This is a refreshing and timely book that uses multiple perspectives on the state of early childhood
education and care (ECEC) in the UK. The words ‘hit’, ‘nail’ and ‘head’ come to mind when reading the analysis of the state of ECEC since the post-war period. The book paints a vivid picture of
efforts to develop and professionalise ECEC against a backdrop of indifference and indecision
from successive governments and reverses of any progress that has been made.
Transforming Early Childhood in England starts with mention of the COVID-19 pandemic and
the effect this may have on ECEC, and there is almost a juxtaposition between this and ‘unfettered
neo-liberalism’. It may be, as the book states, that the COVID-19 pandemic offers opportunities to
rethink and start again, but whether such opportunities will overcome neo-liberal dogma as well is
open to question. The book makes a good case for the ‘tinkering’ that ECEC has undergone.
Without any unified or serious endeavour, ECEC has become a fragmented consumer product left
to the invisible hand of the market. ECEC is, as the book states more than once, based on political
decisions, and decisions supporting ECEC have not been forthcoming.