A critical race theory analysis of top-down and ground-up regulatory documents in early years practice
Abstract views: 441
/ 
PDF downloads: 150
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.202563630Keywords:
Early years, Policy, Critical race theory, Racism, PracticeAbstract
The ‘pervasive silence and hesitancy to address racism and its manifestations’ (The Child Safeguarding Practice Review (HM Gov., 2025a) and how this renders invisible the safeguarding needs of Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children is troubling. In this article we utilise Gillborn’s framework for engaging Critical Race Theory in policy to analyse the priorities, outcomes and beneficiaries of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the Office for Standards in Education’s (Ofsted) regulatory framework, and Birth to 5 Matters. The, ‘top-down’, EYFS and Ofsted regulatory guidance, lack any specific reference to race or racism, except in citing the statutory responsibility to adhere to the Equality Act 2010. Neither the EYFS (Department for Education, 2024a) framework for practice, nor The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) Inspection Handbook (2024) or Framework (2023) which regulate practice, specifically mentions race or racism. Educational practitioners feel ill-equipped to talk about race or racism (Daniel, 2023; Gabi et al., 2022; Priest et al., 2014) and yet racism remains a salient issue that negatively impacts children’s lives from pre-birth (Glowach et al., 2023 Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2024; Alexander et al., 2015; HM Gov., 2025a). ‘Ground-up’ (Archer, 2024) guidance document, Birth to 5 Matters (Early Years Coalition, 2021), developed ‘for the sector by the sector’, does however, directly address racism in Early Years practice. In light of our analysis, we recommend that Early Years policy and regulatory frameworks urgently incorporate more explicit guidance on anti-racist praxis, and adopt a less race-evasive approach by engaging with and learning from stakeholders within the sector.
References
Akinde, A. (2020, August). I challenged my daughter's nursery on how it's tackling racism. Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/challenged-my-daughters-nursery-on-anti-racism_uk_5f297630c5b68fbfc8883815
Albert, A. (2021, July). Racism in nurseries: 'Black babies hardly picked up and left in dirty nappies for hours. Day Nurseries. https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1652649/Black-lives-matter-and-children-suffer-racism
Alderson, P., & Morrow, V. (2020). The ethics of research with children and young people: A practical handbook. Sage DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529682694
Alexander, C., Weekes-Bernard, D., & Arday, J. (Eds.). (2015). The Runnymede school report: Race, education and inequality in contemporary Britain. Runnymede Perspectives, London. https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61488f992b58e687f1108c7c/617bccd5f0b573ea69b0b3f3_The%20School%20Report.pdf
Andrews, K. (2018). Beware the Northern Fox: Keeping a focus on systematic racism post Trump and Brexit. In A. Johnson, R. Joseph-Salisbury, B. Kamunge (Eds.), The fire now: Anti-racist scholarship in times of explicit racial violence (pp. 117-128.). Zed Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350225480.ch-011
Andrews, K. (2023). The psychosis of whiteness: Surviving the insanity of a racist world. Penguin
Annamma, S. A., Jackson, D. D., & Morrison, D. (2016). Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(2), 147-162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248837
Apple, M. W. (1999). The absent presence of race in educational reform. Race Ethnicity and Education, 2(1), 9-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332990020102
Archer, N. (2024). The development of Birth to 5 Matters guidance: reflections on the critical agency and collective advocacy of an English early childhood coalition. Early Years, 44(5), 999-1013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2024.2387343
Bain, Z. (2018). Is there such a thing as 'white ignorance' in British education? Ethics and Education, 13(1), 4-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2018.1428716
Barnardos. (2024, December). Building anti-racist foundations - Liz Pemberton and Barnardo's [Video]. You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMHY5AKkajg
BBC. (2025a, January). Trump puts all US government diversity staff on paid leave 'immediately'. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgj288ywj23o
BBC. (2025b, February). Protest held against imminent closure of nursery. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07kyzdmmn3o
Bell, D.A. (1980). Brown v. Board of Education and the interest‐convergence dilemma. Harvard Law Review, 93, 518 – 33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1340546
Bell, D.A. (1992). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism. Basic Books
Berlant, L. (2022). On the inconvenience of other people. Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478023050
Bernstein, R. (2011). Racial innocence: performing American childhood and race from slavery to civil rights. New York University Press.
Biesta, G. (2014). Measuring what we Value or Valuing what we Measure? Globalization, Accountability and the Question of Educational Purpose. Pensamiento Educativo. Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana. 51(1), 46-57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7764/PEL.51.1.2014.5
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States (5th Ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
Bradbury, A. (2013). Understanding early years inequality: Policy, assessment and young children's identities. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203083185
Briscoe, F. M., & Khalifa, M. A. (2013). ‘That racism thing’: A critical race discourse analysis of a conflict over the proposed closure of a black high school. Race Ethnicity and Education, 18(6), 739–763. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.792798
Butler, L, (2025). Early childhood practitioners' experiences of regulatory processes and their perceptions of how they affect their wellbeing in day nurseries: A small-scale exploratory study [Unpublished doctoral thesis], University of East London.
Crozier, G (2023). Racism and education in Britain: Addressing structural oppression and the dominance of whiteness. Palgrave. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18931-9
Cushing, I. & Snell, J. (2023a). Written evidence from Dr Ian Cushing and professor Julia Snell. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/122760/pdf/#:~:text=Cushing%20(2022a%2C%202023a)%20traces,'%20(Harford%202020)%20and%20
Cushing, I & Snell, J. (2023b). The (white) ears of Ofsted: a raciolinguistic perspective on the listening practices of the schools inspectorate. Language in Society 52(3), 363-386. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404522000094
Daily Mail. (2021). Nursery teachers must teach toddlers about 'white privilege' so they can learn to 'develop anti-racist views', unions say. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9434515/Nursery-teachers-teach-toddlers-white-privilege-unions-say.html
Daniel, V. (2023). Anti-racist practice in the early years: A holistic framework for the wellbeing of all children. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003247807
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2023). Critical race theory: An introduction. NYU press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479818297.001.0001
Demie, F., & McLean, C. (2017). Black Caribbean underachievement in schools in England. Schools Research and Statistics Unit, Lambeth, London.
Department for Children, Schools, and Families. (2009). Building futures: Believing in children a focus on provision for black children in the early years foundation stage. https://birthto5matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Believing_in_Children.pdf
Department for Education. (2022). Early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers. https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/UKCCC/2021/10/13/file_attachments/1964008/EYFSP_2022_Handbook_.pdf
Department for Education. (2024a) Early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65aa5e42ed27ca001327b2c7/EYFS_statutory_framework_for_group_and_school_based_providers.pdf
Department for Education. (2024b). Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2#full-publication-update-history
Early Education. (2020). Birth to 5 Matters - Nancy Stewart speaks at the Childcare & Education Virtual Summit 2020. [Youtube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlZBOYXRCU
Early Years Alliance. (2019). Cultural capital in the EIF: What you need to know. https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/cultural-capital-eif-what-you-need-know
Early Years Coalition. (2021). Birth to 5 matters. https://birthto5matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Birthto5Matters-download.pdf
Farini, F. & Scollan, A. (2022). The rise of the discourse on children's right of self-determination. The case study of Early Childhood Education and its construction of children as agents in education. Language, Discourse & Society, 10, 13-25.
Farrell, F., & Lander, V. (2019). "We're not British values teachers are we?": Muslim teachers' subjectivity and the governmentality of unease. Educational Review, 71(4), 466-482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1438369
Foucault, M. (1980). Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews. Cornell University Press.
Gabi, J., Olsson Rost, A., Warner, D., & Asif, U. (2023). Decolonial praxis: teacher educators' perspectives on tensions, barriers, and possibilities of anti‐racist practice‐based initial teacher education in England. The Curriculum Journal, 34(1), 83-99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.174
Gaywood, D. (n.d.) Why use birth to 5 matters. https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/why-use-birth-to-5-matters
Gillborn, D. (2005). Education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 485-505. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930500132346
Glowach, T., Mitchell, R., Bennett, T., Donaldson, L., Jefferson, J., Panford, L., Saleh, A., Smee, K., Wells-Dion, B., & Hemmings, E. (2023). Making spaces for collaborative action and learning: Reflections on teacher-led decolonising initiatives from a professional learning network in England. The Curriculum Journal, 34, 100-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.186
Grenier, J. (2013). "Helping me to notice more things in children's actions": How early years practitioners, working in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods, developed their theories about children's learning and their role as educators during a programme of support and professional development [Unpublished doctoral thesis], University of London.
Habib, S. (2018). Fundamental British values: Moving towards anti-racist and multicultural education? In A. Johnson, R. Joseph-Salisbury, B. Kamunge (Eds), The fire now: Anti-racist scholarship in times of explicit racial violence (pp. 209-218). Zed Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350225480.ch-019
Hamel, E. E. (2021). Science starts early: A literature review examining the influence of early childhood teachers' perceptions of gender on teaching practices. Journal of Childhood, Education & Society, 2(3), 267-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.202123118
HM Gov. (2020). People living in deprived neighbourhoods. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by ethnicity/demographics/people-living-in-deprived-neighbourhoods/latest/
HM Gov. (2024). Early years foundation stage profile results. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results#dataBlock-6b5d8223-f9e1-4445-8e91-6c8273abb428-tables
HM Gov. (2025a). It's silent": Race, racism and safeguarding children. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67cb0a9d5993d41513a45c5b/Race_Racism_Safeguarding_March_2025.pdf
HM Gov. (2025b). Ofsted sets out proposals for fairer education inspections and new, more detailed report cards. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofsted-sets-out-proposals-for-fairer-education-inspections-and-new-more-detailed-report-cards
HM Government. (n.d). About us. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted/about
Hogg, L., & Volman, M. (2020). A synthesis of funds of identity research: Purposes, tools, pedagogical approaches, and outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 90(6), 862-895. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320964205
Home Office. (2021). Revised prevent duty guidance: For England and Wales. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance/revised-prevent-duty-guidance-for-england-and-wales
hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/para.1994.0013
House of Commons Education Committee. (2011). The role and performance of Ofsted. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmeduc/570/570i.pdf
Iannello, N. M., Camodeca, M., Gelati, C., & Papotti, N. (2021). Prejudice and ethnic bullying among children: The role of moral disengagement and student-teacher relationship. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 713081. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713081
Iruka, I. U., Gardner-Neblett, N., Telfer, N. A., Ibekwe-Okafor, N., Curenton, S. M., Sims, J., ... & Neblett, E. W. (2022). Effects of racism on child development: Advancing antiracist developmental science. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 4(1), 109-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121020-031339
Joseph Rowntree Foundation. (2024). Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households at higher risk of very deep, long-term' poverty. https://www.jrf.org.uk/race-and-ethnicity/bangladeshi-black-african-pakistani-households-higher-risk-of-very-deep-poverty
Law Society. (2025). Reflecting on the impact of section 28 and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/lgbt-lawyers/the-impact-of-section-28-on-the-legal-profession#:~:text=Section%2028%20prevented%20local%20authorities,a%20threefold%20increase%20in%20harassment.
Liera, R. (2020). Moving beyond a culture of niceness in faculty hiring to advance racial equity. American Educational Research Journal, 57(5), 1954-1994. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219888624
Louis, S., & Betteridge, H. (2024). Let's talk about race in the early years. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003251149
Lynn, M., & Dixson, A. D. (2022). Handbook of critical race theory in education (2nd ed.). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351032223
MacNevin, M., & Berman, R. (2017). The Black baby doll doesn't fit the disconnect between early childhood diversity policy, early childhood educator practice, and children's play. Early Child Development and Care, 187(5-6), 827-839. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1223065
Male, T., & Palaiologou, I. (2016). The Early Years foundation stage: Theory and practice. Sage.
Martin, J. R. (1981). The ideal of the educated person. Educational Theory, 31(2), 97-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.1981.tb00954.x
Mendizabal-Espinosa, R., Bonhote, K., Ko, S. Y. J., & Dickson, K. (2024). Increasing access to childcare for ethnic minority and disadvantaged communities. London: EPPI Centre, UCL Social Research Institute, UCL Institute of Education, University College London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54454/24100105
Mikuska, E. (2023). Policy and governmentality of early childhood education and care in England. Pedagoška Stvarnost, 68(2), 123-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19090/ps.2022.2.123-138
Miller, C. (2019). The importance of promoting diversity in early childhood programs. https://infantcrier.mi-aimh.org/the-importance-of-promoting-diversity-in-early-childhood-programs/
Mills, C. (2015). Global white ignorance. In M. Gross, and L. McGoey (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of ignorance studies (pp. 217-227). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315867762-27
National Day Nursery Association. (2024a). Ofsted nursery inspections guidance. https://ndna.org.uk/ofsted-in-early-years/#:~:text=Nursery%20Ofsted%20Inspections,an%20inspection%20at%20any%20time.
National Day Nursery Association. (2024b). Nurseries continue to close as government-funded childcare expands. https://ndna.org.uk/news/nurseries-continue-to-close-as-government-funded-childcare-expands/
Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at Home: Caring and social policy. University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520927568
Noddings, N. (2003). Is teaching a practice? Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37(2), 241-251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.00323
Nursery World. (2023). Exclusive - nursery world Ofsted survey: Hundreds of nurseries and childminders report stress and sleepless nights before inspections. https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/exclusive-nursery-world-ofsted-survey-hundreds-of-nurseries-and-childminders-report-stress-and-sleepless-nights-before-inspections
Office for National Statistics. (2022). Child poverty and education outcomes by ethnicity. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/educationandchildcare/articles/childpovertyandeducationoutcomesbyethnicity
Ofsted. (2021). Inspection of The American School in London. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50178819
Ofsted. (2023). Education inspection framework. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework/education-inspection-framework-for-september-2023
Ofsted. (2024a). Inspection handbook. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-inspection-handbook-eif/early-years-inspection-handbook-for-ofsted-registered-provision-for-september-2023
Ofsted. (2024b). Inspection of bobov primary boys school. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50256500
Ofsted. (2024c). Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September. 2024: Rose Wood Academy. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50266649
Ofsted. (2025). Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September. 2024: Rose Wood Academy. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50266649
Ofsted. (n.d.). Find an inspection report. https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/
Palaiologou, I. (2012). Introduction: towards an understanding of ethical practice in early childhood. In I. Palaiologou (Ed.) Ethical practice in early childhood (pp. 1-12). Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446250938.n1
Perry, J., Bradbury, A., Calvert, G. & Kilian, K. (2023). Beyond Ofsted: An inquiry into the future of school inspection. https://beyondofsted.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Beyond-Ofsted-Report.pdf
Priest, N., Walton, J., White, F., Kowal, E., Fox, B., & Paradies, Y. (2014). 'You are not born being racist, are you?' Discussing racism with primary aged-children. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 808-834. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.946496
Raabe, T., & Beelmann, A. (2011). Development of ethnic, racial, and national prejudice in childhood and adolescence: A multinational meta‐analysis of age differences. Child Development, 82(6), 1715-1737. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01668.x
Ravindran, T., & Benitez Castro, M. P. (2024). Possibilities and limitations of ethnoeducation: Rethinking antiracist pedagogies in a Colombian elementary school. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2024.2438298
Spencer, T. (2022). Using children's literature to advance antiracist early childhood teaching and learning. Issues in Teacher Education, 31(2), 9-31.
Swerling, G., & Turner, C. (2022, March 17). Teaching of race ideology in schools is 'absolutely terrifying', warns minister. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/03/17/ethnic-minority-success-stories-must-acknowledged-says-minister/
Tembo, S., & Bateson, S. (2024). Skin deep: A review of early childhood policy affordances for anti-racist practice in England and Scotland. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 22(4), 527-539. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X241241140
The Guardian. (2018). Hijab ban attempt is 'racism dressed up as liberalism', teachers' conference told. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/01/attempt-to-ban-hijab-racism-dressed-up-as-liberalism-teachers-conference-told
The Guardian. (2024). 'It felt like a dictatorship': UK teaching experts hit out at government bid to cancel them. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/sep/30/it-felt-like-a-dictatorship-uk-teaching-experts-hit-out-at-government-bid-to-cancel-them
Tuck, E. & Yang, K.W. (2014). Unbecoming claims: Pedagogies of refusal in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(6), 811-818. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414530265
U.K Parliament. (2024). Childcare workforce in England https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9948/#:~:text=Most%20of%20the%20workforce%20was,providers%20and%2082%25%20of%20childminders.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. UN Treaty Series, 1577, 3-178.
Valencia, R. R. (ed.). (1997). The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice. Routledge.
Walters, C. & Jansen, J. (2022) A Troubled Body of Knowledge: The Durability of Racial Science in Human Anatomy Research in South Africa. Comparative Education Review, 66(1), 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/717451
Wilson-Thomas, J. & Brooks, R.J. (2024). Investigating Ofsted's inclusion of cultural capital in early years inspections. British Journal of Sociology of Education. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2325542
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
Journal of Childhood, Education & Society retains the commercial rights of this article.
