She embarked on the PGCE course at the University of Manchester and later read for a Masters degree in education in 1976-7. She taught in a number of inner-city primary schools before a family move to London in 1978. She was initially employed by the ILEA, first as a deputy head and then as head of William Patten Infants School in Hackney. During that time she took a year's leave of absence and that allowed her to spend some time at the African National Congress School, SOMAFCO, in Tanzania. After her return she moved out of schools and became Early Years Inspector and acting Head of Under Fives services for the London borough of Islington. It was here that she discovered the vast body of people, mainly women, employed as childcare workers and suffering from low status and pay, and no training. During this time she approached the then University of North London (now London Metropolitan University) and with them developed the first early childhood studies scheme in the country to offer opportunities for those without traditional educational qualifications to study part time, whilst working, for degree and diplomas in early childhood. The scheme was later extended as a distance learning program and was noted for its particular focus on linking theory with practice. It was here that she started to write for this particular group of people - something she continues to do now.

In 1996 she again took leave of absence, this time to return to the new South Africa and whilst there she was employed by an NGO as coordinator of a national pilot project on early childhood education. On her return to London in 1999 she was appointed as senior lecturer at the University of East London and later promoted to the post of principal lecturer and director of undergraduate programmes in the school of education. She retired from this post in 2004 in order to have more time to devote to writing and has written, edited or contributed to a number of books for Routledge.

I was one of those children for whom books and stories were an essential element of my life. I learned to read as easily as I did to talk and as soon as I could read I could also write. In those days there were some books especially written for children but far fewer than there are now and I quickly graduated from children's books to adult books. Like many children I wrote stories and poems and suspect they were all bad. None of them survive. The first piece of writing of mine that does survive is a little autobiographical story which appeared in a student magazine from Wits - the university at which I did my first degree. After that real life took over. I graduated, left the country and moved to Manchester where I got married and had babies. As hard up as we were in those days we insisted on buying books for the children and reading to them so that they would also be immersed in the wonderful worlds of stories and poems and rhymes and songs. When I started teaching in Manchester in the early 1970s I was astounded at how difficult the children found it to learn to read and how few books and stories they had in their experience. My first - and surviving - passion regarding early childhood learning and development was in the importance and power of literacy in learning. I became a member of the National Association for the Teaching of English and this allowed me the opportunity to start writing about children and literacy and to have some of my thoughts published in journals. But it was only when I moved out of the world of schools that I became a writer.

In 1992 I was appointed by the then University of North London to set up a new scheme to offer opportunities for those from non-traditional educational backgrounds to work, part-time, towards diplomas or degrees in early childhood education. The programme was aimed at the vast body of adults - mostly women - who worked in poorly paid and low status jobs as childcare workers. They worked in homes as nannies or au pairs; in private nurseries or playgroups; in local authority settings like day nurseries. Many of them had little or no training. Many were speakers of languages other than English. The resulting early childhood studies scheme is still in existence today and some of those who graduated from the scheme have become highly regarded and respected practitioners. Whilst at UNL I successfully applied for a grant to develop the taught programme as a distance learning programme. To accompany this we decided to produce a course reader for our students. This - initially entitled ‘I seed it and I feeled it: young children learning’ was published in-house and proved very popular with students. The then head of department brought the book to the attention of Routledge and this resulted in the publication of what was called ‘The Early Years: A Reader’ in 1998. I was the editor of this collection of articles written by both students on the early childhood studies scheme and expert practitioners, researchers and writers. The book was popular and sold continuously for ten years. It is due to be published in a second edition this year. The title has changed, this time to ‘Key Issues in Early Years Education’.

In 1996 I returned to South Africa - the new South Africa - and whilst I was there was invited to become the coordinator of a national pilot project on early childhood education. This involved me in travelling throughout the country with a group of young trainers, taking proposals for what should be the minimum standards for those working with children under school age. For me this was the steepest learning curve in my adult life, involving me in completing re-assessing everything I thought I knew in light of what I did not know about the developing world. Whilst in South Africa I wrote the first edition of A Guide to Early Years Practice in response to the new Foundation Stage and this was published in 1998.

Certainly the most important thing I had learned through my work on the Early Childhood Studies Scheme was the importance of producing written materials in a voice that was accessible to those coming from non-traditional educational backgrounds. In no way is this a dumbing down, rather it is an attempt to explain complex ideas in ways in which they can be grasped and understood and then used to inform practice. After all, ideas that are described in language which is too obtuse may never be grasped by non-academics and this means that they are denied access to the very ideas which could transform their thinking and their practice.

When I returned to the UK I was wanted to use my experience in South Africa to write a book on child development with a focus on the development of all children and not on the development of children in the developed world. The book took many years to write since I returned from South Africa to a new job, this time at the University of East London. In 2004 I decided to retire from my full time post in order to have time to write. And before embarking on the major task of writing my child development book I was invited to write a book as part of a series published jointly by Routledge and Nursery World and known as Essential Guides for Early Years Practitioners. This was a small book on observation, planning and assessment and called, unsurprisingly, ‘Observing, Assessing and Planning for children in the Early Years’ (2005) I was then able to take the time to write ‘The Developing Child in the 21st Century: a Global Perspective on Child Development’. This was published in 2006 and was dedicated to three of the people whose values had most influenced me - my father, my aunt Gessy and a dear friend, Hilda. It allowed me to focus on key concerns in my life and work: the ideas of Lev Vygotsky; the importance of the social and cultural in learning and development and critical analysis of adopting exclusively Western approaches to concepts of play and learning.

My next project was to write another book for the Essential Guides series - this time one examining current thinking on how best to support the learning of children who are speakers of languages additional to English. This book ‘Supporting Multilingual Learners in the Early Years: Many Languages - Many Children’ was published in 2006 and is one of my books that most pleases me. When I was told earlier this year that the book had been shortlisted for a NASEN award I was delighted. My delight, however, turned to concern when I realised that the book had been shortlisted for an award in the category of ‘books that support SEN and disability issues.’ One of the main arguments in the book is that children who are bilingual or multilingual do not have special needs or disabilities. Certainly teachers may need support in knowing how to build on the very special knowledge bilingual learners bring, but the children will do well in a classroom which offers meaningful activities, where children can follow their own interests, learn through interaction and where respect for the diversity of languages and cultures is explicit.

Percolating in my brain during this time was a more in-depth look at the work of the Russian theorist Lev Vygotsky. My attention had been drawn to his work very early in my career and I had recognized that many students found his ideas interesting, but his work in translation impenetrable and difficult to read. In 2008 I began work on this book and the book was published earlier this year, 2009. It is called ‘Introducing Vygotsky: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in Early Years Education.’ This is another of my books which gives me pleasure to have written. Also during last year I was asked to pick up on the writing of a book, Planning for the Early Years Foundation Stage, as part of a series called ‘Practical Guidance in the EYFS’ published by David Fulton and edited by Sandy Green. My book focuses on planning and complements the other books in the series, each of which focuses on one of the Learning Areas.

I now look forward to the publication of ‘Key Issues in Early Childhood’ and to writing a new book looking more closely and inclusively at play as a mode of learning: Using Play to Improve Learning in the Early Years.