early Childhood Sector Annie's interests are many and varied, and she feels she learns alongside the Undergraduate students she supervises on Early Childhood degrees whilst guiding them on their research journey.

Annie has worked with Local Authority partners to design and deliver training on Wellbeing in Early Childhood Settings, and 0-3 year old Child Development.